A/N: Thank you Cherry Atlanta for the beautiful fan-art!
Thank you Razel Treasure, Red Wolf, Mykah, and I AM STRING CUTTER for betaing this chapter!
Collection of Ashurbanipal
Volume XLI: Tiamat: The Goddess of Dragons, A Myth
Chapter V: Ascension
Another monster fallen.
Another field of ruin cleared of aberrations.
The Dragon wiped her brow. Ever since she had stood her ground against the Hunters, the humans had forced her into hiding.
Her only homes were places where no other sane being would ever consider living. Even so, she persevered and even thrived in the face of the harshest adversity.
The Dragon did not think of her hardship though.
She thought only of her fallen friend and the cold injustice of the world.
And so she fought. She fought in caves of perilous demons, on hills of raging flames, through swirling tempests, and the darkest depths of the abyss.
She fought with humans who had not the heart to drive her away, she fought with monsters whose visages would scald the eyes, and she fought with those who cared for nothing but treasure.
She fought until her blood turned to ice in her veins: life-giving fluid chilled into unmoving sludge.
By the skin of her teeth, she emerged triumphant in an ocean of corpses, each body a step for her evolution.
A day, a month, or maybe even a year went by as the Dragoness pushed on in her quest for strength. Perhaps she would have been satisfied with remaining weak in a different life, but in this world, there was no room for weakness.
She swore that she wouldn't lose to the cruelty of Man ever again.
One day, her arduous efforts finally bore fruit.
After vanquishing countless monstrosities that existed only in whispered myths, she finally reached a pinnacle many could only dream of.
A god on par with the Devourer of Worlds.
Chapter 23: Shadows in the Dark
Coins.
A currency that was accumulated and used to make purchases for items or services.
Four primary metals were utilized as the monetary standard and set in increasing values: Copper, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
Thirteen copper coins were worth one silver coin.
A hundred silver coins were worth one gold coin.
Ten gold coins were worth one platinum coin.
In addition to that, there existed financial institutions supported by the government. For example, the Imperial Bank located in the Baharuth Empire used metallic plates as an ancient form of a cheque.
Each metallic plate was engraved with the owner's signature to legitimize the metallic plate as their own as well as signifying that they were the buyer.
The seller would receive them, and then the bank would settle this payment for the seller.
This was because during a big transaction, it was a hassle to bring heavy gold coins as payment. Therefore, collecting payment at the bank, both parties undergo less troubles while also having a guarantee that their money would not be stolen.
However, most people did not handle sums of money large enough to warrant the use of the metal plates.
For a commoner, three gold coins could feed their family for a month.
For adventurers, a few hundred gold coins was the height of richness and glamor.
For merchants and nobles alike, platinum coins were used strictly for business transactions.
But what about royalty?
If a noble could afford a few platinum coins, surely kings would have ten times, if not a hundred times the amount compared to nobles.
No.
For Royalty, there existed a currency higher than platinum coins.
And those were gems.
Gems were much more difficult to grade considering that there were a lot of factors that could determine a gem's price.
First were their type: ruby, sapphire, emerald, tsavorite, demantoid garnet, tanzanite, spinel, and alexandrite were commanding the market at a premium price due to their superior characteristics and rarity. Quartz, however, was much more abundant resulting in lower prices.
However, the characteristics of the specific gemstone also had a major effect on the price. Low quality sapphires were quite inexpensive in comparison to purer ones. A gem with vivid, pure and intense colors would usually be worth many times more than those with duller or diluted colors.
Weight was another important factor. Of course, for some gemstones such as quartz, the price per carat was fairly constant as the weight of the stone increased. But in the case of many rare gems, price increased in a non-linear way as the weight increased.
Finally, the quality of the gems.
Since gems were also used as magical foci, they were constantly in high demand, making even quartz pricey to procure. Although lower quality gems could only be used for less-effective spells, the fact they were able to channel mana made gems extremely popular among magic-users.
And now these gems were being threatened.
To the south of E-Rantel was a small range of Mountains where the gem mines were located. The vast majority of these mines were owned by Marquis Blumrush.
Marquis Blumrush, one of the richest men in the Kingdom thanks to the vast amount of valuable mines he had on his fief. In addition to his gold and mythril mines, he also owned three highly profitable gem mines.
Out of the three mines, there was one that was...quite problematic.
Three weeks ago, the miners had heard the sound of moaning coming out of the caves.
One week ago, some of the miners had disappeared.
Three days ago, they had finally found the bodies.
However, after some investigation, they did not find the cause of death.
They believe that this was the work of a mystical being.
Eventually, they called it the Spirit Mist in hushed whispers.
Grown men recalled stories from their childhood of monsters that lurked in the shadows. Before, the stories were just that, mere tales meant to frighten children into compliance.
But now? Now, the terrors from childhood had become very, very real.
After more bodies and continuous protesting, the miners finally persuaded Blumrush to address the problem. Hence, why Tiamat was now here.
She looked down as Pentakrisis flapped his wings, trying to land on the uneven ground filled with humans flocking about.
As soon as the humans below felt the unnatural gust of wind, they looked up and were shocked to see a Dragon looming just above them. In accordance to common sense, they immediately began running away..
Once Pentakrisis saw that the land was now clear, he descended unto the ground and lowered his head.
A black haired beauty with glasses jumped down from the dragon, and reached out her hand to help someone else get off the Dragon.
The people hesitantly looked over, wondering who she was reaching out for, but when they took another peek at the Dragon in front of them, they immediately recognized it.
There was only one Dragon who was as majestic as the one towering above them.
White scales decorated his body, blinding their eyes as the sunlight reflected off of it, and its horns that seemed to be forged out of pure gold.
They were immediately torn away from their pondering when a hand reached out to the proffered aid, accepting her help without too much complication as the black haired girl helped her down from the Dragon.
The Silver Priestess.
"Is this really the place?" she asked.
Her voice was as beautiful as her appearance, and they could only stare in awe.
They had never seen her in person before.
As the rumors said, she had silver hair despite being young, and amethyst eyes that shone clearer than any gem they'd mined before. She clutched an adamantite staff in her hand and an adamantite plate rested on her hips.
"Yes," the black haired beauty replied. "A gem mine located south of E-Rantel. This must be it, Hannah-sama."
Tiamat sighed, "Again with the sama."
A voice sounded from her right, "Thank you for coming, Adventurers-sama."
When Tiamat looked, it seemed that a man of high stature was greeting them.
His hands were fully loaded with jewelry, and his body was littered with accessories filled with varying gems. The clothes he wore seemed to be of a high quality as well: patterned silk of varying colors.
Blumrush had prepared such a fantastic outfit a few weeks in advance before he requested for the Silver Priestess to come visit his mines. He knew he needed to dress his best to at least be on par with the woman that was standing in front of him, because she had what he didn't.
His eyes trailed to the Dragon behind her.
Power. Power great enough to cause nations to quake in their boots.
But Tiamat was thinking the opposite.
'He looks like a decked out peacock…'
"Ah, you must be Blumrush-san," Tiamat bowed, followed by Yuri. "I received your quest from the Adventurer's guild."
"I am aware," he said with a smile. "I am very happy that you could come ahead of schedule, and this is…?"
"This is Lily, my apprentice."
The man looked at the golden plate that rested on Yuri's neck.
"A gold-ranked adventurer?" he asked disapprovingly.
"Yes, I hope you don't mind. I am aware of the guild's policy that an adventurer team needs to be members of the same rank. However, you can rest assured, she's only here to tag along. I will deal with your quest personally."
"I see, that is fine. Shall we?"
"Of course," Tiamat said with a smile.
Pentakrisis flew away and Yuri followed behind her.
As they walked through rough and rocky terrain, before them they saw a somewhat lavish building that didn't look anything like an office.
Tiamat noticed that the building was packed with guards who had different uniforms than the guards from E-Rantel.
Their imposing all-black uniforms made them look more like assassins than guards. Tiamat squinted and noticed that the black outfits gave out a dull metallic sheen.
"Impressive isn't it? I outfit my entire guard in full Mythril, after all, who knows what sorts of ruffians would come after my treasures," the Marquis boasted, noticing Tiamat inspecting the guards. "I even had the armor dyed black since blue is such a prissy color for my amazing guards."
'Aren't Mythril plates supposed to be super expensive? Also, did he seriously pay money to dye his guards' armor?'
Tiamat ignored the Marquis's preening and looked away to observe her surroundings more.
It appeared that they had entered some sort of museum, where the gems were displayed within beautifully outfitted glass showcases. Furthermore, it was not just one gem, but an entire room full of stones of all shapes and colors.
The Dragon in her was squirming in delight.
"They're really beautiful," she unknowingly muttered out loud.
The man turned around and smiled at her. "I agree. Afterall, these are the gems that cannot be used as currency since they could ruin the price of the market."
"Gems are used as currency?"
"Yes, Hannah-sama. But only certain people can afford such luxuries."
Tiamat looked at him weirdly, but smiled nonetheless, "I see."
The tone he had used was distressingly similar to one of the clients she had back on earth. They had talked down to her as if she wasn't worthy of it.
Yuri picked up on the arrogance in the Marquis's voice, and her glasses glinted in fury. But Tiamat raised a single finger to her mouth, pleading for her to hold her peace.
Suddenly, Tiamat caught the shine of a particularly large ruby from the corner of her eye. The stone glinted as if it was calling out to her. Tiamat shook her head and turned her focus back on the man in front of her who was walking away once again.
She cleared her throat. "So, I heard from the guild that there's a problem with one of your mines? What happened that you feel the need to call an Adamantite adventurer?"
The man stayed quiet, as if he was trying his hardest to formulate his words.
"My miners believed that we have disturbed some sort of spirit protecting the mines."
"What kind of spirit?"
"We don't know yet, but we believe the spirit is some sort of an evil entity…"
Tiamat widened her eyes. "Like a demon, you mean?"
"Yes, you see, some of our miners were found dead five days ago."
The Dragoness thought back to the paperwork she did for Nazarick, and remembered nothing that said anything about taking over a gem mine. She and Ainz believed that it would be much safer to obtain revenue through adventuring since Nazarick was already designed to be self-sustaining.
Ever since Ainz had introduced a Dryad to the Sixth Floor, they did not even have to spend even a quarter of the money they earned from adventuring for food expenses.
"My condolences…"
"It's fine they were mere commoners anyway. Miners are easy to find. However, because of this blasted Spirit, no one wants to work here!"
Tiamat stayed silent at his statement.
Whenever people talked to her in her adventuring persona, she always avoided the topics of religion and politics. As an Adamantite adventurer, she had seen the differences in the standard of living. It wouldn't be strange if she didn't find it unreasonable.
She felt disappointed because if her client was indeed a noble, he had neglected his job, as the nobles were supposed to protect the people, not use them.
Tiamat could empathize with the commoners a little bit, since she was one herself. Back on Earth, the poor became poorer while the rich swam in ever growing piles of wealth.
The Kingdom was built on the backs of the poor, both here and on Earth.
But at the moment there was nothing she could do about it.
Even if she could, the guild had already established a very clear rule that adventurers couldn't get involved in politics.
The man led her through a backdoor leading into the mines. It seemed that the only way to get to the mines was to pass through the heavily guarded museum.
The mine was smaller than what she had initially thought.
'Well, I guess it would be hard to dig a really big hole…'
As she walked, she saw miners performing back-breaking labor, their faces caked in dirt. She even saw children helping out their parents as they descended into the mine.
The pit was cramped, about as little as a meter or even less in width, and went straight underground.
"Why do you make the mines like that?" she mumbled curiously. "Aren't mines supposed to have big openings where carts can go through?"
"Carts? That's the first time I've heard of it."
"Yes, what would happen when you finish collecting all the gems? Aren't they heavy?"
"I see what you mean. But no, this is just the underground roadways to the mines. It goes straight down like so, see?"
The man brought her closer to what looked like a well opening that extended miles underground. She saw one of the adults lowering the other using a pulley and as the man descended into the pit, she could only see the end of the rope as the rest was engulfed in total darkness.
"At the bottom, the workers will have to walk quite a distance to the caves. Even though the pit head may seem small, the underground roadways are far larger than this."
"Is that so…"
"When they complete their task, they will return to the pit head and get pulled once again to the top, carrying bags of gems with them."
"You must have a lot of confidence in your security system if you trust the miners to bring the bags straight to you."
The man laughs. "Not really, Hannah-sama. Before they go home for the day, we usually body check them to see if they're smuggling anything. Several cases have occurred where we found out that some ruffian had stolen a few gems."
"So that's why you have so many guards."
"You catch on quickly, Hannah-sama. As expected of an Adamantite adventurer." Tiamat could have sworn that she saw the man roll his eyes.
"Then what happens to them when they get caught stealing?"
He grinned. "Simple, we cut off their hands and their families then we kick them out of here."
Tiamat turned her head to look the man in the face.
"Even the ones who are innocent?"
"Each and everyone of their family Hannah-sama, guilty or not."
The Dragoness couldn't hide the surprise that was evidently written on her face.
"It might be cruel to you, but they learn quicker if we impose harsh punishments upon them. With that being said, shall we continue, Hannah-sama?" he turned his back on her and strolled away once again.
Tiamat glanced back at the miners.
In the middle of a sweltering hot day, they were grinding themselves to dust in that cramped hole. It was hot to the point that the workers had taken off most of their clothing as they slaved away.
She could see clearly see their ribs while the guards outside and the man who had just led her seemed well fed.
As she took a brief glance into one of the mines, she could see that the hole was completely devoid of light. Taking a quick look around her, she stuck her head in one of the pits.
A wave of heat immediately engulfed her as her resistances kicked in, defending against the minor heat damage. From the depths, she heard a chorus of coughs.
The children were tirelessly working their underdeveloped bodies.
She could see it, working in a land belonging to another person, everyday with the same pattern, and barely any rest. They looked hurt and some of them were even on the verge of keeling over.
They looked as if they were disposable.
"How cruel," she whispered. Even the dragon in her could no longer remain indifferent to the plight of inferior beings.
These people were beaten down remorselessly by their employers.
"Hannah-sama, should I go back to the guild to refuse the quest?" Yuri asked, worry laced in every word, but her face betrayed nothing of what she had just said.
Tiamat silently shook her head and continued walking forward.
There was nothing she could do here.
Not now. Not when it would surely cause even more problems for her friend.
'I'm sorry,' she silently turned back to follow the Marquis.
After a few minutes of walking, Tiamat noticed that the surroundings got quieter and quieter with every meter away from the main building.
They finally stopped at an empty pithole, devoid of any living being.
"We're finally here."
"So this is the problematic one?"
"Yes."
"Anything I should be aware of before heading in?"
"None, Hannah-sama. I am sure you already understand what the quest entails."
"Purification, right?"
The man nodded in satisfaction. "Exactly."
"Then, Lily will stand guard outside. I'll be going inside."
"Hannah-sama," Yuri voiced her disagreement.
Tiamat smiled at Yuri, "It's alright, Lily. I'll return quickly."
With that, she jumped into the hole.
The man jumped in surprise as he scrambled forward to make sure that the Priestess was going to drop safely. He had never expected her to directly jump into the pit of darkness.
"Is she going to be alright all by herself?" he asked.
Yuri closed her eyes and sighed, refusing to answer the man next to her.
╭( ・ㅂ・)و *:・゚✧
As Tiamat had expected, there wasn't a single source of light inside the cave. Thankfully, most heteromorphs in YGGDRASIL had darkvision, dragons included.
The only thing that greeted her upon her landing was the stretching darkness within the long tunnel.
She took a deep breath in.
'Alright, I got this! This'll just be an easy subjugation quest Tia! You can do it!'
After she walked for what seemed like an eternity, she finally came upon a source of light. It flickered eerily as she approached it.
Tiamat gulped.
'A Spirit, he said…'
Steeling her resolve, she finally reached out for the light, when something suddenly began squiggling on her right leg.
"WHAT THE ACTUAL FFFF!"
"Hannah-sama!" Yuri screamed out from above. "Are you alright?"
Tiamat couldn't take another step; her knees were buckling and she went down on her knees with a plop. She looked at where she stood before, only to realize that the something was actually a small rat.
"I-It's fine, a rat scared me that's all," she said, trying to calm Yuri down, as the rat ran away deeper into the mine.
Tiamat took a deep breath.
'It's fine, it's fine! Everything is fine~' she tried to reassure herself.
She couldn't help it. Darkness just wasn't something she could deal with, despite her darkvision. Instead of walking around in total blindness, her vision was a slightly brighter version of those old horror games that some shut-ins still played back on Earth. The reminder of ancient Earth horror did nothing to sooth her nerves.
Intellectually, she knew that it was just the absence of light, but in her mind, it was much more than that.
Darkness represented a blank world where there was no light, no way, no sight, no familiar faces, no contact, no physical appearance, nobody around you, nothing at all.
Everything was just black and blank.
And that was why she feared it. Anything that chose to live in such conditions would be fearsome indeed.
Slowly standing back up on her feet, she braced herself as she slowly descended into the cave.
'This is nothing, you've seen scarier things.'
Once she was sure that neither Yuri nor the client could hear her from the pithole, she formed a few embers of golden flame on her palm and let them float around her to light up the way.
She noticed that there were a few deep vertical shafts that no longer had any safety rails.
'Odd.'
They were not overly large or complex, but Tiamat felt a strong sense of unease when she looked at them.
After almost half an hour of walking, she finally noticed some pickaxes that had been cast away, left on the ground to rust. The walls surrounding her twinkled, reflecting the flames she was carrying with her.
Upon closer inspection, she found out that the sparkles were raw, unprocessed gems.
"So this is what they look like…"
They looked like kohakutous; edible crystal jelly made out of sugar and food coloring. But she couldn't deny that even unprocessed, the gems were still beautiful.
And they were scattered everywhere on the cave walls, gleaming under her fire, as if to beckon her to harvest them.
'What a let down…'
The man had bragged as if he owned the world, while in reality all he had were small gems the size of fingernails fit only for miniscule baubles.
She thought the mines would at least have a larger supply, especially after he had told her that they were used as currency.
Yet it looked like the gem mine was actually depleting.
All that remained here were gems smaller than water droplets, showering the cave with refracted light.
Although it was indeed beautiful, she didn't think they could be compared to the ones on display she had seen earlier.
Tiamat took a quick glance at the small gems, and then quickly looked around to see if anyone was there and carefully picked out a tiny bit of blue from the wall with her nails, wiping it clean from the debris with her fingers.
Tiamat admired the sapphire the size of a water droplet as she held it up to the light of the golden embers; sky-blue light lit up the cave as the light of the embers was refracted by the tiny gemstone.
Tiamat couldn't believe that a raw gemstone could be so beautiful.
Surely no one would notice if she took a stone this small?
All of a sudden, she had heard a low groan.
She turned her head to peek deeper into the caves, turning her attention away from the gem in her grip, unconsciously putting it in her inventory.
The sound stopped.
'Okay, that definitely wasn't just my imagination. Was it?'
She slowly approached the sound, only to hear the same groan, followed by what sounded like chanting from far below the cave.
Tiamat caught herself as she opened her mouth to ask who was there. Anyone living in this place was certainly not sane, and alerting her presence to them could turn nasty.
The sound suddenly stopped.
Tiamat sent a small globule of fire deeper into the cave, only to find nothing but rocks and another pile of abandoned pickaxes and shovels.
She walked deeper and deeper into the cave and a few faint sounds filtered into her hearing, combining to form a message that seemed to be to no one in particular.
After a while, she wondered if she was just imagining that she heard the words.
Then out of nowhere, she heard a loud wail.
"OOooOOOOOooOOOO!"
"『Fire Bolt』!"
A gout of condensed fire lit the dark pathway before her, the furious hiss of the flames drowning out the cursed sound.
The familiar beep sound of『Message』greeted her.
[My Lady, I heard your scream, is everything alright?]
At the same time, through her keen ears, she heard the sound of footsteps coming closer to where she was standing.
Human footsteps.
Tiamat quickly pulled out a 『Conceal Self』 scroll from her inventory and activated it, turning off the flames at the same time, and the darkness greeted her once again.
[My Lady?]
The sounds of footsteps grew closer, and the slow walk turned into a sprint. From the sounds of footsteps alone, it seemed that three people were coming her way.
Tiamat briefly unfurled her wings. The width of the cave was way too cramped, but thankfully it was tall enough that she could easily fly up to the stactalites without being caught. Moreover, 『Conceal Self』only prevented people from seeing her. If they ran into her, it would be bothersome.
[I'm fine Yuri, sorry about that. I gotta go now. I think I found something]
With that, she ended the『Message』.
She held her breath as she waited for the newcomers to leave when a sudden pulse of light from the other end of the cave stunned her, almost causing her to lose her grip on the stalactites.
Three men were walking towards where she was, carrying lanterns shining with unnaturally bright light in their hands.
They wore brown cloaks that covered their whole body with a hood that covered their faces. The steady shine of the lanterns didn't help her anxiety either.
"Did you see anything?" the last one to arrive asked the man in front.
"I didn't see anything."
He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Must be the miners, fucking hell. Let's quickly return."
"What kind of miner scorches cave walls? I swore those marks weren't there before…" another man muttered.
"Pffft! What did you think came down here? A Dragon?" the first man laughed uproariously. "Anyways, let's head back now."
"Yes!" the other two replied in unison.
Their voices echoed through the cave.
"Don't be so loud, idiots!" the first man hissed.
With that they slowly walked away, unaware that someone was following from behind.
The path they took was unconventional to say the least, but it turned out that there was another tunnel to the side of the gem mines
As Tiamat followed the men through the twisting passage, she quickly turned on 『Automatic Mapping』. There was no way she was going to memorize the way back.
A few minutes passed before they finally arrived to what appeared to be an underground cavern filled with more cloaked people.
The place was barely lit by torches hanging around the edge of the walls, lighting just the bare minimum necessary for human eyes to see.
But not for her.
Even with the dim lighting she could clearly see what was in front of her.
There were about twelve humans circling what looked like a modified YGGDRASIL magic circle carved on the ground, waiting to be filled with something.
Statues of weird looking creatures stood around the circle. The statues all had pointed tails and horns with scale like bodies; somehow they looked like the lesser knock-off versions of the Lords of the Seven Deadly Sins.
"Did you find something?" one man asked, wearing a much more elaborate cloak compared to the others.
While the rest of them wore plain brown cloaks, the one speaking was the only one who wore a white cloak decorated with an embroidered skull on his back.
"Nothing, it must have come from the outside, High Disciple-sama."
The man clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Fuck! The one who made this cave is a fool," he seethed. "Let's finish this ritual quickly. We don't have much time."
The rest of his followers nodded.
One of them walked towards the edge of the circular cave where a small cage resided.
Small whimpers could be heard from the inside.
The man proceeded to open up the cage and dragged someone out by the hair.
A small child no older than twelve.
"Get her to the center," the man with the white cloak ordered.
Tiamat scrunched up her nose when the man grabbed her, the stench of human musk and filth filled the room.
The child was clutching the hand that was grasping her hair, scrambling to get away, but she was too weak to do anything.
She desperately clawed at the hand, begging for even the smallest release from the pain assaulting her scalp.
"Please, please, let me go," she whispered, her face was soaked with tears.
The man didn't even bother to pay attention to her as he continued dragging her to the middle of the ritual circle where she fell with a thump.
The man with the white cloak started whispering in a bizarre language, and as his followers joined in, the whispers grew louder.
Their voices made the girl slightly jolt in anxiety, and she looked back at the cage, desiring to escape the madness around her.
Taking a deep breath in, the Head Disciple brought forth words that he seemed to know far too well; a macabre lullaby doused in the blood of innocents.
Out of nowhere, he grabbed what looked like a bone knife and plunged it deep into the girl.
The screech of pain echoed as Tiamat could only stare in shock at the scene below her.
The girl's body slowly hit the ground, clutching for dear life as the man, the murderer, put a palm on her mouth, blocking every sound that escaped from her dying lips.
"Onee-san!" another scream from the cage could be heard clearly. But no one paid any heed to it.
Tiamat was hovering near the ceiling of the cave, near the stactalites. She didn't move, she didn't make a sound.
She took a shaky breath in as her brain went into overdrive.
The Dragoness quietly landed on the ground, slowly taking another deep breath. She had just witnessed a murder.
The girl's cries and screams stopped. Her body fell slack as soon as the knife had thrust itself deep inside her neck as blood gurgled out of her mouth, her despairing eyes filled with tears as she looked at her brother.
It had happened so fast that Tiamat couldn't do anything but watch.
Suddenly, a damned voice inside her filled her ears. It laughed and screamed at her, beckoning for her to take revenge for the innocent child, and her breathing quickened to the point that she started to bring attention to herself.
"Did you hear that?" someone close to her asked.
Tears filled her eyes, not out of fear, but out of rage. The dragon inside her continued to whisper maddening promises of vengeance behind the darkness and the musky scent of blood, and she knew this wouldn't be the last time.
The power rushing to her, something that she had gotten perfectly used to, was empowering. But she knew it was dangerous, afterall, the last time she had followed through with it, she had caused too much despair and anguish.
She controlled her breathing until the howling sound grew more distant, until nothing was heard anymore, and she sighed in relief.
The man in white barked yet again. "Bring the other one! We'll finish it this time."
'The other one?' she questioned, as the realization that they were going to sacrifice the little boy slowly dawned on her. Following that, she wondered if she would just wait for the boy to die, just like she had for his sister.
'Am I really just going to stand here and wait? Am I truly that far gone?'
The world around her slowed down to a crawl as she contemplated her next move.
'If I move now, I risk letting one of them get away. If I don't, the kid dies.'
One of the followers complied, hastily walking towards the cage and opening it.
"No, let me go!" the small voice tried to fight.
"Just shut up and come out you runt!"
Tiamat closed her eyes.
'Another child is about to be killed in front of you. So why won't you move?'
Her experience of volunteering at her old orphanage should have opened her eyes to the harsh reality in front of her, especially if the child was unable to fend for himself, and each time, she had gently soothed the child and taken care of them.
So why couldn't she do that now? Why was she still standing in silence, unseen?
The boy cried as the man roughly dragged him across the rocky ground, screaming in pain while he begged for his captors to let him go.
He thrashed around on the ground, drawing the laughter of all the cloaked people. But the worn clothing on his back and his musky scent had drawn enough unwanted attention as it was.
The boy tried to take off, but his short legs couldn't be compared to the long strides of adults.
One of the followers tackled the boy to the ground, breaking the arm as he wrestled the boy to the ground, mauling him.
After ripping his shirt and snapping his arm, he simply tossed the boy back to the center of the circle with ease where the boy landed with a dull thump.
He was looking at the entrance, his eyes red and his body beaten and bruised.
He looked lost and lonely. As if he knew she was standing there, he pleaded.
"H...elp…"
The boy was prone on his back with his cheeks on the ground, and his arms splayed to his sides, a pose of total submission and bleak resignation.
She knew that look.
The man in white raised his intricate knife into the air once again.
Her decision was made.
"Do you want me to save you?"
The men nearest to her scrambled back in fear, not expecting to hear a voice so close to his ears, but when he looked back, he saw no one.
"Wh-Wh-What was that?!"
"What was what?" the man in white asked in irritation as the ritual was once again disturbed.
"I-I heard something!" he pointed to thin air, "Right there!"
The man in white ordered one of the other cloaked person to bring the torch to where the man was pointing, but found nothing but rocks, as the shadows flickered about.
"There's nothing there."
The man started to panic. "I-I-I'm sure! I heard it!" he pointed straight at where Tiamat was standing, a completely empty area to everybody's eyes. "It's there, it's right there!"
The boy looked at where the man was pointing with bated breath.
Tiamat sighed and the man who was pointing his finger at her yelped. His voice was starting to grate her ears.
She simply brushed his hands aside, and pushed his shoulders away to create room for her to approach the boy.
The man once again cried in fear, "I-I-It touched me!" falling on his behind as fear infested his being, consuming him like a disease that spread within milliseconds. His heart started to race so hard that Tiamat could hear it thump against his ribcage.
But she didn't pay any heed to that.
The Dragoness walked to the boy in front of her. The sound of her shoes clicking against the ground echoed throughout the silent cavern.
Even the man in white had lowered his knife, straining his ears to hear where the clicking sound was coming from, only for him to hear it come closer, and closer.
Eventually the sound of the clicking stopped just in front of the boy, and everyone's eyes were transfixed on the empty area.
Tiamat deactivated『Conceal Self』and slowly materialized in front of the boy.
"Y-You! How did you sneak in here?!" the white robed leader began to panic. He had not expected anyone to find them, and had definitely not expected his followers to not notice an intruder.
"Idiots!" he pointed at the brown cloaked followers, frothing at the mouth. "What are you waiting for?! Go kill that bitch!"
Unfortunately, his voice was lost in the mass hysteria of the disciples frantically trying to get away from what they believed to be a ghost of vengeance. For what other kind of spirit would choose to dwell in such a blood-ridden cavern?
It was as if a reaper clad in white had showed up in front of them.
That was until the man in white managed to calm down enough to notice the obvious Adamantite plate on her hips.
"It's the Silver Priestess!"
The man in white was quick to act once he saw that the Priestess didn't have her staff with her. Tiamat had forgotten to retrieve it from her inventory, as she had placed it there when she entered the cave due to the tunnel's small width.
He raised the knife, intending to plunge it through the Adamantite Adventurer's heart, eradicating her while she was still vulnerable.
But when his knife touched her, it was stopped by an unseen force.
Tiamat didn't even spare a glance for the white-robed man and kept her eyes on the prone form of the boy, her gaze unbroken, disregarding everything surrounding her.
"I'll repeat it one more time, child," she said, her gaze sharp as she looked down on him. "Do you want me to help you?"
After a few seconds of understanding what she was trying to say, he weakly nodded.
Tiamat smiled at him, "You can rest easy now. I'll handle these fools."
"You!" the man in white pointed his fingers at her. "Why are you here?!"
Acting as if she hadn't heard him, the Dragoness simply put her hand up, and a transparent golden shield suddenly appeared from nowhere, trapping everyone inside the cavern.
When one of the followers tried to break through the barrier to escape, he found that his knife couldn't even scratch it.
Tiamat put her hand under her chin, "Now, how did Cocytus say it was done…?" she murmured to herself.
"What did you just do?!" the man in white screamed out. "Let us out right now!"
Still ignoring the man, Tiamat raised her right hand, putting her thumb next to her pointer finger, and bent her fingers slightly to the left.
"Was it like this?" she muttered before slamming the heel of her hand down on his neck as hard as she could.
The man felt intense pain, followed by gurgles of blood gushing from his mouth, before he flopped to the ground, completely motionless.
"High Disciple-sama!" one of his followers screamed as he fell down. The disciples flocked around the white-robed man's body.
"He's dead! The High Disciple is dead!"
"Oh shoot, too strong? Maybe half power then?"
She raised her hand once again and proceeded to do the same thing to the nearest man in the vicinity.
Who also fell down after a swift pop could be heard.
Everyone could see that she had dislocated both of their necks.
They started scrambling away from the sole woman in the room, screaming for help. Sadly, there was no one to hear their cries for help.
"Dead again?" she sighed. "Welp, practice makes perfect. Here I go!" she smiled.
╭( ・ㅂ・)و *:・゚✧
It had been approximately an hour and a half after Lady Tiamat had entered the pit hole.
And Yuri was still standing there, motionlessly guarding the entry.
From what she has observed so far, the man, the client, had immediately left after Lady Tiamat had entered the cave, and no one had been passing by either.
The place was desolate, as if it was abandoned.
All that was left to accompany her were the dry rocks and the intense sunlight beating on the top of her head.
"Y—Lily…!"
Yuri immediately turned around and looked down at the pit hole where she was greeted with the glorious sight of Lady Tiamat, safe and sound.
"Hannah-sama," she greeted, slightly relieved that her Lady was unharmed.
"I brought a few gifts, mind calling the client for me?"
"As you wish," Yuri bowed before turning around to find the Marquis.
Yuri quickly walked to where she remembered his office was, disregarding the miners she passed by.
As she entered the building they had passed through on their way to the pit, she was stopped by the black-clad guards at the entrance.
"Halt."
Yuri raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? I am here to inform the Marquis that his quest has been completed."
"That may be true, but please wait here for a moment, adventurer. There had been several cases where someone used illusion magic to try to steal the gems. I hope you can understand that," and indeed, the guard did appear slightly sheepish at having to inspect the companion of the legendary Silver Priestess.
"Bowb! C'mere!" the captain of the guard called out to one of his comrades who began walking towards him, "Can you call the Inspector over?"
"Boss, for the last time, my name is Bob not 'Bowb'."
"Whatever you say, Boob. Just go get the Inspector!"
Bob sighed before giving a salute and walked away to get the Inspector.
"Anyways, if we could trouble you to just sit there for a moment, that would be greatly appreciated," the guard waved towards one of the chairs near the entrance.
Yuri nodded her head before she went to sit down on one of the plush red chairs.
'Looks like Lady Tiamat's hair,' Yuri idly thought as she waited for the Inspector to arrive.
'Wait, wouldn't that mean I'm, in a way, sitting on Lady Tiamat's hair?" Yuri squirmed uncomfortably at the thought.
It was at this moment that Bob walked in with the Inspector, a wrinkly white bearded man dressed in a robe decorated with mythril filigree.
The Inspector saw Yuri squirm the moment he entered and inwardly despaired.
'I know that I'm not married because I spent most of my life studying magic, but am I really that repulsive to women?!'
He cleared his throat, pushing his despondency to the back of his mind. "Ahem, so if you could stand up please, then we can get on with this inspection."
Yuri stood up from the chair as the Inspector placed a hand on her shoulder.
'Oh my god ohmygodohmygod this is the first time I've touched a woman in ages!'
Taking a deep breath in, the Inspector cleared his mind of impure thoughts as he drew from mana from within to cast his divination magic.
"『Detect Magic』, 『Detect Charm』, 『True Sight』."
After confirming that the Priestess's companion was not an imposter, the Inspector announced to the guards, "No traces of deception."
"Thanks Inspector, you could uh, let go of the young lady there now," the captain of the guard pointed at the Inspector's hand which was still on Yuri's shoulder.
The bearded mage immediately pulled his hand away before coughing into his arm, conveniently covering the rush of red on his face. Yuri didn't quite understand what was going on.
He coughed, hiding his apparent blush."Anyways, you're free to go meet the Marquis now," the Inspector pointed down the hallway to Yuri's right.
"I see. In that case, I will take my leave. It was nice meeting all of you."
Yuri started to walk down the hallway before she heard a voice suddenly call out, "W-Wait! What's your name?"
She turned her head and saw that it was the old mage who had called out to her.
"My name? It's Y—Lily."
"Lily-san, what a beautiful name. I am—"
"Thank you for the compliment Inspector-san," and truly, Yuri's opinion of the man went up after he had complimented the alias Lady Tiamat had bestowed upon her, "But I really must go now."
With that, she turned around to walk towards the Marquis's office, the sound of her name still ringing in the old man's ears.
"Lily. I see, in that case I will prove myself worthy of you Lily-san!"
Bob put a hand on the Inspector's shoulder from behind, "Calm down, Gramps."
╭( ・ㅂ・)و *:・゚✧
Yuri stood in front an elaborately carved oaken door.
"Excuse me," she knocked on the door. "Hannah-sama has fulfilled your request."
The door slammed open, and Yuri was greeted with a large smile gleaming on the Marquis's face, "Really? That's quick!" and he immediately ran outside to where Lady Tiamat was.
When they finally arrived at the mine, Yuri was shocked to see the change in the background.
The pithole that was about the size of a small well was destroyed. In its place was a glaringly large hole that could easily fit an entire squad.
Moreover, Lady Tiamat's summon, Pentakrisis, was also there.
But what was more surprising was the presence of a small boy behind her, clutching her dress while shivering in fear. Every once in a while, he glanced at Pentakrisis, afraid that the Dragon would suddenly decide to eat him.
"My Lady...this is?"
"Oh him?" Tiamat ruffled the boy's hair. "He was down there in the caves."
Yuri nodded and felt the instinctive need to pat the poor child's head and tell him that everything was going to be alright.
"Good job, Taki," Tiamat softly petted Pentakrisis's snout, which he leaned into with a happy rumble.
"W-What, Hannah-sama?! I asked you here to purify the mine, not destroy it!" the Marquis angrily shouted at the Supreme Being.
Yuri's glasses flashed with barely-constrained wrath, ready to pounce on the man in front of her. But a simple look from Lady Tiamat made her drop her fist.
"Well I did purify it," her Lady said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Moreover, I also brought an extra gift."
Tiamat moved away from the hole, presumably made by her summon, and both Yuri and the man saw a number of men wearing the same brown cloak except for the one at the entrance of the cave.
Yuri moved to stand next to her Lady.
The man's breath hitched in his throat when he saw the dead body on his establishment. His blood ran cold and he gulped as he looked at the captured group.
"G-Guards!" he yelled out.
It turned out that there were no demons in the mine.
Instead, the Silver Priestess had found a few members of the secret organization, Zuranon, who were trying to conduct a ritual to summon the soul of a leader who died in his battle against the Dark Warrior Momon.
They were building a secret chamber to sacrifice the souls of the children in order to summon another soul from the realm of the dead; however, their choice of location was poorly planned because it was so close to the gem mines of one of the Great Nobles of the Kingdom.
Afraid of being found out, they recklessly conducted their ritual, only to be busted by some of the miners who had heard strange noises from the deepest parts of the cave.
They had no choice but to kill any witnesses.
In the end, there were no demons, or spirits to be purified.
"Guards!" the Marquis screamed out yet again, and Yuri looked behind the building to see the guards she had seen before come running with haste.
"Yes!" they bellowed.
"Take care of this mess!" he ordered, "And call the architect of this damned thing, now!"
They immediately scrambled away to fulfill his command.
As the Marquis screeched out his orders, he could hear the sound of a child shrieking in fear from the sound of his voice.
He turned around to see a small child, clutching the hems of the Silver Priestess's dress, dirtying it with his mangy paws.
He clicked his tongue in disgust.
The Marquis took in the appearance of the boy; he was dirty and mangled with a scent he didn't want to be reminded of.
"Who is this?"
Yuri glared at the Marquis. "He is the one survivor Hannah-sa—n found in the mines."
Blumrush looked at Yuri with a sneer on his face, "I didn't ask you, you gold ranked adventurer," he looked towards Tiamat, "Honestly, some subordinates can be absolutely insufferable, am I right Hannah-sama?"
Tiamat took a deep breath as she prepared to give a withering retort to the man in front of her. "What did you—" however a small tug from her dress reminded her of where she was.
The Dragoness looked at the small boy, clutching to her for dear life, shivering in fear.
'Right, I can't waste any time right now.'
"I'm sorry Marquis-sama," Tiamat said softly, biting her tongue. She desperately wanted to chew him out for saying something so despicable to Yuri. But if she succumbed to her wrath, there would be a lot more consequences to deal with later.
'Nope, screw consequences! Yuri's the best maid I could ever ask for!'
Tiamat looked at the Marquis straight in the eye, her eyes almost seemed like they were on the verge of burning.
"Marquis-sama," she said with more force than before, "There will be consequences if you decide to refer to my disciple like that again. Do you understand?"
The Marquis stared at her in shock. He never expected that the up-to-now demure woman would dare utter such words in his presence.
"Excuse me, but how dare y—"
But before the Marquis could say another word, the Priestess cut him off.
"Yes, I dare. Lily is my disciple, not one of your guards or miners. And as far as I'm concerned, she is the best subordinate I could ever ask for," to the side, Yuri coughed, internally fist-pumping.
'Lady Tiamat praised me!'
"Why do you even care about a mere gold-ranked adventurer?! You came here only because I asked you to!" the Marquis lamely defended himself.
"That's true," she agreed, and the Marquis immediately thought that the woman had conceded in their verbal bout, only to be more surprised when she continued. "But even though she may be a mere gold-ranked adventurer, that is no excuse to treat her with disrespect. Even though you are my esteemed client, I can't deny the fact that what you said was rude and uncalled for."
"So what?" he said, almost screaming, "I am a Marquis of this country, and you are merely an Adventurer, a female one at that!"
"All the more reason to treat someone of a lower stature than you with respect," she reasoned. "You are the noble of this country, someone who exists to protect their people, and just by looking at how you treat your workers and Lily, it is safe to say that I am thoroughly disappointed."
Tiamat saw something flash beneath the surface of his hardened expression, but the emotion disappeared before she could clearly identify it.
'I should probably stop now…'
Ignoring her common sense, she pushed on, "Moreover, since the boy was a victim of your carelessness, you will assign him to an orphanage in the capital at once."
Tiamat didn't know, but inside his heart was an expression of an absolute disdain. He abhorred her. To him, they were less than the mud staining his over-shined shoes.
Under that perfectly crafted expression was someone much more cunning than what Tiamat could've imagined. He had spent years mastering his craft, which had made him richer and much more powerful than even the King himself.
He couldn't understand how someone had said something so brazzen, ordering him around like a mere dog.
Without saying anything, he turned around, leaving the female adventurers alone.
There was a hint of a smile on his face, surrounded by stiff cheeks. It was not the supple grin of a friend, but the joy of someone who had triumphed over their foe. One of the guards who was looking at his facial expression shivered in fear.
He would not let them get away with humiliating him, and he would wait for even years to make sure of that.
Especially since he knew that the Priestess would be invited to the Capital soon.
His grin widened.
'Let's see if the Priestess can survive the arena of the court.'
╭( ・ㅂ・)و *:・゚✧
Tiamat and Yuri watched as the Marquis left with the Guards who were carrying the cultists Tiamat had captured in the cave.
'Ohmygod did I go too far? I should've known that I shouldn't have said anything, but Yuri was being mocked and no way was I going to just sit there. Wait, what if he decides to not pay us? AAAAAAA I'm such an idiot!
She absently stared into the distance as her mind was assaulted by countless worries.
To her surprise, the Marquis apparently decided to listen to her and had sent a carriage along with a guard to send the boy to an orphanage in the capital.
The guard walked up to her and Yuri while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm real sorry about that ladies. Boss-man can get pretty angry sometimes. Anyways, I'm here to pick up the boy."
As the man took a step towards the boy, the child ran towards Tiamat and wrapped himself around her leg, refusing to let go.
Yuri watched as her Lady's smile seemed to grow weary and sad.
"Hey," Tiamat knelt down to look at the boy in the eye, and patted his head, "They're going to send you to somewhere safe. Somewhere where bad people can't hurt you."
His small hands that were clutching the hem of her dress clenched even harder. "B-But I don't wanna go somewhere else! You're s-safe." the boy began to sniffle, on the verge of sobbing. "B-Bad people can't h-hurt me if I stay with y-you."
Fat droplets of tears were falling from his eyes. Tiamat took in the appearance and scent of the boy. His brown hair and eyes, coupled with his slightly malnourished body mangled with the scent of excrement reminded her of the children she took care of at the orphanage back on earth.
Heck, he reminded her of herself.
She put her forehead against the boy's. "I have to go to a lot of places that would be dangerous for you. It wouldn't be safe for you to stay with me."
His eyes turned red as his chest began to shake, "I-I want to s-stay…"
"Then let's make a promise," Tiamat lifted her little finger and wrapped it around the boy's.
"I promise that you'll be safe," she tightened her finger around his tiny pinky, "I promise that you'll make new friends in this new place, so you don't have to worry, okay? Everyone there is your family now."
"B-But I don't want a new family…"
Tiamat looked at his quivering brown eyes, unsure and scared. "I understand, I know how you feel. Your sister—" she stopped herself. The boy in front of her was only a child, not much older than eight.
She didn't want him to be reminded of the event that just happened in front of him. Afterall, to see a loved one die right in front of you was the worst thing in the world.
She knew what he felt, she could relate. In the end it was her who killed Shalltear, who she loved like a daughter. Her blood would forever be ingrained on her skin. A guilt that she would have to carry for the rest of her life.
"Life is like a wheel, it spins and turns, but it never stays in place. That's life. We have to move on, no matter how we feel," Tiamat's eyes glazed over as she stared into the distance.
How cruel.
How cruel it was that she had to explain what grief was to a child.
She quietly shook her head. There would always be time for philosophical contemplation later. For now though, she had something much more important to do.
"You know what this is?" Tiamat asked with a smile, referring to her pinky that was entwined with the boy's pinky. "This is called a pinky promise; it's a powerful spell. Do you want to hear what the spell sounds like?"
The boy quietly nodded.
Tiamat slowly hummed, moving their entwined fingers up and down, as if to dance with the melody she was singing.
"Pinky pinky bow-bell. Whoever tells a lie will sink down to the bad place, and never rise up again," Tiamat smiled at him.
The boy stopped crying and looked at Tiamat curiously, having never heard of such a strange song before.
"I will keep my promise and you will too," she continued. "My promise is to keep you safe, and you have to promise to me as well."
"W-What is it?"
Tiamat looked the boy right in his glistening brown eyes, and gently patted his hair. "Don't be picky with your food, you have to eat lots and grow strong. Stay warm, and don't stay up late, most importantly," she tweaked his nose, "Promise me that you'll give your new family a chance."
He started to smile, "T-That's not f-fair," he hiccuped, "I have a lot more p-promises than y-you."
Tiamat only smiled at him, a warm happy smile that told him everything was going to be alright. "So, promise?" she asked.
He slowly nodded, "I promise."
"Alright, you pinky promised then, okay? That's a stronger spell than a regular promise," Tiamat chuckled, and the boy followed.
"Hannah-sama," Yuri said from behind her, afraid of breaking a tender moment. "The carriage is here."
Tiamat looked behind her and saw a delicate carriage that shone with hints of light blue; apparently, the Marquis had paid to have his carriages decorated with mythril engravings. Despite its fragile appearance, Tiamat could tell that it was enchanted with multiple spells that would make it as sturdy as an armored vehicle on Earth.
She slowly let go of her hold on the boy's little finger.
"Go," she gently urged the boy forward, as the guard opened the door for the boy to enter.
"Don't worry about him lady, I'll make sure he gets there safely."
Tiamat looked at the burly man before her, "Thank you very much. Please take care of him."
The boy quietly walked to where she guided him, and sat down on the carriage, his eyes still scared and unsure.
But when Tiamat raised her little finger for him to see, his shoulders visibly relaxed, and the horse finally pulled the carriage away.
She watched as the carriage disappeared into the distance.
Yuri watched her Lady with heavy downcast eyes. Albedo-sama was right; the Supreme Being ought to be more honest with herself.
The Dragoness looked like she was about to burst into tears.
Her amethyst eyes kept on following the back of the carriage, biting her lip as it went further and further away. After serving Lady Tiamat for some time, she knew what the Supreme Being was thinking.
"My Lady, excuse me for saying this, but there's still something you wish to say to him, am I correct?"
Tiamat stood silent for a short moment before she suddenly vanished in a burst of speed.
The boy was sitting in the carriage across from the scary black-armored man when he heard a faint high-pitched noise outside. He poked his head out the window and widened his eyes when he saw the beautiful lady who saved him keeping up with the horses.
"I'm sorry!" she shouted as tears rolled down her cheeks, startling the boy.
"Why?" the boy asked in hushed whispers, why was she saying 'Sorry'? Why was she crying?
"I'm sorry I couldn't save your sister, I'm really sorry—!"
Realizing what she had said, the boy's eyes grew wide and apologetic as his emotions ran rampant. "I-I'm really f-fine, so…"
Unable to rein in his emotions, tears once again ran from his eyes.
In the past, he cried because he realized he would be all alone.
But this time, he cried because she cried for him.
"I'll go visit soon, it's a pinky promise!" she screamed and waved the boy goodbye as he watched her from the windows of the carriage. She finally stopped running as the carriage drove past the gates of the Marquis's estate.
The boy couldn't control his tears as the lady disappeared behind the horizon, and the man who was in the carriage with him could only look at him awkwardly.
The beautiful lady had saved him and cried for his sake.
Even though he had begged multiple times before he went into that cave, no one had paid him and his sister any heed. It was only her who did so.
"She's a real nice person, isn't she?" the man asked him.
"Mmn…" the boy nodded, wiping away his tears only for more to come out.
"Stop crying," the man said, and the boy's breath hitched in his throat as he looked at the man in front of him. A burly man wearing scary black armor. "You're a man aren't you?" he put his hand on the boy's head. "And you promised the pretty lady as well. A man's gotta keep his promises."
The boy looked up at the man. Even though his eyes were red and puffy from crying, he willed himself to stop upon hearing the man's words.
His father had stopped working after his farm was taken over. Their family had been carrying a huge debt and their neighbors had refused to get involved with them.
It was for that reason that their own parents had sold them away.
Even worse, without shedding a tear, his grandparents had left and fled the night, running away from their debts as well.
The only one who would cry with him and protect him was his sister.
And there he was, completely alone, overwhelmed with the grief of not only seeing his parents abandon him, but also his sister's lifeless body lying on the ground.
The boy was forced to cry all alone.
But she was there.
She had cried with him.
She was kind because he knew that she had cried for him.
"Mmn!" he replied to the man in front of him.
"You're gonna be fine kid, don't worry," the big man ruffled his hair, "Name's Bob by the way, what's yours?"
"Ash."
╭( ・ㅂ・)و *:・゚✧
Tiamat and Yuri were sitting in the well lit office of the Marquis as one of the maids placed a cup of tea in front of the two of them.
"Thank you," Tiamat said to the maid, but didn't proceed to take a drink out of it. She still felt a bit uncomfortable sitting in the office, especially after her outburst towards the Marquis.
The Marquis was wearing a luxurious blue coat fit for nobility, at a quality even higher than what she had seen in Paolo's store. She guessed it was something of a noble's privilege.
He was sitting across from them, studying her and Yuri intently, and Tiamat got the feeling that he was not to be trusted. Especially from the way he smiled.
Tiamat knew that type of smile.
"Thank you very much Hannah-sama and Lily-san for accepting the quest and even subjugating the cultists of Zuranon themselves. The Kingdom has had a hard time catching their scattered members especially after the incident at the cemetery with the Dark Warrior Momon."
Tiamat smiled serenely, "Of course, Marquis-san."
"I have to say this, but," he bowed in his seat. "Please forgive me."
The Dragoness looked at the Marquis in shock. She had expected him to avoid the elephant in the room entirely.
Did she perhaps misjudge his character?
"I do have to apologize as well, Marquis-san," she closed her eyes, too ashamed to look him in the eye. "After seeing that boy I just…"
The Marquis smiled at her with the utmost sincerity, "I understand Hannah-sama, women must get worked up over children, it is in your instinct after all," he reasoned.
Tiamat lifted her eyes to the Marquis; the way he said those words was kind of...odd.
"You will make a great mother," he suddenly complimented.
Tiamat looked away as she tried to stem the dull pain in her heart. The heaviness was starting to take a toll on her body as much as her mind.
Just how many years had passed since she experienced that numbness of loss? And now the Marquis words had hit her out of nowhere.
She remembered those days like it was yesterday.
Her irises were threaded scarlet and her eyeballs hung heavy in their sockets. She had cried until there was nothing left inside but a raw emptiness that nibbled at her insides like a hungry rat.
She remembered when the sun shone high in the sky, but not for her. Never for her.
Seeing that the Priestess didn't reply, the Marquis continued. "With that being said, you will be properly rewarded for this, especially after that awful scene you had just witnessed. It was entirely my fault, I should have managed my mines carefully," the Marquis smirked. "That is why I will grant anything you wish for."
Tiamat's face was heavy with weariness. All she wanted to do was to go home and rest.
Resisting the urge to sigh, she replied, "The payment written on the parchment is more than enough, Marquis-san."
The Marquis laughed, "You don't have to be so humble, Hannah-sama. I would be doing the Kingdom a great disservice for not rewarding you properly."
But Tiamat didn't respond to what he said.
She just sat there with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Marquis Blumrush's eyes moved to the Priestess's disciple who was sitting next to her, but it seemed that she was also not easily persuaded. There was nothing in her expression that could betray the spectacled adventurer's thoughts.
He sighed, "Is there really nothing you desire, Hannah-sama?"
Tiamat hummed, trying to think of a proper response, "Not really, Marquis-san."
Suddenly, the Dragon in her rumbled, reminding her of the large ruby sitting near the entrance, displayed for all to see.
"That makes it harder for me, Hannah-sama," he said with a smile full of formalities.
That beautiful, brilliant red.
"I came here to discuss with you about the proper payment I should give you."
That quality and shine.
"I guess we would have to stay here until you have decided, Hannah-sama."
Tiamat finally picked up the tea cup in front of her, quietly taking a sip.
"I understand Marquis-san. In that case, there's something I think will be perfect for payment."
The Marquis's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting the woman in front of him to come to a decision so quickly.
He had experience working with adamantite adventurers before, and it was safe to say that he had a poor impression of them.
Especially considering the fact that the adamantite adventurer was from the nobility like he was.
"What is it, Hannah-sama?"
Tiamat's smile grew behind the tea cup.
╭( ・ㅂ・)و *:・゚✧
The noisy wind whipped at Yuri and Tiamat's hair as they flew above the clouds on Pentakrisis.
Yuri who was still not used to riding Pentakrisis had been rocking back and forth from the powerful surges of the Dragon's wingbeats.
To be honest, the first time Tiamat had ridden on Taki, she hadn't felt anything uncomfortable. Maybe that was because of her high defense and resist stats, something she had finally noticed when Yuri pointed out that it was quite hard to ride Pentakrisis without a saddle.
Pentakrisis was covered with scales, spikes, and ridges, not nearly as comfortable as riding a horse that was covered by hair.
The Dullahan had mentioned that she never expected that riding a dragon could be so noisy; the dragon's breathing, wings flapping, and the rubbing sound of the saddle on scales made for a deafening chorus.
The noise problem was only made worse by the fact that dragons were faster and had no need to fly in a conventional fashion. All in all, it made for a ride like no other.
Since there was only one saddle, Tiamat had asked Yuri to ride Pentakrisis all by herself after they had reached the clouds, unseen by anyone, where Tiamat then unfurled her wings and flew on her own. Afterall, if Yuri was not strapped in for her first ride, she would probably become a distant red smear on the ground.
Tiamat reached into her inventory and opened the box given to her, containing the reward the Marquis had decided to gift to them.
She took it out of the box and admired it under the sunlight while Pentakrisis and Yuri just watched with fascination mid-air.
A ruby about the size of her palm.
The gem, which was cut into a convex shape that exhibited a striking six pointed star, shone brightly in the direct sunlight.
As Tiamat stared into its depths, she found the gem's gleam distracting her from the tragedies she had seen.
She was never one to admire jewelry back on earth, finding them too expensive and too much of a hassle to own. Afterall, jewelry didn't fit someone like her.
But she felt somehow satisfied knowing that she owned this particular gem.
"Look Yuri, isn't it beautiful?" she cooed, a distant smile plastered on her face. "Ah, I can't wait to see this displayed in my room."
Yuri strained to hear what the Supreme Being had said due to the wind, but once she did, she yelled in response, unable to even hear her own reply properly.
"I didn't know you like gems, My Lady."
Tiamat's eyes were glued to the treasure she had just obtained, "I'm surprised myself. I was never one to buy trinkets, but this one called out to me so persistently. Somehow I felt like I had to have it."
Yuri let out a small smile when she saw that the Dragoness had cheered up after they had left the boy. To think a large red stone could comfort her when even the vast Treasury could not...
As long as Lady Tiamat was happy.
After a few minutes of appreciating the ruby in her hands, she put it back into her inventory.
Tiamat felt curiosity leak through the bond between her and Pentakrisis. It appeared that he was interested in what could make her so happy.
She gently flew in front of Pentakrisis and took the gem back out. "Look Taki. Pretty isn't it?"
The Dragon cooed in response, nodding excitedly over the shine of the gem.
"I can't wait to go back to Nazarick and show this off to Pandora's Actor," she hummed cheerfully.
Even Pentakrisis was rumbling happily in response.
╭( ・ㅂ・)و *:・゚✧
Tiamat ordered Pentakrisis to land near the entrance of E-Rantel as usual, and skipped happily towards the Adventurer's Guild while Yuri followed behind her.
But somehow, when she arrived, the city seemed much more crowded than before.
The Dragoness looked around. It was as if a spectacle was occuring in front of the door to the Guild.
People were running, pressing against each other to see what was going on.
The crowd had a life of its own, their clothes shining in the sunlight as the people moved like enchanting shoals of fish.
They even got Tiamat curious enough that she slipped slowly through them to see what was going on.
She had expected a brawl or some outrageous scene, but she couldn't believe her sight as soon as her eyes landed on a familiar figure.
A muscular man with sunbathed skin, shortly trimmed black hair and brown eyes that were as sharp as a sword.
Behind him was what looked like his Warrior Troops and a carriage with sculptures of solid gold bearing the symbol of the Kingdom itself.
As soon as she was in front of the crowd, he noticed her.
Gazef Stronoff.
His sharp eyes that had been searching through the crowd immediately mellowed as soon as his razor gaze landed on her own. A smile grew as he took his very first step towards her.
"Hannah Annafelowz," he bellowed, power evident in his clear voice as it bellowed through the entire crowd.
Yuri, feeling some sort of threat, immediately placed herself between the man and Tiamat, her glasses glaring with a wary glint.
The sudden action caused his troops to clutch their swords.
Gazef flinched when he saw the spectacled lady bearing a gold plate on her neck, and backed off immediately, signalling to his men to let go of their swords.
Gazef cleared his throat, "Are you Hannah Annafelowz?"
"What business do you have with My Lady?" Yuri immediately responded, her voice calm as her eyes darted through her surroundings looking for a possible exit.
Seeing how tense Yuri was, Tiamat put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Lily," she said softly.
"Hannah-sama…" her head turned back and once she saw the warm smile of her Goddess, she immediately moved to her side.
"It's alright," Tiamat whispered.
"You are Hannah Annafelowz, right?" Gazef asked once again.
Tiamat raised her head up high, responding with the utmost confidence, "Yes."
Even though she had only met Gazef once, Tiamat felt like the man could be trusted. But there was only one problem.
She didn't alter the memories of Gazef Stronoff and his Warrior Troops.
They still knew her as Hannah Annafelowz, a red haired woman with a butler by her side. Not a silver haired Priestess. Moreover, Tiamat didn't alter her body and facial structure at all, so the color of her eyes and the appearance of her face remained the same.
When she tried to recall her memories, she distinctly remembered only showing her face to the Warrior-Captain, so there was no need to worry about the others recognizing her.
Thousands of speculations entered her mind.
'This is bad…'
Were they trying to spill her secrets? Or perhaps the Kingdom knew something about her true appearance? Were they trying to capture her or something?
Gazef's eyes moved to her hips where her Adamantite plate was resting, as he tried to confirm her appearance over and over again.
Afterall, there was only one silver haired woman with an Adamantite plate in E-Rantel.
"I see," Gazef said and in one fluid motion, he straightened his back. His movement was copied by his troops who moved in unison, surprising her a little bit with their impressive synchronization.
"Hannah Annafelowz," he bellowed again. "By the order of King Ramposa the Third, you have been summoned to the Capital."
The people who witnessed this spectacle could only gulp, including Tiamat.
Tiamat smiled her usual smile, which was a bit more strained than usual. She could not falter now, especially if the Kingdom was here to arrest her, "May I know why, Warrior-Captain?"
"The King requires an audience with you, Hannah-sama," he bowed and his troops bowed with him.
'Say sike right now.'
Canon Omake: A Certain Heretical Demon
The Great Underground Tomb Of Nazarick.
An unconquerable dungeon filled with monsters and demons alike.
The dungeon itself was stretched to ten vast floors, and to reach one point to another, there were specific points on each floor where gates opened to allow magical transit.
The first to the third floors were the Catacombs, a subterranean burial chamber where hordes of undead wandered around in the darkness.
The fourth floor was an underground lake contained within a cavern.
The fifth floor was a wide area filled with numerous icebergs where the Frozen Prison was located. The captured enemies of Nazarick were locked there.
The sixth floor was a jungle, the only floor that was capable of reproducing the day and night cycle that changed according to the actual time outside. This floor was the widest area in Nazarick, about four kilometers wide with a large lake at its center. Everyone knows that this was where Lady Tiamat liked to spend her time with her Dragons and the twins.
Next was his floor, a perfect floor for him where he had everything he needed to perform his function.
The seventh floor was where crimson lava flowed like an ocean and where demons were as common as the bugs on the ground. The hell world.
But even if he said that; recently, he had been spending most of his time on the fifth floor where the Room of Truth and the Frozen Prison were located.
He was Demiurge, the Floor Guardian of the Seventh Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick and the commander of the NPC defenses.
A demon.
Currently, he was staring at the person in front of him who was submissively sitting on the cold floor with her head down while he looked from behind the metal bars that separated them.
She was shackled to the walls of the prison by her ankles, and her prison door was heavily guarded by two Evil Lords, Demiurge's personal bodyguards.
Her long red hair was splayed on the floor, as if blood was spilling from her head.
"Lady Tiamat," he greeted, his glasses glinting with excitement.
The Dragoness weakly lifted her head as she let out a deep exhale. Her hot breath came out in visible clouds, demonstrating the extreme chilliness of the prison. Despite the frosty air, Demiurge could see the sharp glint of her fiery amethyst eyes behind her red locks.
That gaze brought chills down his spine.
Her sharp relentless gaze told him everything he needed to know about her mental fortitude.
"It's time for an interrogation," he continued, pushing his glasses upwards to mask his unease.
Wrath opened the lock to the prison door to allow Demiurge in, and behind Demiurge were tools necessary for this special interrogation.
The Evil Lord wanted to sigh out loud.
How did it come to this…?
A few days ago
Ainz sighed at his table as he flipped through the pages of the report with Tiamat by his left and Albedo on his right.
As usual, they were working on the current policies and management of Nazarick's staff, trying to make the workplace a better place for everyone.
Suddenly, two knocks on the wooden door shattered his concentration.
Albedo looked at him for permission and after a tired nod, Albedo walked over to the door to open it.
Lo and behold, the person behind the door turned out to be Demiurge, walking towards his table with the usual confident smirk plastered on his face, looking as pristine as ever.
"Oh, Demiurge!" Tiamat greeted, thankful for the sudden distraction from paperwork.
He bowed, "Ainz-sama, Lady Tiamat."
"What is it, Demiurge? Is there something you need?" Ainz asked.
The Demon raised his head, "Ainz-sama, as you might know, I had interrogated the prisoners that Lady Tiamat had sent me."
Ainz nodded, he and Tiamat were well aware of this fact. Sadly, the prisoners seemed to have been killed by some sort of anti-torture spell.
"My failures from then still haunt me. I should've checked for anti-interrogation spells first, and that leads me to my main point," Demiurge continued, "What if the prisoner cannot be interrogated?"
"What do you mean by that?" Tiamat asked this time.
Ainz shifted to her and looked at her gratefully; he wanted to ask the same question as well. It was pretty useful to have someone who was willing to ask questions straightforwardly.
"What if the next prisoner that comes to Nazarick is immune to my methods? That is why I came here to consult with you, Ainz-sama, Lady Tiamat."
"I see," Ainz nodded.
"Why not?" Tiamat tilted her head curiously. "Can't you just use『Command Mantra』on them?"
"Even though my『Command Mantra』is effective, I am merely concerned that there may be someone who is unaffected by such a skill, Lady Tiamat," his smile widened, "For example, someone of your caliber. With high enough defenses and resist, 『Command Mantra』 will be rendered completely useless."
"So you're saying that you are trying to look into other methods of interrogation, is it Demiurge?"
"As expected of Ainz-sama!"
Understanding finally dawned on the Dragoness. "Hoo…Then," she smiled sincerely at the idea. "Why don't you try interrogating me instead?"
Demiurge and Albedo snapped their heads to Tiamat after hearing her suggestion.
"M-My Lady…" Albedo responded in shock.
"No," was Ainz's immediate response.
Tiamat flinched at the sudden rejection. "Why? It could be fun, like playing a game, right?"
"Did you even know what an interrogation entails?" Ainz asked wearily.
"Hm, like physical torture, basically forcing someone to spit out information, something like that?"
"Are you even aware of what kind of things these prisoners go through?"
"No," she answered innocently.
"You…" Ainz seethed, "You fool."
"B-But Demiurge needs help right? I think with my build, it would be perfect for him to conduct new kinds of interrogation methods that don't involve physical torture since it wouldn't work on me anyways. Besides, I trust that Demiurge won't harm me."
Albedo glared at Demiurge, threatening the Demon that there would be hell to pay if the Goddess had so much as even a scratch on her skin.
But the Demon was undeterred, instead his smile widened even further as he bowed towards the Dragoness. "Thank you for your faith in me, My Lady."
Ainz sighed, the simple conversation had taken a massive toll on him. "Do you really need help with this new method, Demiurge?"
"If Lady Tiamat offers, who am I to refuse, Ainz-sama?"
The silence in the office had become deafening. But when Ainz looked at Tiamat's sparkly eyes looking at him in eager anticipation, he couldn't help himself.
"Fine."
"Ainz-sama!" Albedo interjected, but when Ainz raised his hand, the succubus immediately silenced herself.
"However, I have a few rules," his red pin-prick orbs burned at Demiurge. "I will give Tiamat a few words, and you will need to extract these words from her. No physical torture, no mental ones either. Do you understand, Demiurge? I want her back fully healthy."
Demiurge smiled, this would be a challenge for him as the brain of Nazarick. "I understand, Ainz-sama! I will leave you now to prepare, Ainz-sama, Lady Tiamat," he bowed, and eagerly exited the room with a spring in his step.
After Demiurge had walked through the door, Ainz immediately stood up, and grabbed both of Tiamat's shoulders.
"Tia, listen to me."
"Y-Yes?"
"Remember that whatever Demiurge says later is not true, it's all just part of the...game. Right, remember that this is just a game, you understand?"
Tiamat nodded with a smile, "Yeap!"
"Ainz-sama, does Lady Tiamat really have to do this?"
Ainz looked at Albedo gravely, "Things are now in motion that cannot be undone …"
Regardless of Ainz and Albedo's worries, Tiamat still looked excited, "Waa, a game with Demiurge, how exhilarating!" she clapped excitedly, "So, what are those words, Ainz? Tell me, tell me!"
Ainz sighed yet again.
If only she knew that this den of monsters was so much more dangerous than the ones in the outside world…
"So…" Demiurge looked down on the imprisoned Dragoness, "You don't plan on speaking?"
Tiamat shook her head vigorously.
Wrath could only look at the scene in utter confusion.
This was a Supreme Being they were interrogating, far different from the other puny humans from before.
Whatever Demiurge-sama was trying to do was going to be useless.
Not only was Lady Tiamat a Dragon with high stamina, her job classes also came with high defensive stats. She had survived where others would be reduced to dust, with countless triumphs to her name.
Her amethyst eyes stared back at Demiurge unyieldingly.
It was obvious to Wrath that she would never yield to such petty methods.
When the Dragoness didn't respond, Demiurge replied. "I see…" fixing his glasses upwards, "Well, I'm sorry that it has come to this, but…"
An iron cabinet with a hinged front and spikes on its exterior, sufficiently tall enough to enclose her inside was brought to the prison.
An iron maiden.
"Starting today, the special interrogation will begin."
"Bring it, Demiurge."
Demiurge's gem like eyes glinted, "Well then…" he gripped the door to the iron maiden open, and Tiamat couldn't help but gulp in fear.
Ainz-sama had commanded him that he could not employ physical or mental torture. So Demiurge had to come up with more... creative methods to extract information from her.
Demiurge took something out of an iron maiden, a flat round circle with a heavenly smell.
Wrath looked once again, wiping his eyes with the palm of his hand as if he was hallucinating.
"Demiurge-sama, this is…"
"A pizza."
Wrath internally seethed. What the hell was he going to do with some pizza? Trying to use food to lure Lady Tiamat as if she was a child…
"Uwaa, it looks so good..." Tiamat whispered.
'Eh?'
Wrath had never whipped his head back so fast.
Tiamat, who noticed his unbearable stare that screamed out 'Are you for real?' immediately tried to defend herself.
"No! Don't get me wrong! I wasn't tempted by the pizza! I was objectively stating that it is delicious, like anybody would!"
Wrath noticed that Lady Tiamat was speaking quicker than usual.
"I am a Dragon! I will never concede to you, Demiurge!"
Demiurge didn't say anything.
He slowly cut a perfect triangular slice from the circle. The combination of the acidic tomato smell, cheese, and basil wafted through the air. Moreover, the stretching of that cheese…
Unconsciously, Tiamat was drooling while looking at the pizza with heart-shaped eyes.
"Kkh, that overwhelming aroma of wheat, the soft and crispy bottom, and the pull of that cheese as the pizza was being torn part. Demiurge, I never expected you to use such an underhanded trick."
Demiurge could only smile at her praise. "The interrogation is not yet finished, My Lady."
Tiamat gasped, "Don't tell me—!"
The Demon proceeded to take the first bite from that freshly cooked pizza.
The thing was, he was eating it from the crust downwards.
"W-Wait! What are you doing?! Stop!"
Demiurge continued until he had finished the first slice, while Tiamat could only watch in pain.
"What are you doing, Demiurge?! To eat a pizza, you have to pick up a slice by the crust and fold it slightly in a U-shape then take a bite from the pointed end of the pizza slice! This will keep the cheese and toppings from sliding off when you take a bite! This is logic!"
But Demiurge didn't pay any heed to what she was saying.
Instead, he slowly, dramatically picked up another slice.
Tiamat grinded her teeth, "You better eat it right this time…"
The interrogator smirked. The glint of his glasses bounced off the countless crystals in the icy dungeon. Even though she badly wanted to correct the way he ate the pizza, the Dragoness couldn't do anything as she watched the injustice that was being committed in front of her.
Then, he did the unthinkable.
To that perfectly baked pizza, Demiurge pulled off the stretchy cheese and pepperonis and discarded them in the disposal bin behind the iron maiden before proceeding to eat the toppingless pizza.
Tiamat stared at the discarded toppings in disbelief, "H-How could you…? If you ripped off the toppings like that, then it's just a piece of bread. It's no longer a pizza anymore," she said in hushed whispers. Whispers that the demon had most definitely heard.
"I need the words that Ainz-sama, gave you, My Lady."
As if woken up from a trance, Tiamat's head moved from the mutilated thrown-away pizza toppings to Demiurge, who was proudly bearing the smirk of victory.
"P-Password…?" Tiamat looked down at the floor, "That's right, we're playing a game, aren't we? I-I can't give you the password Demiurge. The secret words that Ainz had entrusted to me, I—"
Demiurge sighed, but he had expected this outcome, "I understand, My Lady. Then you leave me with no choice."
He picked up another slice of pizza and continued committing the same atrocities he did before.
"N-No, w-wait!"
Sharp teeth tore the toppings from the pizza, letting the wasted food drop to the plate uneaten.
"W-Wait, th-the p-pizza…!"
Elongated fingernails slowly ripped off the cheesy goodness and tossed it into the trash bin.
It was a never ending circle of hell that she couldn't escape from, and it finally ended when Demiurge had finished butchering all eight slices of pizza.
"I...I give up…" Tiamat declared in hushed whispers. "I give up...I surrender, so please…eat the pizza normally. Please...don't do this to the pizza..."
Demiurge licked his hand, "Oh? Why would I do that?" he smirked,
"Y-You demon…"
Demiurge fixed his glasses as he smirked, "I will come back tomorrow for round two, My Lady. Remember, this is only the beginning."
As soon as he had said his piece, he left, leaving Tiamat alone with a small trash bag filled with the toppings of the pizza.
Inside of her, a small chef cried relentlessly.
Today was a brand new day.
As soon as he walked into the prison cell made specifically to seperate Lady Tiamat from the other prisoners, he was greeted with the lost, soulless eyes of the Dragoness.
Demiurge looked at Lady Tiamat with a grin, "It's time for part two, My Lady."
Wrath, who was watching the Supreme One all night, could only look at her with pity. "Do we have to do this, Demiurge-sama?" he asked sadly.
"Yes," Demiurge nodded, "This is for the sake of Nazarick after all. Our Lady here has volunteered to help."
This time, Demiurge had brought a cinnamon roll bun, still warm.
The smell of cinnamon wafted through the cold air.
"Uh, Demiurge-sama."
"What is it Wrath?"
"I don't think such a thing could ever misguide Lady Tiamat."
"It's alright, Wrath," Tiamat interjected gently, taking a deep breath.
After what had happened yesterday, she had been preparing her mental fortress against Demiurge's interrogation methods. She had never expected him to be so ruthless. Now though? She was certain that she would be ready to take whatever Demiurge was throwing at her.
Afterall, what could be worse than eating a pizza like that?
"I'm confident this time! Afterall…" she raised her thumbs up. "I'm on team cheesecake!"
Wrath was getting more and more worried by her casual responses.
He shook his head, 'No, no. I shouldn't worry too much. This is Lady Tiamat, the Goddess of all Dragons, the one who prevailed over her father. The impenetrable dragoness!'
Demiurge started pouring out the cream cheese glaze, covering the entire bun with the sweet glaze.
Tiamat twitched in anticipation.
'As expected of a cinnamon roll, the delicious scent wafted all the way here. Just inhaling it is making me fantasize about eating it out of reflex! There's no way Demiurge can ruin this!'
She inhaled deeply with a happy sigh.
The sweet yeasted dough was rolled out, and a thick layer of melted butter was smeared over the rolled out dough.
Tiamat couldn't help but lick her lips.
The whole thing was rolled up, cut up, baked, and coated with a cream cheese glaze.
Everything about it just oozed deliciousness.
"What are you gonna do, Demiurge…" she whispered.
Demiurge began to lift the cinnamon roll from the plate.
"The interrogation begins here!"
Demiurge slowly turned the cinnamon roll upside down as Tiamat watched in confusion.
He lazily brought the sweet dessert to his mouth, making sure that the Supreme Being in front of him would get the full view of what was about to happen.
The Demon smirked when he saw her horrified expression behind his glasses as she finally realized what he was about to do.
He dramatically chomped down on the bottom of the pastry, eliciting a reaction of revulsion from Tiamat.
"T-There's no way..." Tiamat stared wide-eyed in disgust at Demiurge who was eating the cinnamon bun upside down. "How could you Demiurge! How could you ruin cinnamon rolls?!"
The demon smirked, "I will only eat the bottom and leave out the top part. If you don't give me the word now, I will throw out the rest."
"YOU HERETIC!"
"Incredible, would you look at that? The crispy bottom is perfect. I guess the cream cheese glazed top is overrated after all." Demiurge proceeded to take another bite from the bottom.
The anguished screams of the Dragoness could be heard throughout the Fifth Floor.
And that's how Tiamat, the Goddess of all Dragons gave up completely.
"I see, so those are the words Ainz-sama had given you, My Lady."
Tiamat completely disregarded what Demiurge had said and silently wept in the corner, her mind scarred with the image of Demiurge eating a cinnamon bun upside down.
Wrath could only look at Lady Tiamat with complete dejection.
The Dragoness, who noticed his disappointed stare, said to him, "Wrath, an upside down cinnamon bun is a serious matter! There is nothing more heretical than that! NOTHING!"
"...I see," the Evil Lord took a small step away from the Dragoness as Demiurge freed her from the dungeon's clutches, escorting her back to Ainz-sama's office while she wept in pain over the waste of such good food, especially the cream cheese glaze topping.
That night, Demiurge sat in the Burning Temple trying to decipher the words he had gotten from Lady Tiamat. The sound of burning air and hissing flames filled his ears as he stared into the distance, his arms resting against the obsidian table.
There were only two words that Lady Tiamat had uttered from her mouth: Goddamn Bur.
He had searched the entire collection of Ashurbanipal, and even asked Titus for help on what the phrase could possibly be referring to, but to no avail.
Titus spent the entire day looking for books that could translate the cryptic password Ainz-sama had given Demiurge. The only thing he found was that "Bur" was something related to plants, but the librarian couldn't comprehend what "Goddamn" could represent.
If two of them together could not figure out the meaning of the phrase, there could only be one possible solution. It must be a saying in the same category as "Shi-ti-dev".
The language of gods.
"As expected of Ainz-sama. Even if I won the battle, I still lost the war," Demiurge sighed in exaltation.
In the end, he closed the book and headed out to the Supreme Being's office, where he would announce his complete loss to this very wonderful, but short-lived game.
Perhaps they would play again in the future.
With that, Demiurge exited his office.
If only he had observed a little bit more and changed the letters around…
Dumb Dragon.
That was the true meaning of the password Ainz had given to Tiamat.
"Ainz," Tiamat had returned early from the Frozen Prison that night, coming into the office with teary eyes. "I lost."
She sprawled herself out on the purple sofa, her face burrowed in the plush pillows.
"I know," Ainz observed his friend. It looked like she didn't sustain any damage, to which he sighed in relief.
'That's good.'
"Lady Tiamat, you've returned!" Albedo greeted her with a hug as Tiamat sat up again, "Now, please tell me if you have any injuries. What did Demiurge do for two days? Have you eaten? Did you get tortured?"
The Succubus checked every square inch of her skin.
Suddenly Tiamat started sniffling on the sofa, which surprised both Ainz and Albedo.
Ainz immediately stood from his chair and went over to the sofa.
"My Lady, is there anything wrong? Are you perhaps injured?" Albedo's pitch raised higher, as she started to panic. "I swear if Demiurge laid a finger on you, I will personally send him to hell!"
"Demiurge is a demon…" she said with a small voice.
"Tia, did Demiurge did anything to you…?" Ainz asked carefully.
Tiamat tore herself away from Albedo so quickly that both Ainz and Albedo flinched. "No, but listen to this Ainz, Demiurge threw away pizza toppings and eats a cinnamon roll from the bottom, from the bottom!" she put a palm on her face, "That poor pizza and cinnamon roll didn't deserve such disrespect!"
Ainz plopped on the sofa, "Are you kidding me?"
"Why would I be kidding about this?!"
"He did that to the cinnamon roll?" Albedo asked.
"Yes!"
Albedo gasped, "How could he…"
Ainz looked at Albedo in utter confusion, "A-Albedo…?"
"A cinnamon roll is supposed to be eaten slowly, savoring every piece of the roll, eating it from the crispy outside to the sweet insides. To eat it from the bottom…"
"I know, right?!"
In the end, they started to talk about the other atrocities Demiurge had committed to the culinary world in order to extract information from Tiamat.
Ainz shook his head.
'I don't get it.'
A/N: The omake was highly inspired by "It's Time for Interrogation, Princess!" manga. Please give that a read. It's super funny.
Hackslashbash: That kid may or may not be important in the future. ALL OMAKES ARE CANON UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE.
Chapter 26 is out on discord!
Discord: 'Tiamat: The Goddess of Dragons' Discord Link: Hector Tries To Pivot Stuff (colon) (slash) (slash) daddy is so craving orangerefreshing drink . gg (slash) JUejk8J
