Reuploaded: 04/01/2021


A/N: Imagine people speculating on how me and Hackslashbash worked together without even knowing the fact lel.

Hackslashbash: In response to the reviewer below me who said that I'm the one who edited the "plagiarism" out: that is blatantly untrue.

Before I decided to help work on the story, I made sure to read the reviews that accused weeaboo of plagiarism. The one big difference between me and these reviewers however, is that I actually bothered to do my research. I checked out Child of Jormungand, and lo and behold, the only parts that could be considered the same are the fanfic staples of the Overlord community: the Guardians loyalty pledge and the whole just entering the New World schtick. If this could be considered plagiarism, then all Fanfic writers in this community would be plagiarists.

With regards to the Yami Alex situation: ironically enough, neither of us had even heard of her story until we started receiving accusations that we were copying her work somehow. In an attempt to keep an open mind, I checked her story too, and yet again, I found out that the only part that could be considered similar was the whole entering the New World intro. If I was really the one who was writing everything, wouldn't I just write my own fanfic instead of helping? The reason that I help is because weeaboo contributes the most to the story, and I enjoy seeing weeaboo bringing the story to life.

TLDR: Do your research and don't just blindly believe vicious rumors.


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

Volume XLI, Chapter X - Family

The sun did not come out that day. Even still, that sunless day was the most joyous day of the Dragon's long life.

Forty champions she met. Forty monsters of variable appearances and vast powers. And all of them were watching her, discussing what was to be done next.

All agreed that she should be let in. After all, the Dragon met all of the requirements to join their most unholy pantheon. Now, they argued over what was to be done with the humans who had hounded her so.

Half cried for war and vengeance. Half advocated for an uneasy peace.

In the end, the differences between the two groups were too great to reconcile. And so, the Great God of Death who lorded over the gathering of Nightmares made his decision, pinning the future of the guild on a single flip of a coin.

The monsters all watched breathlessly as the coin slowly flipped in the air before finally uneasily landing for 'revenge'.

Their fate determined, the monsters all cheerfully prepared for war, even those who had initially disagreed. For fortune had determined it so, and so it must be.

The Dragon watched in confusion. Why were these people whom she had met for but a few hours willing to come to her side so eagerly?

As she watched the chaotic scene before her—a sentient vine that reeked of venomous death drawing up raid plans, a goat-headed demon boisterously laughing over the slaughter that was surely about to take place, the Silver Paladin conversing with a pink slime and a being made of pure Earth—a fleshless hand laid itself upon her shoulder.

She spun around, coming face to face with the God of Death. Already knowing her thoughts through virtue of his supreme knowledge, he answered the questions she was asking within her heart.

They were fighting for their family. A family that she was now a part of.

With this, the Overlord of Death glided forward, calling for the attention of the entire host of Nazarick.

He proclaimed the beginning of a war, a war of endless wrath and unstoppable lightning, a war that would span across countless worlds.

A War to make the World Tree itself tremble from its fury.

The Menagerie of Horrors cheered in cacophonous, uproarious shouts. The day had finally come for them to scar the Worlds with their unquenchable rage.

And so they plotted. They planned where they would fight: from the peaceful piaries of Midgard, to the scorching volcanoes of Muspellheim, and even into the bosom of cold Helheim. Countless hours were burnt away as the monsters gathered information on their enemies, collected a myriad of priceless artifacts, and endless deadly spars: all in preparation for the maelstrom that was to come.

Days, weeks, months passed until the appointed day came.

All Hell broke loose as the bases of countless human and humanoid guilds were all struck with the fury of gods.

The blood of both humans and monsters mingled together that day as bursts of holy and blasphemous fire, waves of cold frost, strikes strong enough to shatter mountains, and many other magics all capable of shaking even the sturdies strongholds clashed against each other.

In the chaos, the Dragon came across a human. Upon seeing her, the pitiful mortal's face contorted in a mixture of rage, fear, and most of all, desperation.

He cried in a maddened rage as he asked the Dragon why such a disaster was to be decreed upon them. Hands driven by crazed anguish pulled his bow taut as he aimed a Blessed arrow at the center of the Dragon's heart.

She knew she would not be able to dodge his mortal strike.

A split-second before the arrow was let loose, the man was relieved of his head by a shining blade.

The Silver Paladin had once again come to her aid. This time not for any sense of contrived justice.

But for Family.


Chapter 28: The Strongest in the World


A wide variety of shops lined the nearby streets: antique stalls, jewelry and accessory shops, souvenir kiosks and stores selling leather goods, all hectic with activity as each owner tried to showcase their finest wares.

Of course, this included her own boutique. She watched from the ornate windows of her establishment as people flocked about the streets like fireflies to lamps, enthusiasm shining on their features.

Her store was wedged between two taller buildings. It looked squeezed, as if the neighbours were closing in. The sign was old and some letters had become illegible in the peeling paint. But exteriors were just that, exteriors. People know that this place was the luxury boutique they had to visit at least once when they came to the Capital.

Rosie's Boutique.

A pristine boutique with wide windows and intricate clothes on display. The shop had sat where it was for generations, and they knew all of their customers by name.

That was why when a familiar carriage stopped right in front of the boutique, she knew that a certain silver haired butler was about to enter.

"Welcome to my boutique," the voice of a posh woman greeted Tiamat and Sebas as they walked past the glass doors. "So I see that you have come again, Mr. Sebas."

"Indeed I have, Ms. Rosie. I've also brought a friend of Lady Solution over who wants to take a look at your wares," Sebas responded respectfully, his head lowering in acknowledgment.

"Oh? Well then, she certainly wouldn't be able to see anything of interest from all the way over there," the owner of the boutique, or at least Tiamat assumed she was, lifted an eyebrow as she spoke out with a firm voice.

The Dragoness decided to take the woman's advice and stepped out from behind Sebas, finally getting a good view of the storekeeper.

Rosie appeared to be a middle-aged woman with a serious expression fixated to her face. Despite her very human expressions, Tiamat thought that she looked exactly like a doll: tall and bony, with short wavy black hair, large blue eyes, and prim, pursed lips.

"Welcome esteemed customer," she bowed once again towards Tiamat, "Please feel free to look around, although I must ask you to exercise some caution."

"Have people messed with your stuff before?" Tiamat asked curiously. She didn't feel like there would be many people who would dare anger such a serious personality.

Rosie's lips curved ever so slightly downward. "There are certain… people, who will take a mile when given an inch."

"Ahhhhh, I see… Those kinds of people," Tiamat vigorously nodded her head, having no clue what kind of person the shopkeeper was referring to.

"I'm glad you understand," the corners of her mouth smirked up a bit, "Now since that's out of the way, if you could be so kind as to tell me your name…?" Rosie raised a single eyebrow.

"Oh! My name is… Tia!" the Dragoness blurted out in what she believed to be a moment of immense genius, "Yes, I'm Tia. It's nice to meet you too, Rosie."

"Are you looking to buy something in particular?" the elegant black-haired woman led them to what seemed like a waiting room with a dark blue sofa.

Tiamat looked around the room in awe.

'So this is what stores here are supposed to look like…'

The sea-blue wallpaper gave off a feeling of ease, the lighting was placed in a manner so that the room was without a single shadow yet not blinding, and the massive room where the customers could sit down and relax was filled with just the right amount of furniture.

"If you would be so kind as to sit here," Rosie waved her hand toward the sofa, "I'll have one of my employees bring you the tea while you browse through our catalogue," she looked towards one of her employees who immediately nodded as they silently exited the room.

Tia excitedly sat down in the middle of the three seated sofa while Sebas stood behind her.

"You don't have to bring us a catalogue. I just would like to look at some homewear first, also bonnets, winter coats, and some outerwear as well. Add a lot of dresses to our order as well as some gloves. Ah, pajamas too!" Tiamat said excitedly.

As soon as Tiamat blurted out the stuff she needed, Rosie sighed and gracefully picked up a pen as she pulled a notepad out of seemingly nowhere, quickly listing down everything Tiamat had mentioned.

"Quite a lot of items for 'just'. I think a catalogue would suit your purposes much better, seeing as it also displays items that aren't currently in stock," Rosie tapped the pen against the notepad, "But we do have some dresses ready, will that be alright?"

"That would be great! By the way, would it be okay if I took a look at the dresses before taking measurements?" Tiamat asked with practiced ease.

"Well… that goes without saying, Tia," the well-dressed owner wryly smiled in amusement. At that moment, her employee came back in, tea set and catalogue in hand.

"Thank you, Madeleine. Now, if you could go and grab these items," Rosie tore out the sheet on the notepad she had been writing in and handed it to the employee, "Don't worry about what we're still waiting on. Just bring what we have."

"Yes, ma'am," the well-dressed employee nodded her head and left the room.

"Well then, all we have to do now is wait. Although I must say, this is quite the large purchase," Rosie mused, "It isn't often that someone comes in requesting such a large order."

Her customer must be someone of high status to be able to afford all these. Which only brought to question why she had never heard of a 'Tia' before, especially when she was well acquainted with the nobles in the Capital.

Rosie wiped the thought from her mind. It was none of her business anyways.

In a few minutes, Madeleine and an entourage of other employees returned with boxes of various sizes stacked in their arms: ranging from hair accessories to shoes, as well as racks and racks of clothes topped with figurines to display the dresses in their full glory.

Tiamat watched as they scrambled in and out of the room with Sebas behind her, slowly sipping on her tea as she waited.

'This is some good tea.'

"Sebas," Tiamat called out.

"My Lady," the Iron Butler slightly bowed, moving his head closer so that they wouldn't be overheard.

"Sebas," she whispered, "Where's Shroud?"

"Is My Lady talking about the Eight-Edged Assassin that had been guarding you yesterday?"

Tiamat nodded.

"He is securing the premises of the store, Lady Tiamat," Sebas reassured her.

"Ah! So he's here with us?" Tiamat shuffled around in her seat, pleasantly surprised.

"Indeed," Sebas straightened his back again, "It seems that My Lady has taken a liking to him."

Tiamat nodded once again in excitement, "Yeah! I haven't seen him for a few days, so I kinda miss him," she smiled a bit.

The Dragoness turned her attention back to the dresses that the employees had put on display. Even if this was the best boutique in the capital, the designs looked quite...bold. So many bright colors like red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Moreover the designs...Tiamat could only weep.

Aside from the color combinations, the shapes of the dresses themselves were quite a sight to behold. The puffs on the dress were big enough to hide watermelons inside of them, and the neckline dipped ridiculously low. Tiamat had no desire to leave her womanly assets out for everyone to see.

"Are these kinds of designs popular right now?" Tiamat turned her head towards one of the employees who just put down boxes of what she presumed to be shoes.

"Yes," he put down the box as he replied with a smile, "A lot of nobles at the capital would want to look extra special. These kinds of dresses usually draw a lot of attention to them. Ah, this one seems like it would look good for you ma'am," he picked up a particularly bright dress and held it in front of her.

Tiamat's eyebrows furrowed. The dress was atrocious. Was he trying to turn her into a rainbow? But she couldn't complain, afterall, tastes could vary wildly from person to person.

"That's great," she said with a slightly forced smile, deciding not to crush the employee's spirit as she continued sipping on her tea.

And so Tiamat passed her time like this, with employees recommending various bizarre outfits until Rosie came back to the waiting room, "Were any of these to your liking?"

Tiamat mumbled, "Sadly, no…"

"I see. I apologize for not having anything suitable for your preferences at the moment," Rosie tilted her head downwards in apology.

"It's nothing," Tiamat smiled, "Would it be alright if we did the measuring now? I want to go look around some other stores as well."

"Of course," Rosie pulled out a measuring tape from seemingly nowhere, "I'm going to need you to stand up, dear."

"Yes," Tiamat placed her teacup and saucer down on the table and got up in a single fluid motion. "Do you need me to do anything else?"

"Hmmm," Rosie tapped her pen against her chin, "Take off your dress and lift your arms up if you would."

Tiamat gawked. "But it took me so long to put this on…"

The ever-serious shop owner arched an eyebrow, "And how do you think I am going to take your measurements with that dress on?"

Sebas frowned and stepped forward as he opened his mouth to protest the request. The Dragoness shook her head before loudly sighing as she prepared herself for the draining task of removing the stuffy dress.

As Tiamat turned her attention to the arduous task of taking off her dress, Rosie helping her remove the several layers as the two gradually dismantled the intricate setup.

When they finally stripped Tiamat of all the layers suffocating her, the Dragoness poked at the corset that was still choking her midsection. "Should I leave this on?"

This time, Rosie raised both of her eyebrows in surprise as she took a step back and put both hands on her hips, "Dear, why are you even wearing a corset? You certainly have no need to wear one, I can tell you that."

At this, Tiamat gaped, arms falling slack to her sides, "I went through that torture for nothing?!"

"It certainly wasn't for nothing," the amused shopkeeper smiled as she expertly unlaced and removed the corset, "Now you can empathize with the plight of countless other women."

"There's definitely an easier way to accomplish that," Tiamat groaned in relief as she finally discarded the cursed wrap, now clad in only her chemise. Sebas quietly turned around to face the wall.

"Oh certainly," Rosie wrapped the measuring tape around Tiamat's back and under her arms at the fullest part of her bust, "There are some things that people would go to a great length to achieve though."

"That's true. I just can't comprehend why people would choose to squeeze their guts out with that… that thing," Tiamat stood up straighter as the focused shop owner ran the tape in a circle across her waist before closing her legs as Rosie moved to measure her hips.

"My dear, some of the noble women here would give life and limb to convey that delicate appearance," Rosie muttered as she quickly scribbled a few lines of text on her notepad. "People will go to any length for something they truly desire. And for them, that thing is beauty. Anyhow," the shop owner took a step back and gave Tiamat a once-over, "Come back in a week and I'll have your dress ready."

"Eh? But I wasn't planning on buying any of the dresses I saw earlier…" Tiamat wrung her hands, not wanting to offend the shop owner she was beginning to feel oddly comfortable with. Rosie was like the quintessential nanny for a wealthy Western Arcology family.

"Oh, those? Those are horrendous. Fashion is quite odd nowadays," Rosie wryly smiled as she began to help Tiamat put her forest green dress back on. "I forgot to ask this earlier, but this handiwork… is it Paolo's creation?"

"Yes," the Dragoness grunted as Rosie tightened the corset strings with one smooth and powerful pull, "He gave it to me as a kind of a business gift."

"Oho? It must be quite the affair if he's willing to part with such a masterpiece, for free no less," the intrigued shopkeeper expertly put the rest of the layers back onto her red-headed client.

"Yeah, I could tell he worked hard on it too," Tiamat replied easily, caught in the warming flow of the conversation, "It's because I hired him as part of this new business I'm starting up."

For the first time since Tiamat had come in, Rosie had an expression of genuine surprise on her face. "A new business? For clothing I assume, if you've headhunted Paolo to be a part of it."

"Welllll, it'll include clothing and some other stuff that I'm still thinking about branching into," Tiamat pulled at the part of her dress around her midsection, "God, I hate corsets."

The dark-haired clothier's mouth teased upwards in a smile, "And you're certainly not the last. I must say, I am looking forward to this business of yours, dear."

"Keep your eyes open then~" Tiamat teased. She was really beginning to like the matronly aura around this boutique owner.

'Maybe I should ask her if she wants to cooperate with me? She is a big name around here despite the fact that the dresses look so… weird.'

"Rosie," Tiamat took a deep breath in as she looked the curious shop owner in the eyes, "Would you like to work with me as a contractor for my business?"

"Quite bold of you to ask a competitor to join your business," Rosie raised an eyebrow as the corners of her lips teased upwards, "I can't say that I'm against it, but I'll have to see the products first of course. Either way, you're sure to shake up the establishments around here, dear."

"Aww, that's a shame," Tiamat's shoulders slumped in mock disappointment, "Thank you for considering it though. I'll make sure to send you some samples when we get everything set up!" The Dragoness made her way to the door, Sebas in tow, and waved goodbye to the kindly and stern owner.

"I'm already looking forward to it," Rosie dipped forward in a slight bow as she raised her hand in farewell, "Don't forget to come back for your dress."

"Thanks, I won't!" Tiamat cheerfully waved again, one foot through the doorway, "Have a great day, Rosie!"

Rosie smiled, back ramrod straight as she folded her hands across her waist, murmuring as the red-haired woman and her butler faded into the distance, "The times are changing… Perhaps you knew this, Paolo."

Closing her eyes as she let out a small laugh, the shop owner went back into her boutique, preparing for yet another day's work.

▓▒░(°◡°)░▒▓

After visiting five more shops, Tiamat finally figured out why fashion in this world was so weird.

The nobles were trying to draw more attention to themselves.

The more lace or accessories one had, the more the eyes of the crowds would gravitate towards them.

It wasn't the good type of attention. But to these nobles, any publicity was good publicity.

It was basically the same as peacocks flapping their tails to those who didn't care in the best case, and actively hated them in the worst case.

'Well! It's not like I don't have any experience with these kinds of people anyways,' Tiamat proudly lifted her chin up, 'Pretty much all of my bakery clients were rich dudes like these.'

"I apologize, My Lady," Sebas dipped his head low in shame, "I should not have wasted your time with the fools from the shops earlier."

"Ah! It's okay, Sebas. We met one great person after all!" Tiamat brightly smiled, reassuring the downcast butler.

"My Lady, if you do not mind me asking, who is this person that you have been pleased by?" Sebas asked, his slightly raised eyebrows a testament to his astonishment. He truly believed that no one they had met today was suitable to help Lady Tiamat in accomplishing her plans.

One was an arrogant noble couple who thought that copious amounts of money would solve the complete and utter lack of vision they had.

Another was a proud and stout old man who refused to accept any criticism from Lady Tiamat, even going so far as to ask her to leave when she remarked on the lack of style variety in his outfits. Sebas tightened his fists momentarily at the memory of the man who dared treat the Supreme Being with such disrespect.

Then there was Rosie, an eccentric but down-to-earth woman that Sebas had visited with Solution when they were still building their disguises. It was indeed true that Lady Tiamat invited the woman to work with them, but Sebas personally felt that the woman needed to be more respectful of the Supreme Being. That being said, she was certainly the best option at the moment. If she took up his Lady on her offer in any case.

"I think Rosie would be a great business partner, dontcha think Sebas?" Lady Tiamat played with the edge of her sleeve, pinching and rubbing it as she sank back into the seat of the carriage.

'Lady Tiamat indeed has a good eye for talent," Sebas too, believed that the first shopkeeper they visited would be the best to work with.

"I believe that she will do an excellent job, My Lady," he replied with his ever-serious expression.

"You're not just saying that to make me happy, are you?" Tiamat scrunched her nose as she leaned forward towards the Iron Butler, "Do you truly think that she can do a good job?"

A bead of sweat rolled down the back of Sebas's neck. "It is my earnest belief that Rosie will do a wonderful job, Lady Tiamat. She is the one of the best boutiques in the Capital, and I'm sure that such a title can only be the result of diligence and hard work."

The red-haired Dragoness hummed. "Hmmm… I just want things to go well, you know?"

Looking at the Supreme Being with a distant, far-away look on her face, the Butler of Steel was overcome with emotion.

Sebas bowed his head, his forehead touching the tips of his knees. "My Lady. On behalf of all the people of Nazarick, thank you for devoting so much of yourself to us," his voice began building up to a fierce crescendo, "I'm sure that I speak for them all when I say this: you can always rely on us to bear your burdens with you, My Lady!"

Tiamat rapidly blinked her eyes.

'Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Sebas so worked up before, even back in Carne village…'

"I'll keep that in mind, Sebas," Tiamat smiled reassuringly.

'Hypocrite,' a small voice whispered in the back of her head, 'You've called Ainz out on the very thing that you're doing.'

Just as she was about to fall into a spiral of anxiety, Tiamat heard a loud thud.

When she had first arrived in the New World as a Dragoness, the sensory overload was too much for her. In retrospect, it was her being unable to tune out the vast variety of stimuli her body could pick up. From words to the ticking of the clock on a wall, a person's breath, their heartbeats, everything was all amplified tenfold.

It was the world pressing down on her, a sudden tightness that crawled over her skin, making her want to claw on her bones, while she couldn't do anything but panic.

It took her some time to get used to the newfound sensations.

Now, the carriages on the road, the voices in conversation, the sounds of footsteps against the brick road, the slamming of doors, or the tinkle of a bell; they were loud, but she had slowly gotten used to them.

So it surprised her when she heard a loud sound that came from the back alley of a rundown and seemingly abandoned building.

The heavy grunt of a man and a dull thud followed quickly after, before Tiamat heard the very, very faint sound of someone moaning in pain.

"Sebas, did you hear that?" Tiamat sat upright, poking her head out the window as she looked back and forth, looking for the source of the noise.

"My hearing is not as good as yours, My Lady. But I can hear it faintly," Sebas quietly waved for the driver to stop.

Tiamat strained her eyes towards the source of the sound.

The rundown building reeked of a vile feeling. Frankly speaking, it gave her an extreme feeling of unpleasant deja vu.

"Should we check it out?" Tiamat mumbled as she stepped out of the stopped carriage.

"In that case, allow me to go before you, My Lady," Sebas stepped in front of her as the two cautiously approached the run-down building.

As the two came closer, Tiamat's nose was assaulted with a foul smell.

A sickening scent of sweat, blood, and human waste.

"What an awful smell…" she had unconsciously brought her hand up to her nose in an attempt to block the offensive miasma.

It reminded her too much of the child she had saved in the depth of the gem caverns the other day.

"Indeed," Sebas narrowed his eyes at an oddly shaped object wrapped in a brown rice bag, the stretched stitching showing the strain the bag was under. The thick yarn had several pulled holes and heavy tearing on one side, "That appears to be what had caught your attention, My Lady."

Immediately, Tiamat walked towards the brown lump, all thoughts of caution thrown to the wind.

"My Lady!" Sebas's voice rose a bit in panic. It would be bad if they were to be ambushed now.

Tiamat could understand his worries, but Tiamat was a『World Guardian』.

Being a『World Guardian』meant that she was highly resistant to both physical and magical attacks. Of course, that didn't mean she would rush recklessly towards an opponent that was obviously stronger than her. But for now, she knew that the strongest in this Kingdom, which happened to be Blue Rose, did not even hold a candle to nearly all of the Pleiades maids.

Tiamat stood there in quiet contemplation for a few more moments before she bent down and gingerly poked the bag. Sebas tensed himself, preparing to cover the last few meters with a skill.

The lump didn't move. Or explode, unleash a deadly poison, or summon a powerful monster for that matter.

The butler allowed himself to slightly relax right until he saw the Supreme Being boldly open the bag.

Inside was what would have been a pale delicate face. Instead, was a heavily bruised caricature of a human covered in purple blotches and sores with thin, withered blonde hair.

Tiamat's face turned sickly pale as she almost turned away from the sight. It was as if she had found a corpse—or an almost corpse—because the girl on the road was lifeless. Lifeless.

Her blond hair was tattered, stained with dried blood, turning what would have been a bright yellow into a filthy brownish-red. Her face was blotched from the bruises, obviously from being beaten, and her dull, lifeless blue eyes could barely be seen from her swollen eyelids. She was naked, thrown away to the streets. And the smell. The smell was the most disgusting thing she had ever sniffed since coming to the New World.

It was blatant that her bowels had been released at some point.

Tiamat's heart pounded against her ribcage as one thought raced through her mind.

'Who did this?'

"My Lady, please move away from that at once," Sebas gently put his hand on the Supreme Being's shoulder, hoping to guide her away from the obviously distressing scene.

They weren't prepared for this sort of situation at all. Normally, he would've considered helping the girl if she proved herself worthy, but now he also had the Supreme Being's safety to worry about too.

But instead of listening to Sebas, Tiamat was trapped in her own thoughts, tightly clutching to the near-lifeless body's frail shoulders, "Are you alright?" she quietly asked, her voice cracking.

The girl reminded her too much of herself.

Tiamat bit her lips when she heard the uneven breathing that the girl's lungs desperately worked for, as if her body couldn't even do something as simple as taking in air anymore.

Getting shoved down on the bed.

"Lady Tiamat," Sebas's voice became stern, "Please step aside."

Mocking voices all around.

"B-But it's…"

'Me.'

"I understand your distress, however, please let me take care of this," the butler lowered his head as he spoke with a firm voice.

Sebas's eyes hardened. After he had heard the report from the Eight Edged Assassin who had accompanied Lady Tiamat in her outings yesterday, he concluded that the Supreme Being had too many enemies to count. It wouldn't hurt to be cautious right now, especially if it was related to their Lady's well being.

"We're going to help her right? We're not just going to leave—" the trembling voice of his Lady was suddenly cut off by a rude and coarse shout.

"Oi, you!" The rickety backdoor was thrown open as a large, gruff man with a shirt covered in stains walked out. "Get the fuck out of here!"

"We're just trying to help this girl!" Tiamat's eyes narrowed at the man, fists clenched in anger, yet paralyzed by the vast array of emotions she was feeling.

"I don't care what you're trying to do. Leave the girl there and fuck off before I fuck your shit up lil' missy!" the man shook his fist threateningly at her.

Tiamat flinched.

Getting beaten.

He spat in her face.

His head exploded in a shower of red a moment later.

"W-Wha?" Tiamat wiped her face with the back of her palm, her mouth a gaping expression of shock, "Why did you do that?!"

"I apologize, My Lady," Sebas looked at the headless corpse with a cold, hard stare, "I lost control of my emotions there."

Tiamat just stared numbly at the now-headless man. His sudden appearance and equally sudden death was jarring to say the least.

Sebas turned his head towards Tiamat, and she noticed that even though he had just smashed someone's head like it was an overripe watermelon, his gloves were as clean and spotless as ever. The butler pulled a handkerchief from the inside pocket of his suit and proceeded to gently wipe down Tiamat's face with it.

"Please excuse me, My Lady," Sebas apologized as he tucked the handkerchief back into his pocket.

For a hand that had just brutally murdered someone, they were as gentle as a saint's. She would have never had thought that the hands handling her as if she was the finest porcelain could exert so much power.

Tiamat stopped his hand with her own, "Why did you do that, Sebas? It's not like he could've hurt us," she gently asked him as she looked him in the eyes.

That's a lie.

Sebas held her firm gaze,"For anyone to dare to humiliate a Supreme Being in such a manner… Such a cowardly act must be punished. He is fortunate that his punishment was just a quick and swift death. A session with Neuronist Painkill would have been far more suitable for a fool like him," Sebas swiftly replied, his voice full of conviction.

"But..." Tiamat turned her head back at the dead body and flinched.

It was not a pretty sight.

Her thoughts drifted towards Ainz and how he had urged her not to do anything stupid. She didn't want to add any more stress to his plate. She really didn't. Yet even now, she was overcome by her emotional impulsiveness to do something.

Do what she thought was right and make trouble for her family, or leave the girl to die?

Tiamat hung her head in guilt as she thought about how her thoughtless actions could lead to more trouble for Sebas and Solution, and even Ainz, whose plans were relying on the maid and butler.

'What if people get sent after Sebas and Solution? I'm not worried about them getting hurt, but their job is definitely going to be more difficult from here on out… Why did I decide to just check out this sketchy place on a whim?' Tiamat's anxiety overflowed from her thoughts to her mouth.

'More importantly…' her mind flashed back to the Slane Theocracy.

Screaming. Devastation. Fire. So, so, so much fire.

"What should we do? Do we just leave the body here? No way, we definitely have to hide that somewhere. What if they find us? WhatifAinzfindsout? We'regoingtobeinsomuchtroub—" she rambled on as she wrapped her arms around her knees, her nerves completely burned out.

"My Lady," Sebas tried to reassure her as he put his hand on her shoulder, guilt already clouding his mind for driving the Supreme Being to such a state, "Everything will be taken care of. For now, let us return to the house with this girl. Shroud."

Upon being called, the arachnoid assassin appeared out of nowhere and bowed before the two. "Should I annihilate everyone within this building, Sebas-sama?"

"No," the butler calmly shook his head as he gestured to the limp headless body, "For now, just get rid of that body there."

"Consider it done," the Assassin bowed again before it disappeared along with the remains of the disgusting enforcer.

'Gone just like I could've been,' Tiamat thought idly.

"My Lady. I am truly sorry for interfering with any plans you may have had, and I will gladly accept any punishment you see fit once we return to somewhere safe. But please," Sebas gently put his hand on Tiamat's back, giving her a slight nudge towards the back alleyway, "Let us leave this place first."

"But the girl…" Tiamat's voice faltered as she spoke to Sebas, still unsure as to what she wanted to do herself.

'She's not as important as your family,' a voice whispered from the depths of her mind.

"Yes, I did say that we were taking her with us," the butler knelt down and put his hands under the bag, lifting it in one smooth motion, "However, I am almost certain that the owner of this building," he nodded his head toward the dilapidated building, "Will come and investigate what had just happened. That's why I must admit that I am a bit hesitant in taking this girl with us. I truly am sorry, My Lady, but I suggest that we leave her here."

Sebas unconsciously formed a fist in his agitation. He wanted to save the girl too, but they couldn't afford to assume that whoever had put her in such a state would be too incompetent to track them.

However, one sentence from his creator kept on ringing in his ears.

"Saving someone in trouble is common sense!"

His heart was filled with shame. He felt like the lowest of trash for even considering abandoning the obviously in need girl, but what he had said was true. The Supreme Being's well-being took precedence over everybody else's.

Sebas began to walk towards the alleyway with the bag in his arms, "I have no intention of saving those who only pray for others to extend a helping hand. But if Lady Tiamat truly desires it, then it will be done. However," Sebas looked down at the broken girl in pity, "It is truly pitiful to see someone who simply waits for good fortune to fall upon them. Humans are not plants, and they should take action for themselves," his voice remained stern as he began to walk towards the alleyway where Tiamat now was.

Sebas's words echoed throughout her brain, slowly boiling the pent-up frustration and confusion deep in her system until it was as furious as volcanic lava. It churned within, hungry for an outlet, and she knew that it would be too much for her to handle. She knew that the pressure would force her to say things she didn't mean or express thoughts that she had suppressed for years.

'Will you really let him tell you what to do?' the voice mocked.

She had to get out before she lost control of her emotions because she didn't want to hurt Sebas, who was obviously just doing his best to look out for her.

Yet, she couldn't help but feel furious at how he considered abandoning the girl.

Her again. On the ground. No one could help. No one wanted to.

'They should take action for themselves,' those words kept repeating themselves in her mind.

She should have taken action for herself.

Tiamat's nails bit into the palms of her hands.

"How?" she suddenly asked.

Sebas stopped moving, his shoulders tensing in obvious worry.

"She should have pulled herself together and taken action by herself," he carefully replied.

Tiamat gritted her teeth, "I disagree," her soft voice hid a sharp edge.

Weak. Helpless. Worthless.

"Excuse me, My Lady?"

Tiamat marched right up to Sebas's face, "I disagree," she said again, her voice louder this time.

"No matter how many times you disagree with me, Lady Tiamat, everyone in Nazarick knows that you and Ainz-sama's safety is of the utmost importance. The life of any other being is insignificant compared to yours. No matter how strong Lord Touch-Me had made me, there's only so much I can do."

"Then, do you consider yourself strong?" Tiamat challenged.

Am I?

Sebas looked at the Dragoness whose amethyst eyes were blazing golden with suppressed fury, a clear testament to how powerful the Supreme Being was.

Why then, could he see nothing more than a hurt and scared child? Why then, could he only see a woman who was starved of the love that she craved so much? The blasphemy of such thoughts sent a shiver through his entire body.

"Yes, Touch Me-sama, made me strong," he relented, lowering his head in resignation.

"He shouldn't have," Tiamat sharply retorted.

"How so, My Lady?" Sebas's expression stoic despite how the Supreme Being's words had cut deeply into his heart.

Tiamat stared at Sebas, and with all of the courage that she had, she quietly whispered, "What good is all the power in the world if you don't help people like her?"

A building crumbling. People choking to death in a hellish haze of dust and smoke.

Tiamat held back a bitter laugh. What a hypocrite she was.

But even so, she couldn't help but desperately want to help the girl. Her beaten down body reminded Tiamat too much of herself. What if no one had found her in that god-forsaken mansion?

Maybe she wasn't really helping the girl. Maybe it was just all for herself.

"Look at her, Sebas," Tiamat pleaded, a hint of desperation creeping into her voice, and the butler looked down at the fragile being he was carrying, "How could she have pulled herself together when someone beat her every single day? How could she have done anything if she was locked up by herself, abused, and had no one to even talk to? Do you even know how much pain she's gone through? Do you understand? Try putting yourself in her shoes!" without her realizing, she had been gradually raising her voice towards Sebas.

Perhaps this was all she was worth in the end. Someone who spat on the very people who were doing their best to care for her.

But even still, she couldn't leave it be.

"If it was me…" she continued, her voice trembling, "Would you still say what you're saying?"

Leaving Sebas with wide eyes, Tiamat whipped around and ran out of the alley.

She ran past the drying bloodstains of where the man's body once was, past the awful building that made her feel miserable, and past the carriage they came in.

Tears streaked across her tightly closed eyes as the wind blew her hair into disarray.

'Why did I say all of that? Why am I such a shitty person?'

She kept on running and running until she finally ran out of breath from all her sobbing. The Dragoness bent her back and rested her hands on her legs as she tried to catch her breath.

"Lady Tiamat," Sebas's voice arose from behind her. Apparently, he had decided to follow her even after she had talked down to him.

Tiamat laughed mirthlessly. "What is it, Sebas?"

"My Lady," he quietly said, his usual firm voice filled with exhaustion, "I want to save this girl too. But I beg you," the butler bowed, taking care to not jostle the girl in his grasp, "Please understand that we are only looking out for your and Lord Ainz's safety."

"I know. I know… " Tiamat closed her eyes as she tiredly replied. "It's just that… seeing her brought back some old memories. I'm sorry for yelling at you, Sebas. I… I don't expect you to forgive me for saying all of that, but I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry," Tiamat bowed towards the butler, whose eyes were now wide open in shock.

'Do you think a quick 'sorry' can fix everything?' this time, she didn't know if it was the voice or herself mocking her.

"My Lady! There is nothing to apologize for, so please quickly raise your head," he frantically urged her to stand back up. "It is not right for a Supreme Being to bow before anyone."

"Still," Tiamat straightened her back, one arm clutching the other as she looked down at the ground and muttered, "Being a Supreme Being doesn't mean I should talk to my children in such a way."

'And what a wonderful mother you are,' a heavy dose of sarcasm accompanied that thought.

"M-My Lady," Sebas had several mixed feelings. He was elated at hearing her call him her child, but to see Lady Tiamat in such a state…

He would gladly die if it ensured the Supreme Being's happiness.

"Let's just go back home," Tiamat wiped her face with her hands, "The girl needs our help."

"Yes, My Lady."

▓▒░(°◡°)░▒▓

Cold. It was always so cold.

The stench of cheap perfume and her blood mixed together filled the air of the small room that she was in. The sound of a girl weakly crying as an unknown man beat her.

It took her a moment to realize that the girl was her.

The swish of a leather lash slicing through the air to meet against her skin. She knew that no matter how hard she cried here, no one would listen to her pleas.

His booming laughter, full of cruelty, hurt her ears. The screaming, the beating. The laughter as he tried to satisfy himself. The panting of a noble—who was anything but—as he laid on top of her: disgusting. They were doing worse things to her than just beating now.

Her wails. Help me, she cried. Help me. Please stop. Help.

She was helpless, trapped. No one was coming to save her. Of course, she knew all of this. Even still, she used what little energy she had left to plead, hoping that someone, anyone, would hear her.

'Please, if there is a God… I pray to you. Make it stop.'

She squeezed her swollen eyes shut as another round of beating came again.

The man's sadistic laugh, mocking her. "I am your God and I will never make it stop!"

The dull, endless pain swallowed her, engulfing her whole body. It was unbearable. The impact of fists against her skin. Hands that pulled her hair taut, to the point where she thought her scalp was ripping off. The constant abuse… it hurt, everything hurt.

She couldn't take it anymore. She would rather die. She'll do it. She'll kill herself.

The small glass shard in her shaking hands. She knew that this would set her free.

"Don't you dare," he mocked, "You are mine and mine alone. Your life belongs to me. I will decide when you will die."

The screaming. The crying. The helplessness. His hands. His fists. His sloppy kisses.

Then, a new batch came. The new girls looked so scared, so...innocent. She could see them trembling, hugging each other close for warmth. Crying, wailing as if they have lost the world.

They had no idea what real terror looked like. For now at least.

Once the man found a new favorite, he used her one last time, and threw her out, just like garbage.

That's because you are. You're good for nothing at all. Even garbage has more value than you.

At this point she didn't know if it was her voice or his.

The pain that once burned like fire had faded away to an icy numbness. Black filled the edges of her vision, and the only thing she could hear was her own weakening heartbeat and the ringing inside her ears.

Her breath came in ragged, shallow gasps. Seconds passed as she lay there, two voices echoing in the distance.

Or maybe the voices were close by. She really couldn't tell anymore.

The blurred sight of two people appeared at the edge of her vision, swarming over her. They were trying to help, she realized.

'Are they really?' she cynically thought. Maybe they were perverts who were waiting for her to die before using her. She had seen lots of people like that back in the brothel.

Well, it didn't matter. She knew that this was where she was going to die.

Even on the very small off-chance that they were here to help, surely they could tell that it was far too late for her to be saved. The despair and viciousness of the world that took everyone she loved away from her. She would be joining them soon though. She would be able to leave all the pain behind.

If she just closed her eyes, she could die happy now.

"Tsuare nee-chan!" she remembered. A long time ago, her little sister had called her with such endearment, jam decorating her cheeks. "Where have you been nee-chan, I missed you!" she pouted, but she would still leap into her arms and hug her affectionately, with a kiss on the cheeks.

A sticky kiss filled with jam, her favorite kind of kiss.

They used to eat and play, running over the hills, braiding each other's hair, and joking about how she would look like if she was a boy.

And then.

It was gone.

It was...quiet.

There was silence. That was very rare.

Wherever she was, it was warm. There was no screaming or crying.

Most importantly, there's no cackling or the sound of his boisterous laughter.

She slowly opened her eyes, before they widened in surprise. All her aches and pains had vanished without a trace. The blonde girl slowly and cautiously rubbed all the parts of her body, noticing in disbelief that her previously bruised and swollen skin was the smoothest it had ever been.

It had been a long time since she had felt like this.

The girl sat up from the bed, and looked around her. She could see the shadows of the candle that were dancing across the walls of the room. Her eyes slowly got used to the dim lighting as she took in the vision in front of her. The bed, the sofa, the ceiling, but most importantly, the shadow sitting by her side.

"Are you alright?" the sound of a woman, asking with a gentleness she hadn't heard in a long, long time. Gentleness she didn't know if she deserved.

She turned to her side and saw her sitting on a rough, unadorned wooden chair to her right. Her eyes were as beautiful as any gem she had ever seen, and her hair was as red as a crimson rose—shimmering as the candlelight threw its light over it. Her skin was as smooth as porcelain, but her smile. Her smile was as warm as the sun itself.

She felt strange. Light and airy. Peaceful.

"Get some more sleep," the beauty next to her whispered, gently brushing the hair off her forehead, making her feel at ease.

And so she slept peacefully, for the first time in years.

▓▒░(°◡°)░▒▓

It had been three days…

Three days since he had last seen Tiamat.

He glanced at the empty desk before him, and he couldn't help but to sigh.

He had found the office to be cold and lonely, even if he was accompanied by the ever loyal Succubus.

He missed her boisterous laughter, her scent—as muted as it was in his undead form. Her very presence cheered up everyone in the room she was in.

Ainz had to admit, he was missing her a lot more than he thought he would. Her constant presence had pestered his life and existence for long enough that it seemed as if he could not bear to be apart from her for too long.

"Ainz-sama," Albedo's soft lilting voice interrupted his train of thoughts, "Is everything alright?"

It seemed that Albedo had noticed how he had stopped writing. 'How observant,' he thought to himself. Nothing less was to be expected from the Overseer of Nazarick herself.

"Nothing," he swiftly replied with a clipped tone and returned to analyzing the mountain of paperwork he had in front of him.

"It may be presumptuous of me to ask this, Ainz-sama, but are you worried about Lady Tiamat?" Albedo asked from her desk, jotting down a few notes regarding the production of produce on the Sixth-Floor as she did.

His quill stopped, and Ainz slowly looked up to his left where Albedo was sitting. His red orbs pierced the Succubus's yellow ones, and the Overseer of Nazarick gulped from the intensity of the Supreme Being's aura.

"Yes," Ainz finally said, his shoulders slightly drooping. He decided that he had to be honest with himself, "I am worried about her."

"Ainz-sama," Albedo slowly got up and walked to the front of his desk, "Shall I contact Sebas and ask him how Lady Tiamat is doing?"

Truthfully, Albedo missed Lady Tiamat as well. Without the Dragoness's presence in Nazarick, the whole place seemed to lack the energy and vigor they had all gotten so used to. Honestly, it had been detrimental to the rest of the Floor Guardians' work as well.

Aura and Mare were far less cheerful without the Dragoness around. Lady Tiamat would usually accompany them for lunch, and without her it seemed that the twins' effectiveness in their work had decreased by a noticeable margin. Albedo did berate them for this, albeit half-heartedly.

Even if they were children, they were still Floor Guardians of Nazarick. They had responsibilities to fulfill. That being said, she fully understood how they felt.

Cocytus had been training more by himself more often, and Albedo had to admit that it was a lonely sight to watch. Even though he never spoke about it, he would sometimes go to the Sixth Floor to console the twins.

Albedo had also heard from the maids that Shalltear had been passing by the kitchen everyday during lunch time, looking for a figure that would not be there. She couldn't find it in herself to tease the bratty Vampire.

Demiurge had been the only one to maintain his large workload. But even so, Albedo sometimes caught one or two typos in his documents. The mistakes were not important, afterall, she could fix those mistakes easily. It was the fact that even the perfect Demiurge was distracted enough to make those simple mistakes.

But most especially, Albedo missed her.

The Dragoness had become a silhouette and left behind nothing but darkness. There was an ache that came and went, always returning in quiet moments. The Succubus knew she was being melodramatic, but what could she do? She felt what she felt.

Albedo wanted nothing more than to talk and laugh like they often did. Everywhere she went and everything she did reminded her of the motherly Dragoness—from doing paperwork, to eating lunch, and even whenever she was working with or accompanying Ainz-sama. She had gotten lonely to the point of even visiting the egghead in the Treasury, who turned out to be surprisingly good company.

Albedo smirked for a moment as she recalled the antics of Ainz-sama's creation.

'I've never expected Pandora's Actor to do something as ridiculous as singing while he was a sofa.'

Perhaps she would visit him again later… Just like Lady Tiamat always would.

Albedo's small smile slowly fell.

She really wanted to see mo—Lady Tiamat again. Even if she was only going to be gone for a short while, it felt like years to Albedo.

She missed the arm that wrapped around her as much as she missed her warmth. If she had never felt such warmth, she wouldn't have been able to bond as closely as she had with the denizens of Nazarick.

Her family.

And for that, she was grateful. She was grateful that she could casually tousle Aura's hair without feeling awkward. She was happy for how she could share a drink with Shalltear without insulting her even once. And she was especially thankful that Lady Tiamat's Halloween antics had led to her meeting the quirky Treasurer downstairs.

Albedo softly sighed. Lady Tiamat always wore her feelings on her sleeves, and even lowered herself to the point where she cooked meals for the denizens of Nazarick, an act that could be done by any lowly cook.

Regardless of the Dragoness's status, she had always treated those around her well, making the people surrounding her as happy as she could by putting their needs first.

It was even harder when the leader of Nazarick himself had admitted that he missed her.

Truth be told, Albedo wanted to contact Lady Tiamat for her own sake too. She could ask how she was doing or if she was healthy. And if she was lucky enough, perhaps she would get to hear her voice or ask her to come back to Nazarick to get a few moments of rest.

However, the Supreme Being in front of her didn't respond as she wanted.

He laid his pen on the desk, "There is no need," he boomed with such authority that Albedo couldn't help but to bow her head slightly.

She didn't know if the crushing feeling in her chest was from the Supreme Being's aura or from her own disappointment.

"Albedo," Ainz-sama continued more softly, "You must understand, Tia is busy as well. She'll return to Nazarick sooner or later."

"I understand," the raven-haired Overseer calmly responded, the smile on her face betraying her feelings.

After a few moments of silence, they returned to doing their own respective paperwork. Ainz tensed his jaws, despite it having no effect on him at all.

It had been one hell of a three days for him. His mind kept replaying the moment where he ran away from her as she was reaching her hand out to him.

Her face had fallen faster than a rock, turning into the very picture of misery, nothing at all like the cheerful woman he was so familiar with.

If he closed his eyes—or what counted as closing his eyes for him—he could still see the tears that had begun to form from the corners of her eyes and the disappointment etched on her face.

But his action was justified; it was not her place to worry about Nazarick. He, Ainz Ooal Gown, the bearer of the name of his own guild, would be the one responsible for the safety and security of his home—their home. All she had to do was to be there, to be safe, to be alive, to be happy.

Yet, why did his action cause her so much pain?

Ainz decided to put down his quill again. It seemed that his mind was not in the right place to work after all. His red orbs traveled to the beautiful Succubus who was working diligently to his left.

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt him to ask.

Ainz cleared his throat, "Albedo."

Albedo immediately shot up from where she was sitting, the legs of her chair clattering against the floor as it shook from her sudden movement, "Hai, Ainz-sama! Shall I contact Sebas now?"

"No, as I told you before that will not be necessary. I just wanted to ask you about something."

"Please ask me about anything, Ainz-sama."

"Very well," Ainz rested his elbows on the desk, his bony fingers interlacing as he rested his chin on top of his hands, "There's this friend of mine from a long time ago."

Albedo nodded, urging the Supreme Being to continue.

"He was the leader of another guild, called...ドキドキ. Hmm, yes. That was what it was called. Anyways, the guild leader was a responsible person, and he did all that he could to make sure his home was safe and protected. He had a lot of guild members, although I don't know how they're doing now, but they were happy under his guidance. However, one among them wanted to help, but he always pushed her away," Ainz stared the Succubus in the eyes. "What do you think of this, Albedo?"

Without missing a beat, she replied, "Was she trying to dethrone him?"

"No!" Ainz slammed the desk in front of him, just the thought of Albedo thinking that Tiamat was trying to betray Nazarick had overloaded his emotional suppression and without him realizing, he had raised his voice at Albedo.

Embarrassed, Ainz cleared his throat, and within a few seconds, a green aura washed away his burning feeling of shame, returning him to his calm and composed self, "I apologize Albedo, but no. She was simply trying to help."

"There is no need for you to apologize, Ainz-sama, I was out of line," Albedo gracefully bent her waist in a bow.

"It was an honest mistake, anyone would have thought of that first as well. But what do you think?" Ainz tried to reassure the Overseer.

"If he knew she was simply trying to help, then why would he have refused in the first place?" Albedo scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion.

"It was because he felt it was not her place to do so."

"How so?"

"Hm?"

"Isn't she a member of his guild? Then why would he not allow her to help?"

"She helped, just not with his responsibilities," Ainz replied, "You see Albedo, there is a difference in responsibilities. For example, you, as the Overseer of Nazarick, would have a different set of duties compared to all the Floor Guardians, correct?"

"Yes, that is correct, Ainz-sama," Albedo nodded in agreement.

"Then if a Floor Guardian, let's say, Shalltear, helped you with your responsibilities. Wouldn't it make you feel that your work was being devalued, or that you needed help from Shalltear because you weren't good enough? Moreover, you know for certain that it is not Shalltear's responsibility to take care of your workload," Ainz explained.

At this point, Ainz knew that he was being a bit petty. The way he explained things represented only a sliver of the truth. For him, it was more important that Tia was safe and protected in this dangerous world. And for that to happen, all she had to do was to sit still and stay next to him, yet, she did everything but the opposite. That was why out of all Floor Guardians, he knew that if he chose Shalltear, Albedo would be on his side in this argument.

That was why Ainz didn't expect what came out of her mouth.

"I wouldn't mind."

"Eh?" Ainz's jaw dropped in surprise. Didn't the two have a cat and dog relationship?

"Well," Albedo looked up at the ceiling with a wry smile teasing at the edges of her lips, "No matter how annoying Shalltear is, she's still family," the Overseer directed her piercing yellow gaze straight into the Overlord's burning crimson ones.

"And I know that no matter what, she'll always be there when I need her," Albedo finished with a firm tone, her eyes brimming with fierce determination.

"So you wouldn't mind if you feel that your work was being devalued?"

"I wouldn't mind. Her helping me just means we're close enough to help each other. I know that the Supreme Beings are as wise as they are kind. Therefore, neither you nor Lady Tiamat would think of it that way," she closed her eyes and smiled.

"Then, what if something went wrong and Shalltear was placed in a dangerous situation because of you?"

"Then I would do my best to fix those mistakes. Of course, I would do everything in my power to prevent anything like that from happening," her voice held so much conviction that Ainz was a bit irritated.

"What if you become dependent on her?"

Albedo beamed as she steadily held the impassive face of the Supreme Being, "If that were to happen, I would be happy."

At this revelation, Ainz continued staring at Albedo, urging her to continue.

"To me, Ainz-sama, I feel that my creator, Tabula-sama, had made me to cover the weaknesses of Nazarick itself. To protect, defend, to work effectively. It may be narcissistic of me to say this, but I know that I was made to be perfect for Nazarick," Albedo explained, bringing her hand up to her heart.

Ainz almost gulped. He didn't know that the Floor Guardians would be this self-aware.

Seeing that the Supreme Being was not making a rebuttal, Albedo continued.

"The Floor Guardians could rely on me, but it would be hard for me to rely on them because I am the Overseer of Nazarick. That was what I had once thought. I was very proud of my work, it was my life, my joy, my very existence, my purpose. Yet I learned from Lady Tiamat what it means to be vulnerable, what it means to trust," Albedo took in a deep breath, "And I have to say that it's a very, very wonderful feeling to be able to depend on the people that care about you as much as you care about them."

"So that's why you wouldn't mind?"

"Yes," she serenely smiled, "I wouldn't mind."

Ainz scoffed, "Such shallow reasoning."

Even though he said that, Albedo continued smiling, because she knew that there was no malice or hatred in those sentences.

"That is what I believe, Ainz-sama," she responded after a moment, "Were my answers able to give you a bit of clarity?"

"As I said, it's shallow reasoning. I wouldn't say I'm completely opposed to it as I could see your point, but I fear that my belief would be different from yours."

"How so, Ainz-sama?"

"If she were to be hurt from helping, then all the nice-sounding sentiments in the world wouldn't do a bit to heal her injuries. In the end, everything you've said just sounds nice on paper, but if Tia were to be hurt, then… "

His body stopped moving, and his eyes drifted to the ceiling of his office. The Eight-Edged Assassins were stuck there on the ceiling, guarding him.

'Now that I think about it, I did send a dozen of them to guard her as well…' the Succubus's voice shook him out of his musing.

"So, you admit that you're worried about Lady Tiamat then, Ainz-sama?" Albedo widened her eyes in what Ainz swore was mock surprise, a teasing tone hinting at the edge of her voice.

Ainz cleared his throat, "She's reckless. I cannot help but worry about her."

Albedo stifled a smile. She was already pushing the boundaries of respect with Ainz-sama. "Lady Tiamat does make us feel that way, doesn't she?"

The Overlord snorted, "Tell me about it. The idiot will probably turn out to be fine anyways. But I must admit, I'm also curious about something," Ainz leaned forward from his chair, "How is Pandora's Actor doing? I've heard that you've been visiting him recently. That child can be a bit… strange, so please don't take anything he says too seriously."

A green aura shone around him.

'Ahhhhhhhh, if only I'd known Albedo was going to visit him, I would've told him to not do any of that cringy German stuff."

"Oh! Please don't worry about that, Ainz-sama," Albedo lips tenderly quirked up, "I've enjoyed my time with Pandora's Actor. I can reassure you, he's doing okay, albeit a bit lonely ever since Lady Tiamat left."

"That's good," Ainz unnecessarily cleared his throat, "Perhaps I should let him out of the Treasury more often…"

"I'm sure he would besehr glücklich to hear that, Ainz-sama," Albedo's eyes warmly shone in agreement.

"Indeed. Socializing might do him some good after all…" Ainz paused for a moment before his jaws dropped open.

"Ainz-sama?" Albedo raised her eyebrows in worry, "Are you alright?'

"Did… Did you just use German?" a leafy glimmer flickered around the shocked Skeleton.

"Yes," Albedo placed a hand on her flexed bicep, "I picked up a few things from Pandora's Actor. A good Overseer ought to learn from the people she works with after all."

"Looks like you've picked a few things up from Tia too," Ainz mused to himself. The Succubus's pose reminded him too much of Tiamat.

"R-Really, Ainz-sama?" Ainz shot his head up at the sudden change in Albedo's tone. He had heard the Overseer when she was angry, ashamed, desperate, but this… this was… embarrassment?

'Was I thinking aloud? Gotta make a note to not do that again.'

"Yes, really," Ainz straightened his back and reverted to his regal tone in an attempt to recover from his mind drifting off, "It's like… like a child taking after her mother," he dropped a what-he-hoped was a profound statement, "Just make sure to not take after her impulsiveness," he hastily appended, not wanting the supremely capable Overseer to become a clone of Tia.

He didn't notice how Albedo had lowered her head so her hair was hiding her face.

"Thank you, Ainz-sama," a slight tremor had made its way to Albedo's voice. "I-If it's alright, I'm going to go pass these reports to Aura," the Succubus hastily grabbed a few documents from her desk, making sure to keep her face hidden.

"Of course," Ainz waved his hand authoritatively, "I will take care of the rest of this then," he gestured towards a small pile that Albedo recognized to be related to Titus's research with scrolls.

"Of course, Ainz-sama. Thank you," Albedo quickly bowed before she speedwalked out of the room, gently closing the door behind her.

"Uuuuuuuu," the typically composed Overseer was now covering her face with her hands, hiding her wet eyes and furious blush from anybody who might be passing by. She quickly rushed to her room, swinging the door open and slamming it closed, and dived face first into her bed.

Ainz-sama had said that she looked a lot like mo—Lady Tiamat. Albedo knew that he had said it in a moment of distraction, but that made it all the more precious to her.

She knew that he had really meant it.

"Like a child taking after her mother… " Albedo muttered into a lush pillow. "If only…"

The Overseer laid there for a few more minutes before she finally got up and straightened her hair out.

"Well, no point mulling over it. I'll just have to talk with Lady Tiamat when she comes back. In the meanwhile," Albedo looked at the papers scattered across the bed, "I should probably organize these and get them to that adorable child."

With a hum and spring in her step, the Overseer left her room, smiling as she went to continue the rest of her pleasant day.

▓▒░(°◡°)░▒▓

At night she used to sleep in her parents bed like a starfish. She remembered how they used to yawn in the morning with bleary eyes, the smell of their morning breath wafting to her nose as she moaned in disgust. But the next night she would crawl in just the same and they would wrap their arms around her.

Now?

Now her mother was lying by her father's side under the dirt in the cemetery, and who was there to care for her, to be troubled about her, to wrap her body as she fell asleep?

She was alone like that small baby bird she had seen one day. The bird had fallen out of its nest with no parents around to pick it back up.

Now she was an orphan, and the only thing left to remind her of her parents was the burned under-stuffed fabric bear that her parents made for her birthday.

She could still recall that day, where the gods suddenly struck them for no reason. The burning hell fire, the flames, the sight of ash that fell from the sky as chunks of molten lava the size of carriages came crashing down, the rocks collapsing on the building as they choked on the heat.

She could still remember the heat, the pain, the sound of her own wails, the sheer terror.

The people from the temple who were taking care of her said that it was an attack against the country itself. The little girl didn't really remember the rest of it. They talked about some demon, but that wasn't important to her.

She didn't really care about that. Her parents were dead.

The next few weeks at the temple orphanage were a blur as she woke up by herself, ate by herself, and went to bed by herself.

She eventually made a few friends who she played and ate with, but that wasn't to last either.

One day at the orphanage while she was clutching to her bear in her room, reminiscing over better days, the Matron knocked on the door, announcing her appearance.

"Someone came to see you," the stout woman quietly called out to her.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see a man standing next to the Matron; a sharp eyed man who seemed to be even older than her dad. His face looked like it had never laughed a single time in his entire life. His eyes were narrowed, rigid, cold, hard and she couldn't help but to draw in a sharp breath.

He looked scary. Like a monster from the stories her parents would tell her.

The man bent down. "Come child," he said, offering her his hand for her to hold, "There are things you must do."

She hesitated for a brief moment, but his authoritative voice caused her to instinctively trust him, as all children were bound to do. She slowly put her tiny, childish hand into his, cautiously wrapping her fingers around his weathered palm. He enveloped his fingers around her own small palm while her other hand clutched to her bear for dear life. Afterall, it was the only thing that made her feel safe. It was also the last thing she had left from her life with mom and dad.

She held it even tighter.

"U-umm, what's your name? Cuz my mom told me not to go with people I don't know," the flaxen-haired girl nervously stammered.

The old man looked down at the child, his stern eyes softening for a brief moment, "My name is Raymond. And I can assure you that I am not here to harm you. Now come child," he nodded towards the door, "Let us leave."

The two passed by all the wide-eyed gaping children as they made their way out of the temple orphanage. The girl stretched her neck, searching the crowd for her friends.

"Wow, is she getting a new family?" one raggedy brown haired boy with bright black eyes shouted in wonder, "When is someone gonna pick us up?"

"The time will come when the gods decide it is right," the Matron smiled sadly, lightly patting the boy's head.

The girl lowered her head. She couldn't find her friends and she had a gut feeling that the boy was wrong. The old man didn't seem like he was taking her to a new family.

Not that she wanted one.

The pair made their way through the short crowd and exited the temple. She squinted her eyes as the sun shone down on her face. The girl brought her hand up to her forehead to block out the sun and looked around her. The streets were bustling with life, but more importantly, she saw the most beautiful carriage she had ever seen in her whole entire life. She had never ridden one before.

The scary man gently lifted her into the carriage before mumbling something to the person on the horsies. Slowly, the carriage brought her away from the orphanage and towards the largest building of the country. She remembered visiting there with her parents once every year for some weird test thing.

When he exited the carriage, she did too. Where he walked, she followed.

She didn't have time to see her surroundings as she was too busy trying to keep up with the long strides of an adult.

When he stopped, she did as well.

"Remember this," he said without looking back at her, his eyes fixated on the titanic set of doors in front of them, "When you enter this door, you have to abandon everything. Your name, your identity, your past, and your future. Completely surrender yourself to the Theocracy."

She couldn't help but to look down. She was in a strange big place. She was scared, confused, and she didn't know what to do.

"From now on, your name shall be Ilona—the light to our Black Scripture—and perhaps if you are good enough, you shall be the new light of the Slane Theocracy as well."

"I-Ilona?"

"Yes."

"But...m-my name is not Ilona," she looked down at her feet and mumbled with a low voice, afraid that the adult in front of him would get angry at her.

"It is from this point on," he looked behind him and saw from the corner of his eyes that the little girl behind was trembling. Seeing this, he couldn't help but to sigh.

"I apologize," he said, softer this time, "It must be hard for you. I know it's confusing and scary, but you must heed my words. This is for your own good, Ilona. Do you understand?"

"Why?"

"You'll understand soon enough," he swiftly replied, looking at the teddy bear that she was clutching tightly to her chest, "If you want, you can keep the bear. But nothing more than that."

She nodded. The bear was the only thing she had left after all.

"Good," then without wasting too much time, he opened the door.

Ilona's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates. She had never seen a room so big and wide before. Countless tall pillars stretched across the hall for as far as the eye could see, all illuminated by bright torches that made her squint her eyes.

She continued looking around in wonder until her eyes finally fell upon someone who was standing against a pillar in the middle of the lonely room.

A petite, pale girl of black and white eyes.

She looked like a fairy, right out of the fairy tales that mom used to read her, so beautiful and delicate. Her lush hair was cleanly divided between a stark moonlit silver and an all-consuming void—her clothes following a similar color scheme.

Ilona could not look away from her.

"What do you want now, Old Man?" the pale fairy continued fiddling with a weird multicolored cube that turned and made loud clicking sounds. Ilona thought she sounded really rude. Mom would've scolded her if she ever talked like that.

"Just a small thing, Zesshi," Raymond replied with a tired smile, "I know that this might be out of your comfort zone, but could you by any chance take care of this girl?"

"Do I look like a baby-sitter, Old Man?" the silver-black girl didn't even look up from her cube, "Look for someone else."

"Zesshi," Raymond pinched the bridge of his nose, "She's from the God-kin project."

"Oh?" this time, the fairy—Zesshi, Ilona reminded herself—briefly glanced at her before shrugging, "Don't see how that's any of my business though, Gramps."

Raymond sighed, the toil of years showing themself on his face, "I came here to ask if you could train her. Perhaps she might have a bit of potential. It would be a shame if she were to squander that with a normal family."

The fairy smiled and sarcastically chuckled, "Fufun~ You know that I've never trained anyone, right?" the smile dropped off her face to be replaced with bored apathy, "Whatever, I'll pass."

"Very well," Raymond sighed for the umpteenth time, "I'll just send her to the Captain then. He's the next best thing after all."

Ilona looked back and forth between the two strangers who had suddenly intruded into her life. What did they mean by training? And God-kin and all this other grown-up stuff she didn't know about?

"Come child, let me take you to someone else," the stern man who had brought her here beckoned her towards the door.

"Wait," a clear chime sounded behind them, "You know what?" Ilona felt a light grip on her shoulders and spun around, widening her eyes at the sight of the fairy.

She didn't even hear her come up from behind.

"It gets pretty boring down here by myself. I'll take the kid off your hands, Old Man."

"What made you change your mind?" Raymond raised an eyebrow, curiosity edging into the corners of his voice.

"Didn't I tell you already, Old Man? It gets booooring down here," Zesshi drawled, "You should go clean out your ears after this."

"Maybe I will," Raymond replied with a small smile, "Thank you, Zesshi."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," the silver-black fairy turned around and walked back to the pillar she had been leaning against earlier.

"Go, Ilona," Raymond nudged her towards the pillar where Zesshi was, "Your destiny awaits."

The small child shyly walked up to the beautiful fairy. "H-Hi…"

Zesshi glanced down at her for a moment before returning her focus back to the weird multicolored cube.

Ilona's heart sank. She was going to be stuck here with this mean fairy?

"Don't be too hard on her Zesshi! Remember that she's just a kid!" Raymond yelled out from the doors of the Inner Sanctum.

"Okay, okay! Just get out of here already, Old Man!" Zesshi shouted back in annoyance as Raymond closed the massive doors behind him.

Silence permeated the still air of the Sanctum.

Ilona awkwardly sat down—criss-cross apple cross like her mom would always say—next to Zesshi.

A few tense minutes passed by before Ilona finally gathered the courage to say something. "U-um, the grandpa who brought me here said that you were going to train me o-or something…?"

The fairy continued twisting the rainbow cube as she replied in a lackluster tone, "Yeah, yeah, we'll do training."

"Oh, okay…" Ilona slumped against the pillar. She was hungry.

"Hungry, kid?" Ilona looked up in amazement and saw that Zesshi was holding out an apple for her. The annoying cube was nowhere to be seen.

"Ohhhhhh….." Ilona's shoulders drooped even lower.

"What is it, kid?" Zesshi tilted her head.

"It's not peeled…"

Zesshi's right eye twitched, "Listen here you little shit. I'm offering you my favorite food, and you have the nerve to tell me that it's not peeled? Well, if you want it peeled so bad—"

"You just said a bad word!" Ilona's hands shot to her mouth.

"Blah, blah, blah," The fairy threw the apple into the air, her right arm flickering before the apple suddenly burst into a clear mist, "Oops, my hand slipped. The apple is gone now. You're hungry? Too bad," she gave the kid a middle finger.

"That's a dirty gesture! My dad says people who use that finger should be spanked!"

"Oh no, I'm gonna get spanked, boo hoo," Zesshi rolled her eyes as she replied monotonically, "Welp, too bad kid, but your mommy and daddy are dead."

Ilona started whimpering, "You're not a fairy! You're just a big meanie!"

"Fuck you."


Omake: Torangealit (Part II)


Two beings of incredible might stepped out of a mystical gate into a peaceful forest grove.

"Okay," Tiamat turned around to look at Torangealit, "So since we're about to enter this small village, I'm going to need you to be on your best behavior, 'kay?"

Torengalit nodded somberly.

"But firstly, there is somewhere we need to be," she smiled mischievously.


Today was just like any other day, or so they thought.

After that night's special guest, the Silver Priestess, had left, the whole inn had been bursting with activity.

"What should we do with the sheets? Should we sell them?!" one of the inn's personnel asked the innkeeper.

"Of course we should!" a waitress shouted at him.

"No, we don't. We can just rent the room as a special room from this point onward," the innkeeper replied sternly.

"Nonono, you don't understand. There's a lot of perverts who would want this bed sheet, she slept on this for crying out loud! This will be worth a fortune!"

"Aren't you the pervert?"

"You rascal! I should—"

Two knocks sounded at the door, and all heads immediately turned towards the shabby entrance.

"Excuse me," a familiar muffled feminine voice filtered through. They were pretty sure they knew whose voice it was.

A head peeked in through the door, accompanied with silver strands of hair.

Knowing whose voice it was didn't make it any less shocking though.

"S-Silver Priestess!" the man who had been trying to sell her bed sheets stuttered. He didn't expect that the person who he was talking about would appear in front of him, especially while he was holding the bed sheet that she had slept on before.

Awkwardly, he tried to hide the bedsheet behind him.

The innkeeper calmly approached the woman, "Can we help you?"

"Ah, hello!" she greeted them, "Do you remember the drunk guy from a few days ago?"

The innkeeper folded his arms across his chest, "You have to be more specific than that. There are lots of people who come into this inn to get drunk."

"The guy who talked with me? Jeffrey?"

A wave of realization came to the innkeeper, "Geoffrey? Yes, I remember."

"Can you tell me his address?" she asked nonchalantly, giving a casual smile as she did so.

"Why would you need his address?" the innkeeper asked warily.

"Well...it's a secret, but it could get a little violent I suppose," she said cheerfully with an even brighter smile, her fingers interlaced as she held her hands in front of her.

The same thought crossed the minds of every employee at the inn.

'She's going to kill him!'

The man who was holding the bedsheet gulped in fear.

"His house is located near the mountain, after the pine trees! Red roof!" he blurted out, wanting to get the Priestess as far away from here as possible. He didn't want to get involved with her anymore; if she was going to kill that drunk pervert, what was she going to do to him, who was holding her used bed sheets?

"I see! Thank you very much!" she bowed, and left the inn, closing the door behind her.

The man exhaled a sigh of relief, knowing that the Priestess was no longer there. He turned back to the rest of his colleagues, trying to convince them to support his genius idea.

"So, with the bedsheets, I think we should still sell them and—"

"Oi, mate…"

"Don't you think it's best if we did so? We could divide the money among ourselves."

"Dude, stop—"

"What? You're in on it too right?"

"No... B-Behind you…"

"Haa?"

The man snapped his head around, and with that, he saw the pure smile of the Priestess behind him. He hadn't even heard her come back in or even the sound of her footsteps against the rickety wooden floorboards.

He shivered in fear.

"S-Silver Priestess?!"

"Hello, again," she gave a strained smile, veins pulsing on her head as she tried to hold off her anger. She may be smiling, but they could sense that she was very, very angry.

"It's not what you think it is, I—"

Tiamat snatched the bedsheets from his hand, threw it out of the window, and launched a spell that burned it with a conjured flame. The white bedsheet was quickly burnt to ashes under the brunt of the otherworldly flames and scattered to the winds, never to be seen again.

"Here's the money to replace the bedsheet. Please buy a better one, m'kay?" she firmly placed a silver coin in the innkeeper's hand and left.

The man who had been insisting on selling the bedsheets could only kneel down in pain and regret, "The bedsheet...the precious bedsheet…"

The innkeeper scoffed at him, "That's what you get for being a pervert."


Geoffrey rolled on his bed and fell face first on the ground.

He groaned as he rubbed his crusty eyes, idly noticing that the house was swaying like a reflection on a stormy lake.

His breath was the underlying cause of the scent of alcohol that was entering his nostrils and his mouth was sore from the amount of alcohol that he poured down his throat.

Well, he was used to it at this point anyways.

He cleared his throat as he stood up, spitting a blob of phlegm onto the filthy ground, staggering to the couch as he fell down on it.

Goffrey sighed. Alcohol had taken so much of a toll on him, making him look a lot older than his true age. Years of drinking had robbed him of his youth, and he had no desire to stop anytime soon.

It was already late afternoon. The noon-day sun was filtering through the curtains, and he basked in the sense of emptiness that his house provided. Quiet and serene, just the way he liked it.

Or empty and dead.

His eyes slowly turned smaller and smaller as his focus slowly diminished. After five minutes of not moving, he drifted into unconsciousness, and then jolted awake again. To him, the world was a blur of colors with random images floating aimlessly around in the muddled pool of his thoughts.

After a few seconds, he was once again lost to his drowsiness.

That was until his ears were blasted with the sound of roaring wind as furious as a hurricane.

"Geoffrey, come out!" someone shouted outside of his shack, ruining all the peace and quiet, the only things that he had.

Instantly, he sobered up, walking quickly towards his door to see what was causing such a massive disturbance. Was it really a hurricane? It couldn't be. Wasn't it sunny just a moment ago?

He quickly opened the door, and his jaw dropped open.

"Geoffrey! I brought you a gift!" a person waved happily.

A person who was shouting in front of his sad excuse of a house in the middle of nowhere.

A person who was sitting on top of a mighty blue and white Dragon.

The Silver Priestess.

The Silver Priestess who was sitting on top of a Frost Dragon, who he had harassed a few days ago, was telling him that she had brought him a gift.

"Why are you here?!" Geoffrey screamed in fear, his voice swallowed by the loud flapping of the Dragon's wings, "No way... are you here to kill me?!" he speculated. He pointed his finger at her, "You're just as bad as all those other so called heroes!"

The Priestess laughed, "No, silly! I told you I brought a gift."

Slowly, the Frost Dragon landed on the ground in front of his house, snapping all the trees to make some space for itself.

"Gift? What gift?" the drunken man asked, curious, intrigued, and annoyed.

The Priestess jumped down, "Can't you see it?"

"What?" he replied snarkily.

"It's right in front of you though."

His incredulous eyes landed on the Dragon in front of him.

"What the fuck? Are you insane?"

"Nope, I'm perfectly healthy," the Priestess smiled at him. "Thank you for asking though."

"You're gifting me a...Frost Dragon?"

"Yeap!" Tiamat nodded happily, "You did ask for it~"

Geoffrey tried to recall his memories from a few days ago, and a sharp intake of breath followed by a painful nudge to his head reminded him of what he had said to the Priestess.

"I bet if I had a dragon, I could easily become an Adamantite adventurer too!"

"No…" he clutched his head, "Nononononononononononono…"

"Well you can take him, he's tamed already. Honestly, he's too much of a hassle to take care of, especially since I have to take care of a bunch of others. You just have to feed him one cow per day, remember that, okay?" she reminded him as she opened a rift in reality.

"O-One cow…" his jaw dropped even more, "There's no way I could afford a cow you stinkin' piece of shit!"

Sadly, his words fell on deaf ears, "Good luck! I look forward to working with you in the future! I'm sure you'll be a great adventurer!"

"Bitch, no. Take him back!"

"Thank you for helping me with this problem~" the Priestess put one foot through the portal

"No, hey! Come back you—"

But she had already left, the purple rift closing behind her as she did.

Geoffrey could only look at the dragon awkwardly.

The dirt brown eyes of a drunken man stared in awe at how blue the eyes of a Frost Dragon could be. Just like a frozen lake in winter, it was a mesmerizing sight to behold.

The dragon sighed, his cold breath freezing the grass around them, "For her to give me to a lowly drunken human man, how ridiculous," he scoffed.

"Y-You t-talk?"

"Of course I am, you filthy creature of low intelligence!"

At this, the drunken Geoffrey found himself filled with rage. He didn't ask for this! Well, he did, but he was drunk! What right did this Dragon think he had to talk down to him like that!

"Watch your mouth, you fat-ass lizard!"

"What did you say, you hairless monkey?!"

And thus was the beginning of an awkward relationship that would last a lifetime.


Tiamat stretched, her entire body stiff from the busy day she had. She stood on her tiptoes, shoulders straining, and felt the luxury of her tensing muscles.

Suddenly, Ainz teleported into the office. Greeted with the sight of his beauti—tired friend letting out little grunts as she unintentionally emphasized her more feminine assets.

But before his thoughts could go any further, a green aura washed over him, and he clicked his tongue at the lost sensation.

"Tia," Ainz called out to her, "Where have you been?"

The Dragoness lifted her hand high to the sky as if she was reaching for the ceiling, waiting for her muscles to loosen up, "I just delivered a gift to someone. Why? Do you need me for something?" a curious expression blooming on her face as she continued stretching.

"Well, it doesn't matter since you're here anyways. But I need the Frost Dragons for a project."

Tiamat flinched.

"A-All of them?" she asked in a small voice.

"Yes, all of them." Ainz replied with the utmost certainty, his red eyes flaring outwards.

Tiamat slowly lowered her hand and looked down at the carpeted floor.

Instantly, Ainz knew something was wrong.

"Tia," he sighed, clutching his head as a mild headache blossomed in his skull, "What did you do this time?"

"Ijustgaveoneaway," she mumbled quickly, not wanting to look him in the eye.

"What?"

"I just gave one away…" she said a bit louder this time.

"What?"

"Eep! Pleasedon'tscoldme!"

Ainz face palmed, "Who…"

"I met a guy who said he could be an adventurer if I gave him a dragon," she folded her hands in front of her as she stared at her lap.

"Then are you going to give everyone a dragon if they asked for one, hmmm?"

"Waaaa, I'm sorry! B-But they were a hassle to take care of. The Frost Dragons ate a lot and, and…"

Ainz sighed and he put his hand up to stop her from uttering more nonsense, "If you needed help with taking care of them, you could've just come to me…Next time, don't make big decisions like this without telling me first."

"Okay," she pouted, "Sorry…"

"It's fine. Besides, it's only one dragon right?" Ainz confirmed, desperately hoping his friend had at least some common sense, "Right?"

"Y-Yes, I only gave out one! There's two Frost Dragons left."

"Alright, now come," he ordered.

"Where?" Tiamat trembled, worried that he had some terrible punishment in mind.

"The kitchen of course. I'm craving that food you cooked, the ramen. You'll cook it for me, right?"

Tiamat immediately brightened up, "Yes! I'll cook it, I'll cook it!"

"Good."

It was super easy to cheer her up.


Omake: OK Boomer

"Wait," a clear chime sounded behind them, "You know what?" Ilona felt a light grip on her shoulders and spun around, widening her eyes at the sight of the fairy.

She didn't even hear her come up from behind.

"It gets pretty boring down here by myself. I'll take the kid off your hands."

"What made you change your mind?" Raymond raised an eyebrow, curiosity edging into the corners of his voice.

"Didn't I tell you already, boomer? It gets booooring down here," Zesshi drawled, "You should go clean out your ears after this."

"Excuse me?"

"Gods, you're such a boomer."

"You Gen-Zs are lazy and useless. What problems have Gen-Zs solved? That's right, nothing. You techno-holics piece of shits with your damn cubes. Back in my day—"

"Ok boomer."


A/N: Who is Ilona? Remember that girl from chapter 16? That's her.

Hackslashbash: Yes, we are aware of the universal translator thing going on, but the German schtick is just too good of a gag to give up on.

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