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It was the time of reckoning.

All were ready, all were waiting. The Pleiades Maids sat in the back of the arena as they chatted amongst themselves. The area guardians were sitting in front of them, patiently waiting for the meetings to begin. The floor guardians sat in front, the most eager of them all.

The elf twins bounced from where they sat, and the succubus and vampire smiled as they suppressed their own jitters. In front of all these willing listeners, the last two supreme ones sat.

Tiamat and Ainz were sitting in a pair of beautifully crafted dark walnut chairs while they counted to make sure all of their loyal subordinates were there. Tiamat's dragons wobbled both around and behind her as she counted out everyone.

The starry ceiling mixed with the occasional stiff breeze made for a lovely night, as those sitting around could attest to. The fake moon shone bright as torches and balls of light lit up the arena. Light dust clouds rose up, and died down as quickly as they were made once everyone got comfortable. The forest surrounding the arena was unusually quiet, but given the company and all the commotion, it was to be expected.

The arena ground on the sixth floor was nearly filled as the loyal servants of Nazarick gossiped amongst themselves. "Hey Yuri, why do you think everyone's here like this? There weren't even this many of us on the same floor when we first came to this world."

"I'm sure the supreme ones have some sort of lesson or surprise for us, Lupus-chan," The stoic head maid replied.

"Oh I hate lessons, a surprise would be waaaaaay better than that!" The wolf maid complained with a pout.

"If there is a lesson, you're probably the one in the most need of it," Yuri said with a sigh, though she still offered the werewolf a soft smile.

"Hey, that's mean! How was I supposed to know the ants at Carne village were important?" Lupus bit back, a feisty look in her eye.

"That just shows you that you need to think more often, especially since you were sent there to watch them," The wolf maid's ears drooped as she was reminded of her failure. "Even ants have a place in the world Lupus, if the supreme ones want to watch over an ant hill, then there must be something useful there," The poor werewolf pouted even more, staring at the floor as her ears lay flat against her head.

Not far off, Albedo and Shalltear bickered with each other. "So you gigantic sea cow, why have you brought nearly everyone here? Oh, I know! I bet it's to announce his Lord's bride! Ah, I've so longed for this day!" Shaltear stated in a lusty haze as her imagination took over.

"What did you say you malnourished leech?! You dare assume that you'll gain our Lord's ultimate favor just like that? I ought to flay you alive for just the thought of it!" Albedo roared out, her expression looked as if she was ready to rip off the little vampires head from her shoulders. Shalltear in turn reared back, ready to take a swing and turn this into a proper brawl.

Suddenly, a small cough stopped all the chatter, and everyone refocused on their lord and lady. Once the distinct voice of Tiamat began to speak, Albedo and Shalltear perked up and stopped their daily squabble just as Aura tried to butt in as well.

"Okay! I think that's everyone," Tiamat cheerfully exclaimed as she clapped her hands together.

Ainz seemed mildly amused if his teasing tone was anything to go by. "Are you sure that calling everyone from their stations for this… what did you call it…? A 'pep talk', is a good idea?"

Tiamat waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, it'll be fine. You've proven that nobody can even breach the first area let alone the first floor. Besides, they've been needing something like this for such a long time."

Ainz rubbed his chin, "I suppose... So do tell, what have you gathered us all here for today?"

"I'm glad you asked, because I shall be sharing the story of how we met! So with that little secret revealed, I'll start by telling you all about when I first entered the world of Yggdrasil."

Ainz would have raised an eyebrow if he could, but fortunately his voice showed off his curiosity where his face couldn't. "Oh? What brought on this bout of nostalgia?"

"I've noticed that the Guardians," Tiamat waved her hand in the general direction of the Floor Guardians, "Have been curious about us, aaaaaand I also thought that they deserve a treat. The… incident also brought some things into light," A certain loli vampire flinched, unnoticed by anyone else.

Most of the spectators were awed at the 'gift' they were being given. A certain spectacled demon pulled out a pen and notebook, ready to jot down what would come next as he smiled eagerly. The succubus Albedo couldn't contain her wings as they fluttered about. It took Shalltear a little bit to recover from the news; and Cocytus was just Cocytus. Ainz showed the most interest, however, as he leaned forward and clasped his hands together in a thoughtful manner.

Tia clapped her hands and started the tale. "When I was brought into Yggdrasil, I was weak but so very much curious. There were so many new sights and sounds that I had never seen before, and I wanted to see all of it! From the different worlds to the plants, animals, and people… I wanted to see them all!" she exclaimed with a twinkle of nostalgia in her eyes. Her hands moved and shifted, little fires taking a life of their own as they molded into little images of the realms and other such locations as she went on.

"The rest of the people there did not see it my way. The humans, and some demi-humans, got rewarded for hunting down others that weren't like them. Being so weak and new to the world, there was nothing I could do against them for a while… As such, I decided to harden my scales and make myself unkillable instead!" Her tone started somber but came back to life near the end, until she was rudely interrupted.

"Lot of good that did for you."

"Ainz! I'm trying to tell a story here!" Tiamat poutted. The skeletal overlord chuckled but didn't interrupt any further.

Demiurge decided to raise his hand and looked expectantly at the two supreme ones. Tiamat curiously nodded to the demon. "Yes Demiurge?"

Putting down his notebook, the demon adjusted his glasses before standing and asking his question. "Forgive me for interrupting my Lord and Lady, but if I heard you right, you said that when you enter a new world you become weak and must gather your strength?"

Ainz and Tia both looked at each other before the overlord answered. "Yes, generally speaking."

The ever calculating and sinister smile returned as he sat back down and grabbed his notes. "Ah, I see… that explains both of your behaviors when we first arrived here. Thank you for enlightening me, my Lord." The steel tailed demon then proceeded to furiously write down notes in his book as a few of the other guardians murmured briefly amongst themselves, no doubt sharing examples and confirmation with each other.

"Mare! Do you remember when Lord Ainz and Lady Tiamat first came down after we changed worlds? They trusted us with testing out their strength, isn't that amazing!" Aura excitedly shook Mare's shoulders, the young dark elf nodding and stuttering an equally excited, "Y-Yeah!"

Tiamat looked to Ainz for a moment before giving her attention back to the rest of the room. "Anyway, I eventually grew tougher and decided to journey through the nine realms to find people to beat up—I mean triumph over," the red-haired Dragoness coughed into her fist, " Anyways, I was confident in my ability to outlast most of our other peers, and I eventually did even against Touch Me, who was already a World Champion at the time!" Tiamat's chest puffed out in pride while Ainz's red orbs exasperatedly rolled around in his skull.

Suddenly, Tia's tone grew less enthused, and the Skeletal Overlord glanced at her with a hint of worry. "It was what happened after outlasting Touch-Me that earned me my 'title' if you could call it that," Pentakrisis and the little hatchlings growled and shifted as they felt anxious and angry at people they could never reach. The rest of the crowd were in similar straits as they all remembered this part of the story.

Ainz put his hand on Tiamat's shoulder in a hopefully comforting way. "You don't have to tell it if you don't wish too."

Shaking her head, she responded, a little teary eyed. "No, I do, because it was after that moment that one of the best things in my life happened… I got to meet and be a part of all of you," The dragons nuzzled against her as Mare and Aura ran forward to hug her. She hugged and patted them back eagerly.

A few of the audience sported tears as they waited for her to continue with her tale. Cocytus bristled, ice and snow falling off of him as the next part was told.

"But yes, I was surrounded and beaten down, called a cheater and a worthless dragon… Touch-Me heard about this and offered me the chance to join Ainz Ooal Gown and… well you can all see that I have! Seeing Nazarick for the first time and meeting all of you was breathtaking…" she trailed off a bit with a faraway look in her eyes, "Befriending the other guildmates was just as grand, as we weaved our own stories together."

Tiamat paused for a bit, her eyebrows scrunched up as she seemed to make up her mind on something. "Though that reminds me, I know how much you all must feel knowing that your creators are gone. They were our friends as well," Tiamat waved a hand at Ainz, "And I will always miss them dearly; but I want you all to know that they didn't simply abandon us. There were other worlds they had to return to, on top of the fact that a few thought…" the Dragoness's breath hitched as Ainz gently placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. She nodded and wiped at her eyes lightly. One of her hatchlings hopped on her lap after fighting off the others, which caused a bit of a ruckus as they roared at each other.

A few of the brighter guardians looked at each other in a bit of a curious manner before Tia started back up. "The point is that they loved you all deeply and would never have wanted to leave you if they didn't have to. I know it may not be what you all wanted to hear but I thought it needed saying."

"Well said Tia, I couldn't have said it better myself," Ainz stated as he gave her another pat.

The tiny dark elf Mare raised his hand. "Um… if I may ask, why d-did you two stay?"

Tiamat tenderly gazed upon Mare before hugging him. "I knew this question was coming but it still doesn't make it any easier…"

Ainz cleared his throat and decided to take the lead. "While all of us supreme ones have important things in other worlds, we could not simply leave you all alone. It still pains me that they are gone, but I treasure their memories like I treasure all of you."

"Some more than others; but yes just as Ainz said," Ainz sent a glare at Tia who tilted her head in response. "What?"

The undead Lord sighed and pinched the bridge between his eyes. "Nothing, we'll discuss it later."

"Wha? Okay I guess… Anyways, it wasn't long until I had explored every inch of Nazarick. I was amazed at all of you and by this great tomb… yes, even you Pandora," Tiamat smiled as there was a shout in German which was quickly cut off by something being thrown at the changeling's head.

"Though I was sad that I couldn't make a guardian or child like one of you guys."

She then finished her tale and went on to tell more little stories which Ainz had to correct more often than not as she got carried away.


A/N: Thank you Razel-Treasure, Frog Launcher, Xavier Nadera, and James for beta-ing this chapter.


Collection of Ashurbanipal - Volume XLI: Tiamat: The Goddess of Dragons, A Myth -

Volume XLI, Chapter VIII - Bargain

In the depths of a bottomless ravine, the Paladin of Pure Silver sought out the God of Death himself, bringing along with him the pieces of the Dragon's soul.

The incorruptible champion transversed through the death pits of the Underworld, facing countless monstrosities—whose names even now cannot be uttered—in his journey for a being whispered of only in myths.

Several weeks of endless combat passed before the Paladin—battered and bruised—finally stood before the vast cavern that was the domain of the Overlord of Death.

The Silvery Paladin pleaded his case before his longtime friend, and petitioned the Lord of Death if there was any way he could bring to life the flickering shards of the Dragoness's soul. To the Champion's dismay, the Overlord of Death shook his head, saying that such a feat was far beyond even his vast powers.

For even a being in command of Life and Death themselves could not bring to life someone whose soul had been shattered into so many pieces.

Despite being faced with such an insurmountable obstacle, the Paladin refused to give in to despair. For what more suitable task was there for him than one that even the gods declared impossible?

Bearing this unquenchable determination in his heart, the Paladin went to the only other group of people he knew that might be able to bring the Dragoness back from the brink.

Bading farewell to the forsaken depths of the Death God, the Paladin set foot into the highest heavens—a privilege granted to him by virtue of his exemplary justice—and petitioned the unfathomable angels themselves to restore his broken friend.

To his dismay, the holy celestials turned their noses up at the sight of a beast descretating their holy domain. No matter how much the Paladin appealed to their fabled mercy and compassion, the angels turned a deaf ear to him, eventually growing tired of his unceasing pleading as they coldly forced him to leave.

Even still, the Paladin persisted. He traveled far and long, beyond the concepts of good and evil, beyond life and death, and reached a flat plain of pure emptiness where only the most enduring souls could reach.

It was there, in a realm of pure white, that he met a shining being whose appearance was all but incomprehensible to the Paladin's eyes.

Wary of the bizarre stranger, the Silver Paladin asked the out-of-place being who it was. The being did nothing but point to the Paladin's side.

Confused, the Paladin grew even more on guard, drawing his blessed sword as once again asked the being for its name. The being's mouth, or at least where most people would have a mouth, twisted in geometrie foreign to this realm, and out came a name that filled the Paladin's soul with tired resignation.

"ガチャポン"

A word—name—that every breathing being that called the Great Tree their home knew, feared, and worshipped.

Countless had laid their entire fortunes at the feet of the being beyond the divine, hoping for even a fraction of the being's goodwill.

Countless others had lost everything to the cruel and uncaring hand of the being.

The Paladin was well acquainted with the tales surrounding ガチャポン.

They were not tales that ended with a happily-ever-after. Even so, there was nowhere else for him to go.

If we were to save his friend, then this was his only chance.

With a deep sigh that carried the dread of a champion of an entire world, the Paladin took from his side a handful of a mysterious substance that the gods called "えん" and laid it at the foot of the everwatching being.

Once the Paladin had put forth his offering, the being turned its blank yet evershifting face towards him. It raised its arm and beckoned for the Champion to bring the shards of his friend's soul closer.

He cautiously brought the flickering embers of the Dragon's soul closer. The being said not a word as it laid a finger on the largest ember in the Champion's cradle. A brilliant flash blinded the Paladin for a split second, and when he opened them, he found himself back in the dark chasms of his friend the Death God.

The Overlord of Death—enraged at how his friend sought the council of ガチャポン— stepped forward to castigate the Paladin until he saw a truly amazing sight.

The embers that the being had blessed were slowly coalescing into the form of a young maiden. As the shards of the Dragon's soul were gradually reunited, the light surrounding her form dimmed.

Before the Paladin's and Overlord's eyes, a horned woman bearing crimson hair dyed in the bloody dawn appeared, eyes closed as her body slowly descending to the ground as the mysterious force that had been lifting her vanished.

The Overlord—who happened to be right below her—caught her as she suddenly fell, her shut eyes slowly opening to reveal orbs of fluid amethyst.

The Dragon had arisen once again.


Chapter 26: A Garden of Silvery Blue


As the Priestess walked away with the warrior dog, one of the nobles of the entourage sneered behind them as he twisted one of the rings on his middle finger, before returning back to the Throne Room where the King and all the other nobles were still having their discussion.

Stopping in front of the grand double doors, the civil officer was about to announce his and his entourage's presence, but he waved it off. The civil officer nodded, quietly slinging the door open with ease so that the nobleman could come in and sneak behind the crowd, unnoticed.

Apparently, as soon as the Priestess had left, the whole room had been embroiled in a very heated discussion.

The King sat on his Throne, unaccompanied by the warrior dog. The colossal chair of deep blue and marbled ice white with a carned banner hanging above the entrance way to the rich mahogany doors was always magnificent to look at. But most of them dreamily took note of the empty side next to the King, imagining themselves in the warrior dog's position.

But not everyone thought that way.

"As I said, Your Majesty. I would like to make her a member of the nobility," Blumrush suggested.

An angry murmur rose up from the usually quiet nobles, "There's no way we can do that!" one of the more audacious one shouted out.

Even if it was one of the Six Great Nobles of the Kingdom who had suggested that, most of the lesser nobles agreed that it was not a good idea.

Especially with the rule put in place by the Adventurer's Guild. "No Adventurer shall be involved in politics," a rule made out of common sense. A rule that the nobles knew would limit their involvement with strong influential heroes.

Heroes like the Priestess.

It was not the first time someone had suggested something like this either.

Countless other nobles had once petitioned for their favorite Adventurer to be inducted into the Royal Court, only for them to be completely shut down by the Six Great Nobles.

And now...now one of them was eating his own words.

This caused some of those nobles to rage.

"Why would you even do that, Marquis Blumrush?! When I was suggesting that Igvarge-dono become a noble because of his achievements, you were the one who refused!"

As the other noble huffed his breath from the sheer unfairness of the situation, he had completely lost his integrity as a noble in the eyes of his peers. To think that he would use commoner-like words and fail to control his emotions in front of the King.

Some of them grimaced at his egregious lack of decorum.

Marquis Blumrush smiled, gracefully poised with his back straight and eyes looking straight at the other noble. "You have to understand, Baron," enunciating the noisy noble's lower ranking. The corner of his mouth lifted, almost in a sneer. "Igvarge-dono did not have much to offer to the table. The achievements he had accumulated in his entire career had been surpassed by the Priestess in merely a week's time."

The Baron flinched at the Marquis's irrefutable words.

It was clear at this point whose word held more weight in the Royal Court. A mere no-named Baron would be outclassed in every aspect by a Marquis from the Six Great Nobles.

"The Silver Priestess was the one who had eradicated the Curse of the Sea, and the product she had created as a result improved the state country's market. Aside from that, she had also protected the Kingdom from the Pandemonium, where even those of Mythril rank were overwhelmed. Furthermore, she had healed all of the injured Adventurers afterwards.

"Just the fact that His Majesty had invited her into the castle just to thank her is something extraordinary," Blumrush quipped as the stupid nobles hung on to his every word.

Blumrush turned slightly towards the King, "This is why, Your Majesty, I believe my proposal to be for the good of the entire Kingdom."

The King looked at the noble in front of him with wary eyes; however, he waved his hand, urging for him to continue.

Marquis Blumrush's grin widened even further.

The reason as to why he was suggesting this was obvious. He had seen her power in his own gem mine just a couple of days ago.

A monster of immense might and power.

When the woman knew that it was him who facilitated her rise from a mere commoner to an exalted noble, she would definitely be grateful. He would provide her with everything she needed, and she would gradually depend on him more and more. Once she was fully wrapped around his finger, that was when he was going to strike.

Using his influence as her benefactor, he would force her to follow his commands.

He was one of the Six Great Nobles. His word was law in the Kingdom. If the Priestess had a rank that was lower than his, then there was nothing she could do but to obey him.

Blumrush's smile widened at the thought.

With the dragon at his beck and call, he could easily subdue the Empire and there would no longer be a need for him to act like a dirty mole ever again.

And perhaps he could finally topple the stupid King from his throne, making it his own.

"I wish to make her a noble, and I hope that Your Majesty will give her a rank befitting of one as a gift from the Kingdom for all the good deeds she has done. Your Majesty we need to—"

The King sighed, clutching his head with the palm of his hand as he realized what he had done by inviting the Silver Priestess to the castle.

His head throbbed.

The pain felt like someone had taken a hammer to his skull. He leaned his head into his hand more as he squeezed his eyes shut and willed the pain to go away.

The rest of the world blurred into a haze of colors and sound, and the only thing he could concentrate on was the pain rooted deep inside his head.

He could barely hear Marquis Blumrush and the rest of the nobles who seemed to agree with his argument as they were chattering before him. All Ramposa felt and all he knew was the pain of that moment.

Ramposa waved his hand. The headache was starting to become much more overbearing, "I will think about it. For now, you are all dismissed."

One by one, the nobles left the Throne room. A heated discussion emerged as the nobles discussed the action of elevating a commoner to nobility. Marquis Blumrush followed Marquis Raeven out of the room as he smirked.

"Blumrush," a voice called out to him from the shadow of the doorway.

The older man feigned surprise as he quickly turned around, "My Prince! I did not see you there."

The prince smirked, a cruel grin that Blumrush was all too familiar with, "It seems that we have a lot to talk about."

Blumrush eyed the King who was still rubbing his head, "It seems so, Prince Barbro."

And so the two of them walked side by side out of the Throne Room, leaving the King to sit alone on the throne.

Thanks to his new chess piece in this board game along with the stupid eldest prince, Blumrush was confident that his plans would proceed at a breakneck pace. He just had to wait a little longer and he would no longer have to be a dog for the Baharuth Empire.

Just a little bit more and he could be the ruler of both nations. His eyes narrowed in delight as he thought about how the King himself was unwittingly dancing in the palm of his hand.

Afterall, just like the eldest prince, it had always been easy to persuade the stupid King.

ლ(╹ε╹ლ)

"Uhhhhh, nice to meet you too?" Tiamat awkwardly waved at them as she glanced down at Gagaran who was still bleeding out on the ground. "Is she going to be okay?" Tiamat pointed worriedly at the injured warrior.

"Oh, Gagaran?" Lakyus sighed, "She'll be fine, I promise."

"Now, if only that Mass of Muscle would stop trying to glomp every living thing she saw..." the masked girl muttered as she sat back down in her chair.

"Evil-eye," Lakyus admonished, turning her head to face Tiamat with a half-smile on her face, "I'm really sorry about those two. It's been years and they're still always at each others' throats…" the leader of the illustrious group shook her head. "Anyways, I'm sure that you didn't come all the way here just to watch us squabble. Please, come in. And you too, Climb-kun," Lakyus moved to the side and gestured towards the room.

"Ah, thanks, but are you sure she'll be alright?" Tiamat looked back at Gagaran who was groaning as she pushed herself back into a standing position, leaving a stark red stain on the white carpet that was starting to congeal.

That carpet was immediately removed from sight by one of the maids who entered just after Tiamat and Climb. Shortly afterwards, more maids came into the room with trays stacked with tea and sweets.

Renner rushed past Tiamat and pulled Climb into a tight hug, causing the young guard to splutter with a bright red face.

"Climb! Are you okay?!" the Princess herself had kneeled down and was panickedly patting Climb from top to bottom as she checked for injuries.

"R-Renner-sama, I'm wearing armor. I'm alright…" Climb tried to comfort the distressed princess.

Tiamat blanched as she watched the maids drag the bloodied carpet away, 'I thought that Gagaran was about to attack Climb,' the Dragoness stole a quick glance at the Assassin who was innocently dangling from the ceiling, 'I should've given the assassin a more specific order...'

"Get up, Muscle Head. You've had injuries worse than this," the masked girl snarked.

"Awww, I know you actually care, Shorty," Gagaran let out a strained smile as she stumbled over to Tiamat.

"Name's Gagaran, but everyone calls me the Mysterious Lovely Warrior," the muscular woman grabbed her hand and vigorously shook it. The Eight-Edge Assassin on the ceiling stiffened.

Tiamat simply gave him a look and the spider immediately stopped, dropping his blades as his body slightly relaxed.

She lowered her eyes to Gagaran's wound. The laceration had stained the surrounding area a sticky red—a sight that was definitely not for sore eyes.

Tiamat winced, "I'm really sorry about that. Here, let me heal this," without waiting for Gagaran's response, she placed her hand over the injury.

"『Full Cure』."

Before their widened eyes, a golden glow surrounded Gagaran's wound as the torn flesh rapidly knit itself together.

In just a few seconds, Gagaran's stomach bore no signs that she had suffered a severe injury. The only indicator that she had ever been attacked was the tear in her armor.

"Damn! That was one hell of a healing spell pretty lady!" Gagaran looked down at her stomach in awe, patting the newly created skin and pinching it to see if it hurt.

Tiamat rubbed her head sheepishly, "It's the least I can do, afterall—" the spider was my responsibility

"That's an interesting spell," the masked person—Evileye—commented. "Your first spell was interesting as well."

Tiamat's forehead broke out in cold sweat. She knew where this conversation was going.

"What is that spell anyways?"

'I knew it!'

Her knees were weak, arms heavy. Despite all that, she gave the rest of the group a sweet smile and a wink, "It's a secret~"

The whole table fell into an awkward silence.

Only to be erased by the booming laughter from the Mysterious Lovely Warrior.

"I like that answer, pretty lady!" Gagaran put her massive stocky arms around her shoulders. Even though Tiamat was taller than Albedo, who was by no means short, she couldn't help but feel tiny next to the giant beside her.

"Maa," Lakyus interjected. "I understand, afterall, we all have secrets regarding our skills," But then she looked away and began mumbling, "Even I have my own secrets…"

If Tiamat didn't have her enhanced hearing, she wouldn't have heard anything. As it was, she found it very reasonable that the leader of this Adamantite party would have her own secrets to protect.

Tiamat's eyes took in the members of Blue Rose. Despite hearing so much about them, she had never thought they would be such a carefree group.

Her gaze landed on them one by one. First, it landed on the person right in front of her, the leader of the group, Lakyus. She was wearing a red dress fit for nobility while the rest of the team was wearing their adventuring outfits. Her hair was done in a side braid, and her confident eyes made Tiamat want to look away. They were simply too overbearing.

Next, her eyes landed on the sassy masked...person. She looked small, and her height was similar to, or even shorter than Princess Renner's. Her garb consisted of a long tattered cloak and an uncanny mask that hid her appearance.

Then Tiamat looked over to her right to see the twins standing side by side. The kunais the twins were previously brandishing had mysteriously disappeared.

'Wow, so these are real Adamantite Adventurers… Does that mean I should hide even more of my skills? I guess it would make sense seeing as people are already gossiping a lot about me.'

Tiamat felt a strong urge to cast『Appraisal』on the group before her, but she refrained. She had a feeling that they wouldn't take kindly to her exposing their abilities.

'It would be kinda rude if I did that to people I just met…'

However, she felt a weird vibe from Evileye. Somehow, when she sniffed the air, Tiamat had caught a faint sweet smell that strangely reminded her of Shalltear.

Renner clapped her hands together, "Well, I think you guys are well acquainted at this point. It makes me really happy!"

The Princess walked in front of Tiamat and curtsied right after helping Climb back to his feet. "My name is Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself, Third Princess of Re-Estize Kingdom. Nice to meet you, Silver Priestess!"

'Waa...she looks like one of those Princesses from children's tales. If she's a monster like that Prince from earlier said, then she must be the most adorable monster in the world…"

Tiamat shook her head, erasing all thoughts of cuteness from her mind as she focused her mind on the meeting before her.

Copying the Princess's picture-perfect curtsy, Tiamat began her greetings. "My name is Hannah Annafelowz, the Silver Priestess. Thank you for inviting me to the Rose Garden, Princess Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself and Blue Rose. I'm happy to finally be here."

"Let's all take a seat, shall we?" the Princess turned her head around at the knight behind Tiamat. "You too Climb."

The first ones to move towards the round table were the Princess and Lakyus. The twins stayed behind Lakyus like her shadow, while Evileye who had not moved an inch just slumped down on her chair. Climb walked past the small masked girl and waited for the Silver Priestess to choose her seat.

"Climb, come sit next to me," the Princess implored with sparkling eyes. Climb wavered for a moment before Renner pressed on, "Come on Climb. Don't you want to sit and talk with everyone?"

"Renner-sama, it would be too inappro—"

"Oh, shut up," the small masked figure moaned, "I swear, you two do this stupid back and forth everytime we come over."

"Evil-Eye!" Lakyus scowled, "You're going to leave a bad impression on our guest."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Tiamat sincerely believed that if the petite girl wasn't wearing her mask, then everyone would be able to see her rolling her eyes.

"Don't mind her, Climb-kun. Take a seat right here," the blonde leader of the Adamantite group pulled out a chair next to Renner.

"Y-Yes, Lakyus-san," Climb abashedly took the proffered seat.

Tiamat took the hint and took another seat between Gagaran and Lakyus, right across from the Princess herself. But even after she did that, Tiamat could see that Climb had still hesitated when he sat down in the chair next to the Princess. The Golden Princess, however, looked noticeably happier.

As she was getting herself comfortable, the maids started putting the teacups and sweets on the table.

"Thank you," Tiamat said to the black haired maid, and the maid flinched—clearly not expecting a response—and nodded before leaving the room, shutting the door as quietly as possible.

"It's really sad, isn't it?" Renner took a sip as her eyes peeked over the edge of her teacup.

"Huh?" an undignified response left Tiamat's lips. The question had caught her off guard.

"The way the maids respond to just a simple word of gratitude, it's a sad thing isn't it?" Renner gently put the teacup down.

"I guess? The King doesn't seem like the type to mistreat them," Tiamat scratched the back of her head.

"Mmmm, Papa always does his best for his people, but Papa is too busy with other stuff to actually take care of each employee in the Castle," Renner cutely tilted her head, "I am curious, Hannah-san, how do you know for sure that Papa doesn't mistreat his employees?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, a Monarch had a lot of responsibilities. They have to make choices they don't want to make for the good of the people; however, that doesn't mean he's a good person, right?"

"That's true, but if he's always working for the good of the people, that means that he cares about them right? Even if he has to make hard decisions, isn't it all for their sakes?" Tiamat looked straight into the Princess's wide open eyes. "Any person that's willing to go that far for people they might never see is a good person in my book."

"I see," Renner's expression turned serious for a split second before returning back to that of an innocent child's, "I'm sure Papa would be really happy to hear that!"

Lakyus smiled, "That's interesting," and sipped on her tea slowly.

The leader of Blue Rose knew what the Princess was trying to do and smiled from behind the tea cup. Lakyus knew that the Princess was just trying to get to know the Priestess better.

Tiamat frowned, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No. In fact, it's the opposite," Lakyus responded, and Tiamat got even more confused.

"Anyways, Hannah-san, that dress looks very pretty on you!" Renner clapped with a smile.

"Thank you, Princess."

"That dress used to belong to my mother, and it fits you perfectly."

"Ah, it's a really beautiful dress. Your mother must be a lovely woman," Tiamat looked down at the dress she was wearing, trying to imagine an older Renner wearing it.

"Oh," the Princess's expression turned into that of ineffable sorrow, "She would have been happy to hear you say that."

"Would have been? Oh…" Tiamat looked down at the tea cup in front of her.

The Princess was the image of youth, no older than fourteen years old at most. For her to see a stranger wearing her mother's dress, she must've been greatly distressed.

Feeling guilty, Tiamat steeled herself and stood up from the desk, surprising even Gagaran who stopped grabbing sweets off the plates to look up at her. Tiamat turned towards the door and exited the room.

"H-Hannah-san?" Renner looked at her confusedly. "Where are you going?"

"Where's the bathroom?" Tiamat asked, completely ignoring the Princess's question.

Renner pointed to the bathroom inside the room marked with a beautiful white door. Tiamat nodded and headed immediately towards the bathroom, confusing everyone who was present.

"What's she doing?" Evileye asked.

"Probably a stomachache?" Gagaran suggested. Tina and Tia, the two ninja twins, looked at each other and shrugged.

A few moments later, the Silver Priestess exited the bathroom, wearing a completely different outfit. Instead of the dark blue dress she was initially wearing, she had donned her usual adventuring outfit.

Renner was shocked.

"Hannah-san, I—" but she was cut short by Tiamat's steadfast voice.

"I apologize, Princess Renner," Tiamat bowed deeply, clutching the tidily folded dress with the palm of her hands, "If I had known that this dress belonged to your mother, I wouldn't have worn it. It must have been painful to see a stranger wearing your beloved mother's possessions; no matter how small or insignificant the item might be, it still holds value to you. So once again, I apologize."

Renner's point was to actually see how the newly rising adventurer would react in an uncomfortable situation, but she didn't expect that the Priestess would have stripped herself of the dress that had obviously been gifted by the King.

"Don't worry, Hannah-san. I'm sure she would be happy seeing someone as beautiful as you wearing it," Renner let out a smile that seemed a bit brighter than before. "Forget that I mentioned anything please."

"Still, it doesn't make it right…" Tiamat handed the dress back to Renner, and Renner accepted it with a confused look on her face, "I hope you can wear this dress when you grow older, Princess. In the future, please tell the King to cherish his wife's belongings more."

Renner laughed. A clear, bright laugh that sounded of crystal plains. As she laughed, a stray tear escaped her eye.

Princess Renner was a master of masking her expression. She had always held back her emotions to hide her true nature so that she could get what she wanted. She was manipulative, cunning, and she wouldn't hesitate to betray her family, her bloodline, and her people to reach her goal.

But this was the first time that some stranger had told her, the Princess of the Kingdom, to talk back to the King.

The very thought was so hilarious that Renner couldn't help but laugh at the notion.

The King had never cared about her mother in the first place, so for the Priestess to actually tell the Princess to ask her father, the King, to cherish her mother's belongings was nonsense.

Not that Renner cared anyways; her mother had died when she was still a toddler. And despite her perfect memory, she could not recall a single time where her father had grieved for his dead wife.

"T-Tell Papa to c-cherish M-Mama's belongings m-more…!" Renner tried to hold down her laugher. Lakyus and Climb looked on with soft smiles; the Princess laughed often, but she rarely laughed so brightly.

"D-Did I say something wrong again?" Tiamat asked no one in particular.

Lakyus just sipped her tea with a smile.

"Enough with all this serious talk!" Gagaran smacked the table, causing some of the tea to splash onto the white cloth. "Oi, Priestess! Let me fight your Dragon!"

Evileye clicked her tongue in annoyance, "You'll get killed in an instant. Stop being such an idiot."

The twins nodded their heads.

"You want to fight Pentakrisis?" Tiamat looked at Gagaran as if she had grown a second head.

"No. No, she doesn't," the masked girl cut Gagaran off, "What she wants is to have a nice long talk about why she shouldn't ambush strangers."

"C'mon, Shorty! How many more chances like this are we gonna get?" Gagaran wrapped her arm around the short masked girl.

"Preferably none. Unlike you, I have a functioning sense of self preservation."

"I have no problem with it," Tiamat butted in, returning to her seat, "If you guys want, I could go ask..."

"No," Evileye adamantly replied, "That'll just be encouraging her stupidity, and we already have to deal with enough of that."

Gagaran gave the masked girl the stink eye, and leaned in to Tiamat and whispered, "Can I really spar with your Dragon?"

Tiamat looked at her confusedly, "You really, really want to fight with Pentakrisis?"

Seeing how she keeled over to a single misdirected attack from a mere level eighty Eight-Edge Assassin, Gagaran probably wasn't focused on defense. Judging from her appearance, Tiamat determined that she must be the nuker for Blue Rose.

'There's no way she's going to survive the first breath attack,' Tiamat mused, sheepishly smiling at Gagaran. 'Probably a maximum of level fifty? Below level fifty is more accurate. Yeah, there's no way…'

Tiamat imagined Gagaran running headfirst towards Pentakrisis as he stared with a deadpan expression. Then before Gagaran could come any closer, Taki would just burp, and Gagaran would be burned to crisps, just like a burnt cookie.

"Of course I want to! Anyone would! Right?"

Everyone else in the room looked at Gagaran with a deadpan expression. Even Climb and the Twins, who had stayed quiet throughout the whole conversation, was glancing at her with an expression of pity.

Only Tiamat and the Princess were still cheerfully smiling.

"Good luck, Gagaran!" Renner eagerly clapped her hands together, "I never thought I would get to see one of you battle a real, live dragon today!"

"I said don't encourage the muscle idiot!" Evileye yelled out, "Oi, Lakyus! Say something!"

Lakyus only smiled at Gagaran, "That'll be a sight to behold."

"Oi!"

"Anyways," Lakyus disregarded the shortest member of the group, "I'm sure you've received the invitation that we sent you from before, right?"

Tiamat nodded.

"The reason why we invited you here is because we have to ask you something," Lakyus continued.

Tiamat looked at Lakyus, urging the leader of Blue Rose to continue.

Evileye sighed, "Stop stalling and just get on with it."

"Silver Priestess, would you—"

"Join Blue Rose!" Gagaran stated.

The Dragoness just stared at the Mysterious Lovely Warrior with wide eyes.

"You...you want me to join Blue Rose?"

"Well not just me. But everyone here wants you to join. Isn't that right?" Gagaran turned towards the table, and everyone nodded, even the twins who had never said a word from the beginning.

Tiamat's eyes widened in surprise, and started to look at them warily. Because of the incident with Pluton, she was very much aware that people would target her because of her Dragon. Was that why they invited her to the Rose Garden? For Pentakrisis?

Anger started bubbling up within her, and she was about to lash out in fury before a cold lump lodged itself in her heart as she remembered the last incident where she let her emotions takes the best of her.

She took a child's parents away.

Something that she would regret for the rest of her life.

'Remember what Ainz said. You don't know that. Don't assume. Observe.'

She needed to confirmed their intentions. Were they really after Pentakrisis? Did they have other ulterior motives?

"I—"

Evileye spoke up, interrupting her, "If you're worried about your dragon, don't be. We aren't inviting you because we need access to more firepower—gods know we have enough of that—but because we're trying to protect you."

Tiamat brought the teacup before her up to her lips before taking another sip, "Why? What are you trying to protect me from?"

The room's temperature dropped.

The Priestess's distrust was as clear as day.

The masked girl facepalmed, "No, no, not that. Obviously, you don't need any help protecting yourself. What I'm trying to say is that you won't be targeted by malicious rumors as much if you're part of our group."

Lakyus piped up, "We don't mean to be arrogant, but our team does have a pretty good reputation. If you do choose to accept our invitation, I can speak with certainty that people will think twice before slandering you."

"Ah," Tiamat relaxed a bit. She got the feeling that they were indeed trying to look out for her, but why? Why would they bother trying to protect a complete stranger?

The twins narrowed their eyes.

"You're wondering—" one began.

"—Why we're bothering to do this," the other finished.

"And the reason is actually pretty simple," Lakyus added on. "You could do a lot for the sake of humanity, you know? Judging from your actions at E-Rantel, I don't see you as someone who cares very much about wealth. So, what do you say?"

The masked girl piped up, "If you don't believe us, just ask the Princess here; we've helped to eliminate illegal drug and sex trafficking, along with enforcing the anti-slavery law that Goldy here helped pass."

"If you join, I can spar with the Dragon all day!" Gagaran excitedly exclaimed.

"Wait, rumors?" Tiamat enunciated the -s, recalling the scene back at the inn from a couple nights ago, "What other rumors were there besides me seducing Ainzach?"

The Blue Rose members looked at one another awkwardly.

Evileye sighed and folded her arms across her chest, "You seriously don't know?"

Tiamat nodded.

"Oh boy, where should we start—" Evileye was cut short by Lakyus.

"Some people are talking about how you sleep with the dragon and ask it to do your quests for you. There's more, but I doubt you'll find much pleasure in hearing it," Lakyus grimaced.

"Seriously, it's a load of bullshit. People do anything they can to bring other people down," Gagaran fumed.

"They also said—"

"—You eloped with the Black Warrior Momon," Tina finished her sister's sentence.

Climb jerked his head toward the Priestess, eyes wide in shock. The Dark Warrior Momon was viewed as a martial paragon throughout the city and to think that he was already married...

"Haa?!" Tiamat unwittingly screamed out.

"Oh yeah, that rumor died down quickly. But I heard that you and that Momon warrior came to E-Rantel to elope or something," Gagaran put her hand on her chin in contemplation.

"What the hell is that rumor?!"

"I dunno, you tell me, pretty girl," the titanic woman shrugged, "I think it's a bunch of shit."

"I heard that you're a Princess from a lost country—" Evileye paused for a moment before continuing, "And the reason why you ran away from your home is because of the forbidden love you have with that Dark Warrior," the masked girl finished with a quiet voice.

Renner clapped her hands gently, "Now, now. We're not here to discuss the rumors surrounding the Silver Priestess, but rather, her future involvement with Blue Rose."

"That's right," Lakyus nodded her head in agreement. "As you can see, the rumors are not good. They never have been, especially for female adventurers. I hope that with you joining Blue Rose, we could at least tone the rumors down, and be a beacon of hope together," she gave Tiamat a warm smile.

"So what do you say, pretty lady? You in?"

Tiamat looked down at the teacup, her murky reflection staring back at her from the light brown water, as she thought about what they had proposed.

The members of Blue Rose, including Princess Renner and Climb, patiently waited for her reply.

It was very rare for Blue Rose to recruit newcomers since it was such a closely knitted group. The last person they recruited was Evileye, and that was several years ago.

Even Climb felt like he was witnessing a historical moment. Something that would one day be engraved in the lore of heroes.

Something legendary.

The room was filled with a palpable tension. Lakyus, along with the rest of her comrades, had high hopes that the Priestess would join.

For Renner, the Priestess joining Blue Rose would increase her reputation in the eyes of the people significantly.

They could all see that the Priestess's eyes were filled with determination, and their eyes were glued to her mouth as they anxiously waited for her response.

"I—"

ლ(╹ε╹ლ)

Tiamat strolled down the streets of Re-Estize Kingdom with her staff in hand and the Assassin in tow.

The whole affair with the King had taken most of the day.

The maids dressing her early in the morning for hours on end.

The meeting with the King at noon.

And the meeting with the Princess and the Adamantite team Blue Rose that lasted until dusk.

The sun sank lower into the sky—the light of day giving way to a velvety orange sky—and dusky colors heralded the starry night. The shadows grew longer as the air turned colder. This was the time where merchants and commoners alike returned to their homes and families to rest.

"My Lady, forgive this one's impertinence, but may I ask you a question?" the Assassin beside her suddenly spoke up.

At this point, she was seriously considering giving the Eight-Edge Assassin a name. Even if it was a bit psychotic at times, the spider had accompanied her through thick and thin, distracting Tiamat from the horrible anxiety of stepping foot in the large unfamiliar castle.

But if she gave one of them a name, does that mean she had to give the rest of the Assassins names? It would feel like preferential treatment if she only gave a name to one of them, right?

"Of course," Tiamat nodded with a smile as she thought of what kind of name would be best for the Assassin next to her.

'Psychopathic arachnoid who likes to slash people. Maybe Slasher? Nah, that sounds like one of those slasher posts from the 21st century. What about Slashy…?'

Tiamat stopped to look at the spider behind her, comparing name after name in accordance to his personality. 'Hmm, that's too on the nose, maybe Silencer?'

Thankfully, the streets were almost empty at the late hour—the hustle and bustle of the capital having long died down. Tiamat was grateful for this, since it meant that no one would actually see her staring at the brick road she was currently standing on.

'Silencer is too edgy. I think Shroud is better. Yup, that settles it!'

"Why did you refuse their offer, My Lady?" the Assassin respectfully asked.

"You mean the Nobles who invited me to dine with them tonight?"

After she had finished talking with Blue Rose and Princess Renner, Climb-kun had escorted her outside of the Rose Garden. There, two nobles had invited her to join them for dinner: an invitation she had immediately refused.

Afterall, she needed to visit Sebas and Solution. It felt like forever ever since she had last seen them.

"I apologize My Lady, but I can understand why you rejected the invitation of the flesh bags outside the garden. This lowly one however, cannot understand why you rejected the offer of the insects from earlier. Would they not be a source of more information?"

'Wow, I think that's the most I've ever heard him say.'

"Ah, you mean Blue Rose?"

The spider nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"Hmm, well…" Tiamat scrunched her eyebrows as she pondered the Assassin's question, "If I were to accept their offer, then I won't have as much time to spend with you guys anymore, right?"

The assassin just stared at the Supreme Being in front of him as he let the happiness sink to his bones. He wanted to close all eight of his eyes to savor the moment, but joy was no excuse for not being vigilant.

For the first time since he had received this assignment from Ainz-sama, his body relaxed. In that moment, there were no expectations placed upon him, no deadlines or schedules to meet.

Unwittingly, he had trembled happily, "Spend time with us, My Lady?"

Tiamat smiled and patted his head lovingly, "Yes, I like spending time with you guys, even if it's just a little. I know I've been busy lately with the Adventuring and the paperwork, but there are so many things I want to do with all of you, instead of just cooking in the kitchen. If I join Blue Rose, I won't have time to do any of that."

The Assassin found himself anticipating what she meant, and he couldn't help but blurt out, "What are you planning to do, Lady Tiamat?"

Tiamat continued walking down the road and the spider hurriedly followed. "Let's see…" she put her fingers under her chin, "I really want to do a big picnic with everyone at the Sixth Floor. But we have to find a time where both me and Ainz aren't busy, plus the Floor Guardians, the Pleiades, and the maids. I also want Nigredo, Pestonya, Neuronist, and even Eclair to join in. I wonder if that's possible…"

"I see."

"Plus, if I joined Blue Rose, there's a possibility that I have to be around them twenty-four seven. That would be dangerous for Nazarick since Ainz wants to keep the guild a secret for now, so I just offered them my services if they ever need me."

"I understand, My Lady. Thank you for explaining it to this one."

"You're welcome, Shroud."

"Shroud?" he asked, confused as to who the Supreme Being was referring to.

"Ah! That's your name. I just thought of it a few moments ago. What do you think?" Tiamat looked at the spider expectantly. If he didn't like the name she had given him, then she could simply think of a better name.

"A-A name? My Lady, I am not worthy!" Shroud's voice stuttered as stopped in his steps and fell to his knees. He slammed his head into the ground in worship, causing Tiamat to wring her hands in panic as she tried to get Shroud to get back up.

One passerby looked at Tiamat weirdly. Her face turned red, and she coughed in her fist.

"If you don't like it, I can ask Ainz to give you a better one," she turned back to Shroud.

"No! I like the name you gave me, My Lady, thank you very much!"

Tiamat didn't know this, but Eight-Edge Assassins were born Assassins. They were never noticed, always in the background, and constantly in the shadows. That was why the Eight-Edge Assassins didn't have names. They were just tools to further the eternal glory of Nazarick.

But the Goddess had given him a name, an identity, something that he could call his own.

He whispered his own name, the single syllable rolling off his tongue in secret as he walked behind the Dragoness. The sheer happiness caused his vision to become blurry.

Shroud shook his head. There was no time to be feeling sentimental, yet he couldn't get it out of his head. It was so beautiful, like a piece of art. To him, his name was perfect and he had to consciously stop himself from mouthing his name, afraid that he was embarrassing himself before a Supreme Being.

He never knew that something so simple could make him feel as jittery as a bumblebee. Surely there was nothing better than his name. It was a gift from the Supreme Being herself, who must have chosen that name after much care and consideration.

"I'm happy that you like your name, Shroud," Tiamat petted him once more, "Now, shall we run for a bit to Sebas and Solution's house?"

Shroud excitedly nodded, vanishing in a burst of super-sonic speed, leaving the Supreme Being he was supposed to be guarding behind.

"H-Hold on, that's cheating! I didn't say it was a race!"

ლ(╹ε╹ლ)

Sebas was waiting outside of the mansion he had just bought with the money given to him by Albedo.

Since both Supreme Beings were working as adventurers, Sebas was given a huge sum of money to buy a mansion in the Capital and to purchase some necessities for Nazarick as well.

When Sebas and Solution had first arrived in the Capital, they needed to find a suitable place to settle in. Since they were pretending to be the daughter of a prominent merchant and her butler, they needed to find a residence that would properly convey the status of their disguise.

After a bit of talking around with the locals, Sebas had found a simple wooden mansion; spacious, gaunt, and somewhat dilapidated. He figured with the amount of gold coins he was given, he could find something better.

The place where he and Solution were staying had ivy and ferns growing through the crevices of the old winding stone path that led directly to the colossal structure. The mansion loomed proudly behind creaky iron gates—Sebas made a mental note to himself to fix that. Flanked by rows of skeletal trees that were swaying gently in the wind, a delicate marble fountain stood: the soft gurgling of the water reasonating in the empty courtyard.

The mansion was three stories tall and located in a good spot that was only a few kilometers away from the crowded center of the Capital. He was glad that he chose this place instead of the first mansion that he saw at the beginning. Lady Tiamat probably wouldn't have enjoyed the constant chaos of the Capital Center.

Other than the expenses for the mansion and the other necessities that come along with it—such as a carriage with horses, their food, and a homunculi maid from Nazarick to drive the carriage. That meant building a stable and storing all the materials needed to properly take care of the horses.

The money he had received was originally the surplus from Nazarick's budget. He used this leftover money for Nazarick's weekly shopping on the occasions where Lupusregina Beta could not find an item that the denizens wanted at Carne Village. But even after all these expenses, he still found himself with a surplus, enough to be used for next week's expenditures.

Sebas pulled out his pocket watch, a gift from his creator, Touch Me, for him to keep track of time. He was standing in front of the porch under a large arched latticed roof that was supported by several white columns.

At the moment, he was currently waiting for the Supreme Being to arrive at the mansion. He had received a『Message』from Lady Tiamat that she would be visiting the mansion soon, with the Eight Edge Assassin leading.

Sebas, being the discreet and hardworking butler of Nazarick, had told the Eight Edge Assassin accompanying her the location of the mansion.

He looked at his watch; it was about five in the afternoon. Sebas shut his watch and returned it to his pockets. His stoic gaze was once again directed to the gates as he waited for the arrival of the Supreme Being.

As he expected, the first one to arrive was the Eight-Edge Assassin. Its form was a bit hazy despite Sebas's detection skills.

As soon as the spider jumped across the gate into the mansion's territory, Sebas could finally see the outline of someone slowly jogging towards the black gates. She carried herself with an unmistakable air, and Sebas immediately knew that the white haired lady was Lady Tiamat.

The butler quickly made his way from the porch to the gates.

Sebas had to say, the disguise Lady Tiamat chose was not too different from her usual self. The only thing he noticed that was different was that her hair was curly and white as opposed to her natural red long straight hair. The way she walked and the atmosphere surrounding her was definitely the divine aura of the Supreme Being he was loyal to.

"Lady Tiamat," he greeted, opening the creaky gate—the sound starting to grate against his draconic ears—and bowed.

"Shhh, Sebas! It's Hannah for now, Hannah!" she said in consternation, looking around at her surroundings to check whether anyone had heard.

"I apologize, Lady Hannah," Sebas immediately rectified his mistake.

"By the way," Tiamat looked at the front of the house in awe, "This is so luxurious."

"It is only thanks to you and Ainz-sama, My Lady, that such a base of operation can exist," Sebas bowed in gratitude, then stood up before shifting his body to the right to let her into the premises. "By the way, My Lady, how did the audience with King go? I am sure he was awed by your impeccable behavior."

Tiamat walked through the opened gate and towards the front porch with both Shroud and Sebas next to her.

'No, in fact I messed up so badly that they're probably laughing about me right now.'

Of course, she kept that to herself.

"Everything went great, Sebas!" she convinced herself, "The King just wanted to thank me for saving Gazef back when we visited Carne Village. You remember him, right?"

"Indeed, although the man was a bit impudent in his behavior towards a Supreme Being, he bore the mark of a virtuous man. I take it that they decided to reward you somehow?"

After a few steps, they finally stood before a pair of large oaken doors. Tiamat was about to open the door, but Sebas expertly slid in front of her and opened it for her instead.

"Thank you, Sebas. Ah, about that...They offered to give me a bunch of money and land, but I turned them down since I already got something from the previous quest. Also, it's not like anything they have can be as good as something from Nazarick anyways," Tiamat cracked a smile.

Sebas felt his chest warm up in pride. To think a Supreme Being would think of them and their home so highly was truly a wonderful thing.

"I see. Then good job for today, My Lady."

"Thank you, Sebas," Tiamat went inside the foyer and stopped to look around as her mouth fell wide open.

The inside was uncomfortably large, at least as big or even bigger than that mansion.

Tiamat shivered.

The polished floor, the white walls and the furniture that looked like it came from a high-end designer. A foyer that could fit more than a dozen children. A beautiful interior that just reminded her of the drugtouchpain.

She could hear it, the gentle music as soft as background noise yet at the same time felt like it was being blasted in her years.

It was as if she was there in that hellhole again. A place where there were no personal boundaries, no help; a place where she was treated like an animal for sale.

Tiamat's hands slackened, and her staff fell to the ground as she hugged herself to get rid of the sudden chill that travelled through her entire body.

Surprisingly, the sound of the staff hitting the marbled floor never came. Solution, who had been standing near the door had swiftly grabbed it before it fell against the ground.

"Welcome home, Lady Tiamat," Solution bowed and extended her hand to return the staff to the Dragoness's hand, "Your staff, My Lady."

Tiamat flinched when she heard Solution's voice. She was so focused on the interior of the mansion that she didn't even feel Solution's presence.

Sebas took the staff from Solution's hands. "Solution, I think Lady Tiamat is cold. Please prepare the fireplace and some warm clothing."

"Understood," with another bow, Solution left to prepare for what Sebas had asked for.

Tiamat took a deep breath.

'That's right, it's a different world…'

A different world with different people. People who she trusted and loved. People who she could rely on. There was no pain, no suffering, no helplessness. Tiamat took another deep breath to try to still the storm in her heart.

"Lady Tiamat?" Sebas asked, concerned.

After a few seconds, Tiamat stopped shivering and gave Sebas a warm, gentle smile. "I'm alright, Sebas. I just remembered something from my past," Tiamat took the staff from Sebas's hands and put it in her inventory.

"Is there something wrong with the interior? If there is, I will quickly change it, My Lady."

"No, nothing like that Sebas. Everything you did here is amazing! You guys really went all out," Tiamat's eyes sparkled as she looked around the spacious area in awe.

'The people here are people you can trust. They are different from those monsters. They are differentdifferentdifferent," she repeated over and over like a mantra.

"Thank you, My Lady. Ainz-sama had told us to imitate the houses of the nobles in the Kingdom to fit in. I am glad that you find it suitable, My Lady," Sebas lifted his hand to his chest in acknowledgement.

"I see, of course Ainz would be that careful…" Tiamat mumbled, "Would you give me a tour around the place, Sebas?"

Sebas eyes jolted with immeasurable surprise, this was the moment he has been waiting for, "Gladly, My Lady. Where should I began. The previous owner had lived in this house for hundreds of years. This house is full of an ancient family's history."

"Waa, really? That's amazing!"

ლ(╹ε╹ლ)

Tiamat slumped head first on the bed, still in her adventuring persona. Even though the bed was not as soft and comforting as her own bed in Nazarick, Tiamat couldn't care less. That's how it was with new beds after all.

She released a small muffle in the pillow.

'I feel like Sebas had put me through some sort of orientation, like that one from the bakery. Is he playing with me on purpose?'

Who first designed this house and how the design held historical value. How the architect designed it and what kind of influence it had. Even the purpose of the interior design. Sebas had told her about all these unnecessary things. The whole tour had taken two hours. Two. Hours.

Tiamat sighed, "Don't tell me this bed is important too…"

"It probably is. Don't worry about it."

She leapt up from her bed at the sound of the familiar voice.

"What? When did you get in?" she looked around the room confusedly.

"Do you need privacy?"

"Of course!"

The room she was staying in had a big bed and two sets of sofas that were placed on the right side of the room. Ainz sat down on the sofa that was located adjacently from the bed, "Just give up. As long as you're staying in the Kingdom, I'm going to order the Eight-Edge Assassin to stay with you everyday."

Tiamat looked at Ainz, "...Shroud."

"Hm, what's that?"

"Shroud. I named him Shroud. That's okay, right?"

Ainz's orbs seemed as if they were staring into her soul, "You can name the Assassin whatever you want. You seem to forget, but you're a Supreme Being of Nazarick too. Even if your build is an absolute mess."

She gave him a scowl as she walked towards the sofa to sit across from him, "I know that."

"Do you?"

Tiamat sighed, looking up at the ceiling as she slumped on the soft cushions of the sofa.

She observed how the column was made to face the way just like what Sebas had told her during his impromptu tour.

"I'm just so used to having you guys make the decisions that I sometimes don't know what to do," Tiamat moaned as she rubbed her eyes with her hands.

Ainz looked at her. She looked pale, paler than what she usually looked like. "Did they feed you there?"

"Nah. They just gave me a cup of tea and some sort of a spa treatment, which was nice. By the way, what are you doing here?" Her head was still resting against the cushions of the sofa as she tilted her head slightly so she can see the skeletal being in front of her.

"You didn't say anything after you arrived at the castle, nor did you send me any 『Messages』 about you resting in Sebas and Solution hideout."

"Wait, was I not allowed to come here?" Tiamat groaned, "Aw, it's been a while since I've seen them. Can't I stay for a few days at least?"

"The only reason why I asked them to do this was so they can bait out the people who used the World Item on Shalltear. If people saw you entering this place, then it's possible that they may draw too much attention to themselves. After all, you're a hot topic among civilians and adventurers alike," Ainz pondered, "On the other hand, maybe having such a controversial figure would be good for publicity. Hm…"

Tiamat huffed, lying back on the couch, "Tell me about it."

As if awoken out of his musing, Ainz immediately looked at her, "What happened?"

"After I met with the King, I was led to the Rose Garden to meet the Princess and Blue Rose. Oh! And they told me how a lot of rumors about me have been going around."

"Rumors? What do you mean?" his empty sockets flared red.

"Oh boy," Tiamat rubbed her hands together in anticipation, "Are you ready to hear this?"

"Yes, yes, I'm ready. Please get on with it," Ainz waved his hand for her to continue.

"Alright, so you're not going to believe this, but people talked about me being some kind of princess from a far away country and that…and that…" Tiamat began to giggle.

"That what?" Ainz impatiently tapped his finger on the armrest.

"That you're a knight from the same country and t-that we're eloping!" she burst out into a full-blown guffaw.

Ainz's jaw dropped. "Impossible. I haven't heard of such a rumor at all."

Tiamat stifled her laughter, "I-It's probably be-because you spend all your ti-time working."

He sighed in indignation, "Nonsense. Where did they even get the idea?"

Tiamat shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe that time when they called us in for...Honyopenyoko," she began to giggle again.

"It's a perfectly fine name...Anyways, was it because you said that you were hunting the same vampire that I was?" Ainz decided to ignore his friend's giggling fit.

"I guess so? Either way, the rumor is out there now, and I just thought it would be funny to see your reaction," Tiamat smirked.

"It's creative, I'd admit. Two new adventurers who come to the same city, with a similar background would obviously get a lot of attention in retrospect. But I'll just let this rumor be for now. Better me being gossiped about being with you than you with some random stranger."

Tiamat mulled over the fact that her alleged elopement with Ainz was not the only rumor that had been spreading around. There was also a rumor about her being labelled as a whore. If she was being honest with herself, she was scared of seeing Ainz's reaction towards it.

In the end, she decided to keep her mouth shut about that particular rumor.

Ainz continued as he saw her continued silence, "Anyways, did Blue Rose ask you to visit just to gossip? Why did they even invite you there?"

"They invited me to ask if I wanted to join Blue Rose. Obviously, I rejected them. We're way too busy at this point and joining others on quests would simply bring more trouble than it's worth. They even gave me an invitation," she replied, suddenly unspirited.

His jaw dropped open, "Why did I not know about this?"

"Well," she shifted in her seat, and sat up straighter while still leaning her back on the cushion, "I never planned on going."

"Let me see," he demanded.

"Uhh...okay," she tried to fish out the thin letter from her inventory and immediately gave it to the Overlord when she finally got it out. "It's just a simple invitation."

Ainz put his skeletal hand under the letter to open it and once he did, he gave it a quick read before he asked, "Is this why they invited you to the castle?"

"I don't think so, I think it was the King who invited me and the Princess and Blue Rose just tagged along."

Ainz put the letter and invitation on the wooden table between them, "So why did the King want to meet you?"

"I think it's nothing important, he just wanted to reward me for saving Gazef when he was at Carne Village."

"The King knows?" Ainz asked in panic only for the sheer green aura to wash over his skull, "The King knows about your true appearance?"

"Nobody mentioned anything about it, so I guess they...don't?"

Ainz put a skeletal finger under his chin, "We can never be too careful. Anyways, what else did he say?"

"I think it's just that. He wanted to give me some money, gems, or some land, buuuut I refused all of them."

Tiamat could see his shoulders slightly relaxed, "I see...that's good."

"Me rejecting the King's gift?"

"No, that nothing bad happened to you."

As soon as she heard Ainz say that, Tiamat felt it again; the fluttering in her stomach came back as it filled her with warmth and a precious bit of happiness.

Happiness that she knew she didn't deserve.

"Well, I think it's because Shroud could just eradicate every human there if I was ever in trouble. He sliced one stomach open anyways."

"He'd better do that. Well, if he failed, there were a dozen more anyways."

"What? A dozen more of what?" Tiamat asked, even more confused. Sometimes, what Ainz said was even more confusing than life itself.

"Didn't you notice? I thought that one Assassin wouldn't be enough, so I sent a dozen more Eight- Edge Assassins after Shroud caught up to your carriage."

"Haa?!"

"As I said, I sent you a dozen oth—"

"B-But why?!"

"Well first of all, you were basically ordered to go to the Capital. That could mean a lot of things. One, you have done something that warrants their wrath, or two, they want something from you. We don't know anything about the Royal Family or what they want, so the situation is getting slightly more dangerous. Especially after the Shalltear incident," Ainz slumped back onto his sofa as well.

Tiamat looked at him with sad eyes as she remembered the traumatizing incident, "We haven't found who did that to Shalltear, didn't we…"

Ainz nodded, "We haven't. But you can rest assured, after we find the culprit, I will not let him go."

"That's good. Let them suffer a slow death for doing that to Shalltear," Tiamat's hands were clenched to the point that her knuckles were turning a pale white.

Unknowingly, her eyes had once again turned a molten gold. But no one realized this except for the Overlord in front of her. Ainz was immediately reminded of the lapse of judgement she made back at Slane Theocracy, almost wincing at the memory of her wrath.

The sound she made, as if she was snarling. Her eyes were filled with rage fueled flames. He knew how dangerous it was to let one's emotions get the best of them. Afterall, he had experienced it before.

"Tia, relax," he gently patted her hand, slowly loosening her fingers from her deathgrip with his skeletal ones, "They won't get away with what they've done, I promise."

Ainz slightly relaxed as he pulled his hand back to his lap, observing her reaction. Her shoulders were no longer stiff with tension, and her molten eyes had reverted to the usual kind amethyst he was so familiar with.

But she still had that distant look in her eyes.

Deciding to shift from the uncomfortable subject, he started, "By the way, since you've been busy, I also want to give you a short briefing of what's been happening in Nazarick lately."

Broken out of her stupor, Tiamat lifted her eyes to him, "I hope it was nothing bad."

"No, nothing of the sort. The problem has already been dealt with. The point is, there have been intruders coming into the second base of Nazarick recently."

"Intruders?"

"Yes. As soon as they passed through the door, they were immediately transported to the prison on the fifth floor and would get interrogated by Neuronist."

Tiamat quickly straightened up, "Did Neuronist get anything out of them?"

"That's the most difficult part. Apparently, these so called intruders are actually civilians from E-Rantel that had been put under『Charm』. Don't worry," Ainz raised his hand as he saw Tiamat beginning to open her mouth in outrage, "I personally wiped their memories, healed their injuries, and sent them back home through the guild after I found out."

"Oh, okay," she slumped back against the sofa, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I could've helped too, you know," she covered her eyes with the back of her hand. "Do you not trust me?"

Ainz felt his non-existent heart ache at her statement. "I do. You've done so much for Nazarick: the paperwork that I'm supposed to be doing by myself, the budgeting, and basically everything else. I'm the leader of Ainz Ooal Gown, and this is my responsibility. That is why I chose not to bother you with it."

"Ainz…" Tiamat bit her lower lip, "You should've told me, you idiot. I'm your guildmate, so just please let me help you. Don't force yourself to do all of this alone."

"You have helped enough. Honestly, I feel pathetic for having to rely on you so much like this. What kind of Guildmaster relies on his members to solve the guild's problems? Besides—"

Tiamat cut him off, "That's what a good guildmaster should do. You're not alone, so stop acting like you are."

Ainz stared into her eyes for a few seconds before he suddenly stood up, "Either way, the problem has been solved, and you don't have to worry about it anymore. I just wanted to inform you of everything that had happened while you were gone. I'm going to go back now, because after all," Tiamat swore she saw a sad grin on his skeletal features, "I have a mountain of paperwork to go over."

"Ainz, wait—" before she could even get up, he had opened 『Gate』 and transported himself out of her room, leaving her alone on the sofa with the invitation letter laying on the wooden coffee table.

"Why… why won't you trust me…?" a broken whisper echoed in the lonely room.


Omake: Thoughts of a Princess


As soon as Climb and the Silver Priestess had left the room, the members of Blue Rose immediately went into panic mode. All of them were speaking at the same time, excluding the usually quiet twins.

"Such audacity. For her to blatantly reject our invitation...Who does she think she is?"

Lakyus looked at Evileye with an amused smile, "Look, the pot is calling the kettle black."

"Ha!" Gagaran laughed, "Good one Lakyus!"

Evileye clicked her tongue, "Shut up you two."

"Well, you didn't—"

"—want to join either," the twins jabbed at Evil-Eye.

"That's true but...arrgh! Can't that girl see how all those idiots in the Court are going to go after her?! And then she just flat-out rejects us...haaaaa," Evil-Eye went from exasperated to furious to exasperated again in a span of a few seconds.

Lakyus fondly looked at her small masked comrade. "Surely she has her own reasons, Evil-Eye. Reasons that prevent her from associating with us."

"Perhaps—"

"—something to do with her faith?"

"Faith?" Evileye asked, turning her head to look at the twins. But soon, a wave of realization washed over her, "Ah, you're talking about her deity. Well, if it's different from the Six Great Gods, then who knows what her god requires."

"No," Lakyus shook her head, "I didn't get that sort of feeling from her. Whoever she is, she's definitely not some sort of zealot."

"So not like that stupid Sunlight Scripture we fought against in that demihuman village?" Gagaran spoke up.

"It would be pretty hard to top those nutjobs," Evil-Eye mused, "They were way too intense."

Renner smiled behind her teacup. It didn't matter if the Priestess didn't join Blue Rose. Everything would still go according to plan.

Even still, she felt like it was such a waste of opportunity. Someone of the Silver Priestess's caliber would have certainly boosted her name to the skies, making her mask much more appealing to the people of the Kingdom—something that would have helped her further her goals. But that didn't matter.

Renner heard the familiar sound of footsteps outside the door, footsteps that she was well accustomed with. The moment she heard someone knocking on the door, she stood up from the chair and rushed towards the room's entrance.

"Come in, Climb!" she exclaimed with genuine cheerfulness.

Lakyus chuckled, amused that the Princess knew her bodyguard's footsteps by heart. Her innocent friend knew who was outside before they even had a chance to announce their presence.

Climb opened the door, letting himself in before gently closing it, "I have returned," he lowered his head towards the Princess.

"Good job, Climb!" Renner gently smiled at him, an innocent smile that she knew Climb liked. "With that being said, I have other matters to attend to, so I will excuse myself for today," Renner waved to the members of Blue Rose who bid her farewell in varying degrees of enthusiasm.

However, after a few steps, she stopped completely and elegantly turned around. Her hair swished, following the movement of her body; a sight that Climb had to tear his eyes away from when he heard the Princess cheerfully say, "By the way, you can stay in the room if you still want to use it."

"I'd appreciate that, thank you Princess," Lakyus tilted her head gratefully.

"It's no problem, afterall, we're friends aren't we? Take all the time you need!" Renner beamed at Blue Rose, before turning around to jog towards Climb, linking her arms with his. "Let's go, Climb!"

"C-Certainly, Princess. Also, I apologize for saying this, Renner-sama, but it would be inappropriate for us to be seen like this," Climb stammered.

"Awwww, you're no fun, Climb," Renner pouted as she reluctantly released her puppy's arm.

Renner walked side by side with Climb down the familiar hallway. The rich marble floor expanded throughout the entire castle, branching off into several open verandas that allowed people passing by to view the grandeur of the Rose Garden. However, her mood worsened with every step she took. No amount of luxury or flowery scents could make her forget what she saw.

She still remembered how the Priestess positioned himself in front of Climb, her body hovering above him. How she positioned her hand to touch Climb, to help him stand, her Climb.

But the worst thing of all, was how easy it was for Climb to take the dainty hand that was offered to him.

She wanted to pluck her fingers off one by one. The Priestess's fingers that dared to brush against her Climb. Then she would skin her alive for almost pressing her body against her Climb.

Renner almost gritted her teeth in frustration. Almost.

'Climb belongs to only me!'

The very memory caused her to stop in her tracks.

"Princess?" Climb asked, wondering why the Princess had stopped walking. Usually, she would be smiling her usual smile and chatter with him.

But this time, she wasn't.

As Climb stepped forward to see what was bothering the Princess, he saw it. A glimpse of a dark expression flashed across the Princess's face.

Climb blinked. Surely it was just a trick of light?

"What is it, Climb?" Renner asked lovingly with the tone and expression that he knew and loved.

"Is there something wrong?" Climb asked, worried about her.

The Princess's eyes turned downcast, her lips curving down into a frown. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was sad.

She looked like a wilted rose in a poorly tended garden.

Climb's heart ached.

"Princess Renner," Climb pushed on, "Is there something bothering you? Please tell me so that I can fix it."

"Climb, I want you to be honest with me."

"Of course, Princess!" he immediately stood up straighter—taking it as an order—even though he knew that the Princess didn't mean it like that.

Renner looked at him, putting her small hand on her lips as she thought about what to say to Climb.

At least that's what Climb thought.

"W-What," she looked away, expertly feigning shyness, "Do you think of Hannah-san?"

Climb looked at the Princess's innocent sapphire eyes, "What do I think of her?" he repeated, "If I may be so bold, Princess, why are you asking me this?"

"U-Uhm, y-you see…"

Climb patiently waited. He knew this part of the Princess. On the rare occasions when he was being blunt, she would always stammer and get embarrassed. He remembered asking why, and she had responded with 'A Princess isn't supposed to stammer. A Princess should be eloquent at all times.'

"U-Uh, i-it's b-because, Hannah-san is b-beautiful."

"So you were asking me that question to see if I was thinking the same thing?" he confirmed.

The Princess shyly nodded, her ears reddening in embarrassment.

"For me, I can see that she's definitely strong. Even if I trained like crazy, I couldn't even see her striking Gagaran-sama. Her movements were so fast that I couldn't even follow her movements. Moreover," Climb took a deep breath before continuing, "As the rumors say, I would agree that she's beautiful."

Renner looked even more downcast than before, "Is that so?" she muttered.

The Knight took a deep breath before shouting, "But to me there is no one prettier than you Princess! So you can rest assured!"

Renner looked at him with widened eyes, her crimson face reddening even more. To Climb, they were the blushes of an innocent rose: colored cheeks infused with a smile that shone in a way only true joy could bring.

But Renner thought differently.

'Ah, yes! This is the Climb I know and love!'

"Is that so?" she cheerfully said, her steps infused with a light bounce, "Thank you for the compliment, Climb. I too, think that Climb is the most handsome and strongest knight there is!" she clapped happily.

Climb could feel the heat burning on his cheeks, "S-Such grand words. I definitely do not deserve such a compliment, Renner-sama."

Renner suppressed a diabolic grin. She could tell that those words were as genuine as his blush. His usual tan skin had an adorable rosiness to it.

It was cute.

"I think you're the best knight in the entire world, Climb!" she complimented him even more as they walked down the hallway.

"P-Princess!"

'You're so cute Climb! I love you so much! I love you, I love you, IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou!'

Renner smiled as she watched his reactions.

Sadly, she had to keep her feelings bottled up.

But every cloud had a silver lining.

The day where she could be her true self would come. Where she could love him to the best of her abilities. Where all his adoration and admiration would be pointed at her. Where Climb would undoubtedly belong to her and only her.

For now, she could patiently wait until that day arrived.


Special Christmas Omake: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!


The world outside was silent, still, and deadly.

There were no sounds of leaves rustling, no birdsong, no whispers of grass.

Everything was veiled in a layer of candyfloss white snow and silky silver frost that reflected the world in its polished and beautifully biting malice.

The frost hated everything. As it fell down from the sky, it strangled everything into silence with its cold gleam. However, the Fifth Floor was even colder than that.

The Fifth Floor was the ice-cold fangs of Jack Frost that bit deeply into the flesh and blood of the prisoners on the floor, extracting their life-force and leaving their corpses clay-cold and drained.

However, the master of the floor was nowhere to be found.


The fire crackled and hissed, filling the kitchen with a ferocious yet comfortable warmth.

There were a myriad of smells wafting throughout the whole floor. Some were strong and earthy, others were peppery, and yet others were fruity like grape-scented wine.

Those who had good ears could hear the faint crackling of goose-fat dripping onto tin foil in thick droplets, and for those who couldn't hear—the unique scent of oil and game drifted into the all the rooms across the Ninth Floor, overloading the noses of all who could catch a sniff of the blessed scent with pleasure.

The exotic and spicy whisper of its scent made stomachs rumble and mouths water.

Everyone was seduced, tempted by the delicious smell. The Homunculi maids gazes lingered on the table filled to the brim with food that they were unfamiliar with. But the only thing that stopped them from consuming all these delicious morsels was the Supreme Being herself who was currently using the kitchen at that very moment.

Everyone, including the oldest sister and the leader of the Pleiades maids.

As soon as she landed on the Ninth Floor, her knees wavered for a brief instance from all the mouth-watering fragrances assaulting her nostrils. Even though she was trying her best to act indifferent amongst the eyes that had been watching the Supreme Being in the kitchen, she had to admit that the Supreme Being had created something truly magnificent.

Yuri was no stranger to Lady Tiamat's cooking. She usually accompanied the Dragoness in her cooking sprees, but, nothing, nothing, could come close to something of this caliber.

As soon as Yuri had entered the kitchen, her pace a little quicker than usual, she was immediately greeted by the brilliance of the Supreme Being as the red haired cook pinched a bit of salt between her index finger and thumb to throw on the dish she was cooking.

"Yuri!" Tiamat shouted happily, her head jerking up and her tail slamming up and down on the floor a few times, smacking the marbled ground to show how happy the Dragoness was, "Welcome back!"

To Yuri, Lady Tiamat was her own miracle. The Dragoness saw brilliance in food, a potential to help and heal others, a way to show them how even the ordinary could become sublime.

To Yuri, it was Lady Tiamat's genius at play. The Supreme Being wasn't even using her 『Cooking』skill, rather, she was cooking everything manually. Yuri marvelled at how Lady Tiamat's great mind was immersed in every sense. Or maybe the Cooking skill was passive? Either way, her Lady was truly impressive.

"My Lady, what is the occasion?" Yuri quietly approached the Supreme Being, not wanting to disturb her from the creation of such wonderful dishes.

"Hm? This? Christmas, of course!" Tiamat excitedly responded, a manic grin on her face as she furiously whisked away at the giant bowl she was hugging with one arm.

"Christmas, My Lady?" an unfamiliar term had hit her.

"Yep!" Tiamat stopped whisking the cream, "Have you given all the Floor Guardians the invitations I made?"

Yuri nodded, "Yes, My Lady. I have sent the invitation to everyone's respective floors. However, I could not find Cocytus-sama's current location."

"Isn't he in the Lizardmen Village, as usual?" the Dragoness curiously asked, a pout appearing on her face as she tilted her head.

Yuri had the blasphemous urge to pinch Lady Tiamat's cheeks.

"I have confirmed this with my youngest sister, and she mentioned that Cocytus-sama has not used any of the teleportation channels in Nazarick for two months."

"What?" Tiamat's hands loosened and she scrambled to catch the bowl of cream before it spilled over the counter, "Two months?! Doesn't that mean he's stuck somewhere and can't get out?"

"Perhaps so, My Lady. Should we go look for him?"

The blissful aura around the Supreme Being immediately turned to worry as she paced back and forth on the kitchen floor, worrying about the Floor Guardian of the Fifth Floor.

"I'm sure he's fine, but something could always happen…" Tiamat had placed the bowl down and was now biting her fingernails. "What if… What if he's stuck in one of the tunnels on the First Floor?"

Yuri could practically see what her Lady was imagining.

Indeed, the First Floor had a small tunnel that led to Kyouhukou's place. But it was unlikely that the Guardian of the Fifth Floor would wander to the First Floor unless it was absolutely necessary.

Cocytus-sama was the tallest Floor Guardian out of all of them. Just the image of his broad shoulders getting stuck in such a teensy weensy space was already uncomfortable. However, there was also her younger sister who could have easily transported the Ruler of the Frozen Glacier somewhere else, or perhaps Mare-sama had lended his『Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown』to Cocytus-sama so that the Vermin Lord wouldn't have to transverse the tight tunnels.

"I think it is unlikely, My Lady," Yuri aptly answered.

However, what she said did absolutely nothing to ease the Supreme Being's worry.

"What if something happened? Something terrible that was super strong? Like, like the Ten Archangels or something? What if—"

"I'm sure Cocytus-sama is in perfectly good health, My Lady," Yuri interjected, her own heart filling with worry as she watched the Dragoness pace back and forth, "If an enemy that powerful showed up, I am sure that Ainz-sama would have already known about it and told the rest of us."

Tiamat stopped in her steps. "Yeah. Yeah! You're right. Of course Ainz would already know about something like that. Still, I wonder where Cocytus went…"

"Then, I'll try my best to look for him," Yuri said with certainty, confident that she would find the Floor Guardian the Supreme Being was looking for.

"Should I help you find him too?" Tiamat muttered as she wrung her hands helplessly, her whisked cream forgotten as it had lost all of its air.

"There is no need, My Lady," Yuri interjected, bringing Tiamat out of her brooding, "Please focus on… Christmas, I promise you I will find him by the end of the day."

"I understand, Yuri. In that case, I look forward to seeing both of you at dinner time."

"Me too, My Lady. Me too."


In a certain room on the Ninth Floor of Nazarick, stood a large round tea-table that bore a silver tea kettle. Dainty cups and saucers of the best porcelain were grouped about it; a miniature silver tray held a small bowl full of sugar, a cream-pot, and a half dozen golf spoons.

The center was decorated with a bowl of freshly plucked flowers and two crystal candelabras. Scattered throughout were plates of sandwiches, cakes, bonbons, and crystallized fruits.

The quantity and variety of refreshments—courtesy of their Dragoness, Lady Tiamat—were more than enough to feed the six maids gathered around the table.

"Haaa…" Narberal sighed, slumping against her chair.

"Ara, Nar-chan, you sound tired," Yuri commented, eyes closed as she took a small sip from her cup.

"Of course, Yuri nee-sama," Narberal sat up straighter, "Momon-sa—No, I received orders from Ainz-sama, so I can't relax."

"That, I know," a monotone voice interjected, Shizu Delta, their little sister who had been sipping her juice as she was not a fan of tea, "With Ainz-sama, it's happy, but scary."

Narberal had a strong urge to pinch her little sister's cheek, and so she did. Meanwhile, Shizu kept sipping from her straw.

"That's right Shizu," Narberal tenderly smiled at her in a rare moment of softness, "But for Ainz-sama's orders, I will carry them out with all my heart and—"

Yuri clapped her hand three times, stopping her sister from going on with what surely would turn into a lengthy tangent, "We will end the chit chat there. We will now start the monthly Pleiades report and the tea party."

"Yuri nee-sama~ Why is this monthly report a lot sooner than before~?" Entoma curiously asked, digging into one of the sandwiches closest to her.

"Excellent observation Entoma," Yuri complimented, "The reason why the monthly Pleiades report has been moved up is because something urgent has come up."

"Something urgent?" Solution elegantly replied, arching an eyebrow.

"What is it, Yuri-nee ~su?" Lupusregina asked back.

"Lady Tiamat had asked for our help," Yuri announced, her glasses glinting as she pushed them up, "It seems that Cocytus-sama has been missing for two months, and no one knows where he is."

"Shouldn't Cocytus-sama be out training those Lizards~su?" Lupusregina asked once again with her mouth full, the chewed up food on display for the whole world to see.

Yuri's eye twitched and her finger ever-so-slightly jerked towards the silver butter knife near her.

Silver as weak as the knife would be incapable of harming her werewolf sister in the slightest, but it would still make her extremely uncomfortable.

Lupusregina nervously gulped down the food she had been chewing and sweatdropped.

"P-Please go on ~su… "

"Anyways… We have received important information from our youngest sister that Cocytus-sama had not used the teleportation channels in this time frame, so we can safely assume that he is still within Nazarick's grounds."

"Maybe he went out to eat~?" Entoma raised her hand as she innocently tilted her head.

"Entoma," Solution softly chided her insectoid sister, "You've heard from Yuri-nee that Cocytus-sama had not used any of the teleportation channels. That kind of question is unnecessary."

"Ara~ Solution," Entoma happily laughed, "We need to confirm just to be sure~ This is an important monthly meeting after all~"

Yuri once again clapped three times, silencing her siblings, "That's enough, both of you."

"I understand."

"Yes~"

"Before I, the Deputy Leader, Yuri Alpha open this session, I need to ask you—my sisters—for help."

"Of course~su!" Lupusregina jumped up, fist pumping the air.

"I was going to bully Kyouhukou-san after this, but looking for Cocytus-sama will be fun too~" Entoma shoved one last sandwich under her face before getting up from her seat.

"Understood," both Solution and Narberal replied at the same time.

"Understood," Shizu responded monotonically, a moment behind Solution and Narberal.


Three hours later

"Lupus! Do you see anything there?" Yuri called out from the other end of the Spa Resort Nazarick.

"Nope~su!" Lupusregina cheerfully shouted as she climbed down from the wall separating the men and women's changing section.

"Nothing here either~ Yuri nee-sama," Entoma's muffled voice wafted from the locker area—an absolute mess at the moment—as she rummaged through all of the lockers.

"Entoma, Cocytus-sama is unlikely to fit in an enclosure that small," Solution called out to her younger sibling as she emerged from one of the pools, her body quickly coalescing together.

"We really don't have much to go on…" Narberal let out a sigh as she leaned against one of the lion statues next to the pool Solution had climbed out from. "Lady Tiamat will be disappointed in us…"

"There, there Nar-chan. We'll definitely find Cocytus-sama before dinner time," Yuri walked over to Narberal and gently rubbed her back, "Even if we don't find him, Lady Tiamat would understand."

"That's not enough; we have to succeed, Yuri nee-sama," Narberal gritted her teeth as she tightened her grip on the lion statue.

"Geez, lighten up a bit Nar-chan~su," Lupusregina poked the doppelganger on the nose.

"Lighten up? Lighten up?! Do you even understand how serious our situation is right now? We've been given an important task by a Supreme Being and you're talking about lightening up?" Narberal jabbed her finger into Lupusregina's chest, "Is this how you're usually like when Ainz-sama sends you out to Carne to deal with the insects? A complete and utter fool?"

As the rest of the sisters watched in shock as Narberal went off on Lupusregina, the statue that the doppelganger had been clutching let out a slight rumble. Shizu narrowed her eyes at the motionless stone lion.

"Woah, calm down there Nar-chan," Lupusregina—dropping her typical verbal tic—raised both of her hands up in front of her, "I'm not trying to start anything."

"That's just the problem, you never try," Narberal bitterly replied before spitting on the ground. Entoma let out a gasp as she covered her mouth with her sleeves."

"You trying to start shit, Nar-chan?" Lupusregina's eyes glinted with a feral light, before they widened in confusion.

"What is it?" Narberal narrowed her eyes, confused at her sister's sudden change in behavior.

"TO NOT KNOW ETIQUETTE MEANS YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS TO ENTER THE BATH. EXTERMINATE."

"Move, you dummy~su!" Lupusregina grabbed Narberal, quickly sidestepping the deceptively quick stone claw that swung at the space she and Narberal were occupying just a moment ago.

'What is going on…' Yuri, the leader of the Cocytus search expedition, let out a heavy exhale.

"The lion statue is a golem," Shizu replied matter-of-factly, unslinging her rifle and aiming it at the rampaging golem.

"Yes, I've figured that out Shizu-chan. It's just that… uuughhhhh," the leader of the Pleiades face-palmed.

"Don't worry, Yuri nee-san," Solution pulled out a set of knives, "We'll handle this."

"I don't think knives are going to hurt a golem~ Sol-chan," Entoma cheerfully looked out from one of the lockers she had been searching.

"I agree," Shizu bluntly concurred, her bullets precisely chipping off bits of the golem as she did.

"Oh…" Solution looked at her daggers with a flat look in her eyes before putting them away, "That makes sense."

"Oi! Are none of you going to help~su?" Lupusregina merrily shouted as she and Narberal took turns smacking the golem around.

"Hmm, It looks like you two have the problem managed. The golem triggered because the two of you were being foolish anyways," Solution sat down on a nearby bench with a lazy smile and watched her two sisters land hit after hit on the stone lion.

"Why! Is! Nothing! GOING! RIGHT!" Narberal slammed her fist on the lion's head with each word, creating cracks along the golem's features as she did so. On the last hit, the maid raised both her fists high above her and brought them down with terrifying strength on the annoying construct, finally shattering it to pieces.

"As expected of Narberal~" Entome jumped happily in place as she stomped on the remnants of the defeated golem who dared to touch her sisters.

"Good job~su!" Lupusregina nudged Narberal with her shoulder, her mouth in a wide canine grin. With her sister's last burst of emotion, the golem had finally been defeated.

"You're not so bad yourself," Narberal muttered, looking away from the werewolf maid.

"He he~," Lupusregina went to hug Narberal's back, "Nar-chan, such a tsun-tsun~su."

"L-Let me go!" Narberal yelped, and with the last word she tried her hardest to push Lupusregina away from her. Sadly, the red-haired maid's iron grip was wrapped around Narberal's waist, unwilling to let go.

"My, my, shy Narberal. What a rare sight," Solution chimed in smugly, still sitting on the same bench.

"S-Shut up!"

"Nar-chan looks like a strawberry~ Can I lick her cheeks?" Entome asked, just the sight of the doppelganger maid's slightly reddening cheeks reminded her of the strawberry cake Lady Tiamat had baked for them.

"No, you cannot eat your sister, Entoma," Yuri answered, "But you are right Solution, it is indeed—"

"Cute," Shizu interjected.

"That is true, Shizu," Yuri desperately wanted to pat her sister's head for such an adorable comment, but she had to refrain. Afterall, they had a very important mission to finish.

"We've been looking for Cocytus-sama everywhere~" Entoma sighed, resting her head on top of the ruined golem as if she was about to take a quick nap.

"I wonder where he is~su," Lupusregina wondered, still hugging a resigned Narberal tightly. The doppelganger had given up on tearing the werewolf away.

"Is there any other place we haven't checked yet?" Solution tapped her chin with her index finger, one slender leg crossed over the other as it elegantly swung back and forth.

Narberal crossed her arms over Lupusregina's, "There's one more place we haven't checked. We ruled it out since it's such an easy place to sweep through, but there is no way he could be there."

"I see. Then let us go there…"


"This room is too obvious," Narberal protested.

"My, how so?" Solution teased, poking Narberal in the cheek.

The Pleiades sisters were standing in front of the massive ornate double doors of the room that they were all familiar with. A room that was used often by both the Supreme Beings and the Floor Guardians.

"This room is usually empty right? We could have spotted the tall and mighty Cocytus-sama from a mile away," the doppelganger maid replied, shooting an intense glare at Solution, who only gently giggled.

"Agreed," Shizu's monotone voice came from behind, concurring with the statement Narberal had just made.

"But this is the only room we haven't checked yet~su!" Lupusregina turned to look at the two of them.

"Lupusregina is right," Yuri chided, moving ahead of her sisters and right before the door as she placed her arms in preparation to push the door open, "Afterall, when you lose something, it's always in the last place you look."

An excited Entoma observed from the sidelines as she twirled in place.

Yuri finally pushed open the doors with a mighty heave.

The Throne Room that lied in the deepest reaches of the infamous dungeon. The unfinished Lemegeton—awe-inspiring and surely powerful despite its incompleteness—stood between it and the rest of Nazarick, acting as the final defense for the heart of Nazarick.

The room itself was an exquisite piece of work. A wide, high room—enough for several hundred people—with a ceiling that seemed to stretch to the skies and surrounding walls of purest alabaster, with golden decorations as highlights.

Hanging from the ceiling were numerous chandeliers made of precious stones of all colors of the rainbow that emitted a fantastic, dreamlike radiance. Numerous flags emblazoned with different symbols—one for each of the Supreme Beings—hung from flagpoles embedded in the walls.

In the center of the Throne Room was a platform forged with gold and silver, and carved into it was a flight of stairs about ten steps high. Atop these stairs sat a monolithic throne, carved out of a single piece of obsidian crystal whose back was high enough to touch the ceiling above it. A huge red banner hung down behind it, proudly displaying the symbol of the guild.

"See," Narberal snarked, "I told you that there was nothing in here—"

"Wow! What's that~su?" Lupusregina cut her off as she pointed towards an extremely out of place oddly shaped figure wrapped in green bandages.

There's a lush green...thing on the left side of the throne, a place where Albedo was supposed to stand as the Overseer of Nazarick. The tree seems to be rather bulky. At the top, there's a gold star that extends towards the ceiling and twinkling treasures wrapped in spider web strings wraps around it.

Entoma skipped over to the tree to take a closer look. The green-wrapped stout figure was decorated in a variety of magic items that had surely come from the Treasury.

There was a golden sword wrapped around it and a silver axe at the back. Treasures such as pearls and gold coins are not an exception, while gems and diamond rings decorated the peripheral of the tree skirt.

"Uwu~? What's this?" Entoma gingerly poked the bizarre decoration.

The green mass rumbled. "Aura. Mare. Is. It. Time. Yet?"

"This voice…" Solution gasped.

"There's no way…" Narberal muttered.

"This is insane~su!" Lupusregina exclaimed.

"Waa…" was the only response Shizu could give in this bizarre situation.

"C-Cocytus-sama?!" Yuri yelled out.

"Waaaa, Cocytus-sama is a Christmas tree!" Entoma cheered, arms raised high.

"What's a Christmas tree?" Narberal curiously asked, leaning in closer to examine the bound Cocytus.

"A Christm—" Shizu began to respond before the grand doors to the Throne Room suddenly opened.

"A Christmas tree is a tree decorated for a festival," an overbearing aura fell upon them as a porcelain-white skeleton dressed in a robe of shadows walked into the room. "It is typically adorned with a variety of shiny baubles, much like the ones hung on Cocytus."

Ainz walked up to the wrapped Floor Guardian and plucked an intricately carved angel statuette off. "In this case, magic items work as well apparently."

The maids jolted back, their eyes widening in shock as they hadn't expected to see their god enter the Throne room.

Thankfully, the oldest of the Pleiades quickly recovered bearings.

"Ainz-sama," Yuri greeted as she bowed, the rest of her sisters following.

"With that being said," Ainz slowly walked to the throne and slumped down on it, sighing as he did so, "What were you all doing to Cocytus?"

His intense aura of despair washed over the maids like a tsunami, and they couldn't help but to bow their heads even lower.

"We apologize for disturbing you, Ainz-sama," Yuri answered swiftly, "However, we had received an order from Lady Tiamat to look for Cocytus-sama as he had been missing for two months."

"Ah, you too?"

Yuri lifted her head up in surprise in a moment of discomposure, "You too, Ainz-sama?" she inquired.

"You see," Ainz started fiddling with the angel statuette, "That dumb dra—I mean, Tiamat had also asked me to help look for Cocytus."

Yuri's shoulders immediately slumped, "Oh…"

Did Lady Tiamat ask Ainz-sama because she thought they would be incapable of looking for Cocytus-sama? Was their competence that questionable?

Sensing some hesitation, Ainz hurriedly explained to the maids, "I can assure you that it's probably not as what you think it is."

"Ainz-sama?" the maids all lifted their heads in confusion.

"Tia was busy cooking a feast and she's panicking since she couldn't look for Cocytus herself, so she contacted everyone including the Floor Guardians. Luckily, the first place I decided to search was the Throne Room, and lo and behold, I found him there with you. Truly, a job well done, Pleiades!" Ainz congratulated them with a regal tone.

"Ainz-sama!" they swooned.

"Now, Cocytus…" Ainz looked over the sad state of his Floor Guardian.

"Ainz. Sama." the blue warrior greeted.

"Care to explain to me what happened?"

"Aura. And. Mare. Told. Me. That. It's. Supposed. To. Be. A. Halloween. Costume."

"What—I mean, hn, I see…" Ainz replied stoically, calmly stroking his chin with his hand, "I'll make sure to reprimand them later. But for now, please go to the dining room and enjoy the feast Tia had made for you, all of you."

"Yes! Ainz. Sama."

"It will be as you will."

Slowly, one by one, they exited the Throne Room; the Pleiades maids first, followed by the hobbling Cocytus—since he was bandaged from head to toe—and the various decorations attached to him jingled with a click-clack sound as they bounced up and down against his exoskeleton, leaving Ainz alone by himself.

The Overlord sighed, "I suppose it's time to get going as well," he spoke to the empty room, "I haven't tried eating since we've arrived in this world…"

Standing up, Ainz made for a truly majestic sight as he opened a『Gate』with practiced movements, hands waving around in what seemed to be mystical patterns to the untrained eye. Before he walked through the violet rift, he turned around and gazed at the spot where Cocytus had once stood for two months. Shaking his head, he hummed an old Christmas melody as he stepped through the portal.

The echo of terribly off-key humming resounded for no one to hear.


Ainz's foot gently stepped out onto the dirt ground of the Arena, the scent of countless delicacies hitting his senses as soon as he did.

'Tia has really outdone herself this time…' he lightly chuckled as he walked towards the center of the Arena where countless tables filled with food were crowded around by the many denizens of Nazarick. Ainz quietly casted 『Perfect Unknowable』on himself.

Slowly and carefully navigated through the mass of festive bodies, he finally found Tiamat pacing back and forth in the center of the vibrant Arena.

He cast off his invisibility spell.

Her apron fluttered like a flag in a spring breeze, and as soon as her amethyst eyes landed on him, she immediately ran towards his direction.

"Ainz, how was it? Did you find him? Is he in good health? Did we get attacked? Is he starving? Where did you find him? What happened? Did he—"

In a moment of boldness, Ainz gently put a skeletal finger on her lips to quiet her down.

"I did find him, but the Pleiades Maids got to him first. I think there's a misunderstanding between Aura and Mare regarding Cocytus, he said it was supposed to be a Halloween costume."

"What?!"

"Exactly," Ainz sighed, "Honestly, your Halloween fiasco caused more trouble than it was worth."

Ainz could see a heavy cloud of guilt form over her as her face immediately fell.

"Sorry…" she said softly, her face turned away as she rubbed her arm. Ainz's non-existent stomach dropped.

"Don't apologize," he patted her head, "I understand that you were just trying to tell the Floor Guardians about the stuff that we had in our old world."

"Hn," she nodded.

"But if you are truly sorry, then you have to help Cocytus with his work since he's two months behind now," he teased.

"I was going to help him anyways," she snarked back, sticking her tongue out.

A warm feeling bloomed in his chest for only for a precious, short moment.

"Well," he looked over the perfect, picturesque gathering, where the members of Nazarick were all happily eating together. Demon, dragonoid, slime, spider, none of that mattered before the delicious spread that was served in front of them.

He saw a rare moment where Albedo was acting civil with Shalltear, Demiurge and the Evil Lords were mingling with the lower ranked demons, Cocytus's decoration was being admired by Kyouhukou's children, Aura and Mare joined in to admire their handiwork. Even Pandora's Actor had left the Treasury to enjoy the precious time spent with everyone.

Ainz smiled as he saw Aureole Omega and Victim teleport onto the floor after confirming everyone was there. The youngest of the Pleiades, in an out of character moment, ran towards the rest of her sisters and was welcomed with a big warm hug from all of them at once.

It was a very beautiful sight.

Ainz glanced at Tiamat, captivated by her warm smile.

And it was even more beautiful with her by his side.

"Might as well enjoy what we have now," Ainz softly murmured as he looked over the happy faces of the denizens of Nazarick digging into the feast Tia had created.

Tia nodded, looking at the scene with a soft smile and tender eyes, "Yeah…"

Today, be thankful and think how rich you are. Your family is priceless, your time is gold, and your health is wealth. -Zig Ziglar.

Happy Belated Christmas!


BONUS ROUND!


"Ainz, Ainz," Tiamat called out to Ainz who was mingling with the homunculi maids as she approached him with a bowl of what seemed to be a really red soup in her hands.

"What is it Tia?"

"I cooked something for you," Tia raised up a spoonful of soup to his mouth, "Say aaaah—"

"No."

"Awh, why not?"

Ainz looked over the maids and other various monsters whose idle chatter had quieted down and were now all looking at Tia and him as if they were some kind of spectacle.

The burn of embarrassment grew over his whole body, but soon disappeared thanks to his undead perks.

'Might as well get this over with,' he thought to himself.

He lowered his head and opened his jaw, allowing Tiamat to pour the contents of the spoon down his mouth, making sure that he got every single last drop.

"HA! You just got pranked boi! What I made is a really-really spicy ramen with szechuan peppers and carolina reapers that will definitely burn your tongue off!"

Ainz quieted down for a few seconds, before gulping the soup inside his mouth down.

"It's...flavorful…"

"What?"

"Delicious."

"Eh?"

"Give me that," he snatched the whole bowl from her and proceeded to gulp it all down with an enthusiasm she had never seen from him before.

"No, don't do that! It's really spicy, you could get indigestion!"

"Screw that. Make me another one! Flavor! The flavor that I have been searching for is finally here!"

As soon as the rest of the denizens of Nazarick heard that, another new item made its way to the permanent menu down in the cafeteria.

Ainz-sama's favorite: Deadly Spicy Ramen!


A/N: I want more time to write ;A; the Christmas omake itself took us two months to make, thats just sad ;_;

Hackslashbash: Sorry about the slow updates folks; we'll try to get more chapters out, but college and work is starting back up for both of us. Also, very late Christmas omake! :)

Discord: 'Tiamat: The Goddess of Dragons' Discord Link: Helmeted Tyrant Trounces Peasant Sod (colon) (slash) (slash) devious inventor sparks creation onrejected devices . gg (slash) JUejk8J