Carloman paced back and forth in the large room that served as an ante room for the royal chambers, his teeth grinding as his frustration rose and the minutes passed. With really nothing better to do, Karolus watched him from his seat on one of the benches that lined the walls of the long room.
He's really giving off the aura of a dog in a cage here…
Morgiana, on the other hand, seemed absolutely content to sit and read from an ornate book that she had pulled from nowhere when they had arrived, occasionally flicking her eyes up to observe Carloman and Karolus before returning to her book.
And she's like a mother hen watching her young. I guess they really are just like their character descriptions.
In the aftermath of the battle over the city, Holy Queen Calca (as she had introduced herself) had formally requested that they come back to the palace so that the situation could be discussed. Walking next to Blancheur as they passed through the city streets, Karolus had been extremely thankful for the fact that most of the populace still seemed too scared to leave their homes, as the gawking faces of the civilians and soldiers they passed made him extremely uncomfortable. Blancheur, on the other hand, seemed to revel in the adoring eyes trained on him, and practically strutted all the way up to the palace - the fact that he drew almost all the attention was another thing that Karolus was thankful for.
Thank god I didn't have to do a speech or something, I would probably have died of embarrassment.
While they had been escorted back to the palace in what amounted to full military honours, the point of the matter was that they were still being escorted, and there was an oddly stiff formality about how they were being treated that Karolus didn't understand. Still, other than the Paladins back in the square when the one known as Remedios had threatened him, nobody had drawn their weapons on them, so he assumed they were safe for the moment.
"What is with this ungrateful city? We save their city from a demon and revive their Queen, and they leave us waiting in a room for half an hour?"
Carloman had apparently reached the end of his tether, and had turned to level a withering glare at the pair of paladins who stood guard at the doors to the royal chambers, who at least had the good grace to look sheepish and avert their eyes.
"Don't be rude, Ser Carloman, we flew down out of the sky at the best possible moment and then killed an enemy their blades couldn't touch. It's only reasonable for them to be a little cautious of us."
Morgiana didn't even look up from her book as she responded, seemingly confident that Carloman wouldn't act out too much.
"Surely this is an insult to you as well, Ser Karolus. You are the chosen champion of the Lady, and this is a waste of your time. If these ungrateful fools want to just keep us waiting, perhaps we should just leave?"
His first complaint falling on deaf ears, Carloman chose to instead appeal to a higher power directly. Morgiana's eyes raised at that as well, watching to see how Karolus would respond.
Why me? I'm just sitting here because I was told to! Couldn't you two have just kept it between yourselves?
"Hmmm, surely we wouldn't want to insult the Queen?"
Grasping for a response, Karolus said the first thing that came to mind, immediately kicking himself mentally for his weak response. His two companions seemed to take something from it that he couldn't fathom though, both of them nodding sagely at his weak response.
"Well, if you think she's worth your time, I guess I've no complaints."
With those words, Carloman sat down next to Karolus with a huff and the clanking of metal.
Oh come on! That was a question! Don't just assume I'm right about it!
Carloman's patience lasted for all of three quiet minutes before he began irritatedly tapping his foot against the floor. Just when Karolus thought he was about to get back up on his feet and start pacing again, the door to the royal chambers cracked open, and a small figure slipped through, clad in the garb of the Paladins. Karolus' sigh of relief at this progress was cut short as he had to force himself to stifle a yelp of surprise as he locked eyes with the female paladin who had come through the door.
What the hell is up with her eyes? Why am I being glared at?
Though she had averted her eyes immediately afterwards, the uncomfortable feeling lingered with him as she kept her head bowed as she approached the trio. Sensing a change, Carloman practically leapt to his feet, Karolus and Morgiana getting up like more reasonable people as she approached.
"H-Her Majesty will see you now. Please f-follow me."
With a small voice and a bow that even Karolus could see was far too deep to be comfortable, the small figure gestured that they should follow her, and immediately straightened and turned away. Her hurried steps as they moved toward the door almost looked like she was trying to escape them, and Karolus' companions both raised an eyebrow at her retreating back as they followed Karolus into the room beyond.
Past the doors was an audience chamber, not particularly large, but well crafted, with a variety of flags and statues placed tastefully around the room to elicit a sense of grandeur. Hardly much to compare with some of the spaces in YGGDRASIL, but it was still reasonably impressive. Preoccupied with gazing around the room, Karolus only just managed to stop himself from walking straight into the back of the paladin who had fetched them, who had stopped suddenly in front of them.
Phew, that would have been a bad first impression…
Looking down, Karolus could see that despite the small size of the room, it was still reasonably empty. The Holy Queen, Remedios, and her sister were all standing on a slightly raised platform at the other end of the room, while lining the central aisle was an assortment of nobility and paladins, who were all looking at the newcomers intensely. After a brief moment of silence, the paladin who had led them there spoke up with a wavering voice.
"Your Majesty, allow me to present...uh…um..."
In a panic, the young paladin turned around and looked at the three people behind her. Karolus immediately felt a stab of sympathy for her, an awkward smile breaking across his face, despite reading from her angry-looking eyes that this was somehow his fault.
She was so flustered when she brought us in that she forgot to actually ask us our names so she could announce us. Poor girl, I'd probably just off myself on the spot if I'd done this.
Behind him, it was actually Morgiana who came to the young paladin's aid. With a deep huff, she raised her voice and did the job herself.
"Your Majesty, into your presence steps the Grail Knight Ser Karolus Boucicaut, Ordained Champion of the Lady of the Lake, World Champion of Asgard, Warden of the Garden of the Lady, and an Immortal Lord of the Seventh Circle, accompanied by his sworn companions."
I get a title that long, and you both get 'accompanied by his sworn companions'? Hardly seems fair to you both.
He snuck a look behind him at Carloman, but if his absence from Morgiana's pronouncement irritated him, it didn't show on his face at all. Turning back to face the Queen, he caught a flash of movement as the paladin who had showed them in scurried out of their way to stand in one of the corners of the room, followed on her way by a withering glare from Remedios at the other end of the room.
"Thank you for waiting, and we apologize for your lacklustre reception, but unfortunately most of our forces and nobles have been tasked with handling the aftermath of that attack. Please, approach and we can discuss matters."
The voice of the Holy Queen was soft, but contained both strength and confidence, and carried easily across the room; clearly she was very accustomed to her position. The three of them made their way up the central aisle, soft whispers and mutters passing between the other attendees as they did so. Karolus once again felt the embarrassment rising in him from being the center of attention, but bit the inside of his lip to try to keep it contained, his hand fidgeting nervously at his waist. Arriving at the foot of the raised section, Karolus immediately attempted to bow like he had seen in the movies, trying to keep his embarrassed face hidden. Almost immediately, a grating voice addressed him.
"You stay standing in her Majesty's presence? You clearly have no respect at all."
"Remedios, please…"
"Your Majesty! Not even your most honoured servants treat you this way! How can you allow this wandering hedge knight with a bunch of titles I've never heard of to disrespect you like this?"
"Enough. This noble knight saved my life, I will not have you bickering with or about him, even on my account. You certainly do not have my permission to challenge him to a duel."
"How did-"
"Your thought process plays itself out on your face, Remedios. The fact you've had your hand on your sword since the moment he entered the room was also a dead giveaway. Now come, rise good sers, let us put this uncomfortable situation behind us."
Karolus smothered a sigh of relief as he raised his head - internally he had been sweating over the exchange, not from any perception of danger but because it was just so awkward. He almost felt bad for the clumsy Remedios.
You're almost worse at this than I am, huh?
Gazing up into the face of the Holy Queen, the bitten inner lip of Karolus now served a double purpose to stop him from blushing as she smiled graciously at him. Her features, now restored from his magic earlier in the day, were truly stunning; her alluring features accentuated perfectly with her choice of wardrobe and makeup.
I guess this is what took so long…
"Ser Karolus, before anything else, let me offer you both my most earnest thanks, and the thanks of the entire Holy Kingdom for your actions today. You and your companions saved my life, and the life of everyone in the entire city. For your valiant defeat of Jaldabaoth, you shall be handsomely rewarded."
As he took in what the Queen was saying, Karolus almost unconsciously repeated the word he hadn't heard before as a question.
"Jaldabaoth?"
A look of confusion flickered across the Queen's face.
"Yes, Jaldabaoth the Arch-fiend, the demon you fought today. He began an invasion of our kingdom with a huge army of demihumans, but you slew him today. Did you not come here to hunt him down?"
An invasion of demihumans? I've never heard that name before in my life, and I certainly don't know anything about any invasion.
As he fumbled for a response, Morgiana spoke up from behind him.
"Apologies, your majesty, if I may. We were directed here by the Lady of the Lake, who in her foresight saw that we needed to be here, but we have never heard of this Jaldabaoth before, and know nothing of this demihuman invasion."
As Morgiana responded, Karolus had come back to a thought that he'd had earlier as they were making their way up to the castle.
"Also, that being probably wasn't the leader of anything at all."
A ripple of gasps passed through the room, Morgiana and Carloman nodding to agree with Karolus' statement.
"What the hell do you mean that wasn't the leader? That was the demon Jaldabaoth! Are you telling me there is someone stronger than him out there?!"
Remedios was practically shouting at them as she stepped forward to respond to them. The Holy Queen moved to quiet her down, but Carloman responded before she could.
"Whether or not that was this 'Jaldabaoth' you're talking about, that was almost certainly a summoned creature. An Evil Lord of Wrath, which is what we fought today, can summon a copy of itself, and it will do so immediately if it senses a significant threat. The only explanation for this demon not having done so is that someone else summoned it, so it wasn't able to summon anything itself."
"It also explains the demon's lack of a strong self-preservation. A real demon of that level would have known it was severely outclassed and immediately done everything it could to escape, it wouldn't have fought to the bitter end like this one did."
Silence fell over the hall as Morgiana chimed in to back up Carloman's statement. Finally, it was the Holy Queen who quietly broke the silence.
"So, Ser Karolus, if you are to be believed, not only is the true mastermind still out there, but they're capable of summoning entities that can destroy the elite members of our core force without taking so much as a scratch, is that what you're saying?"
"Uh…I'm afraid so, your majesty."
Calca seemed to visibly deflate at his confirmation, leaning back into the chair behind her with an audible thud.
"I know...I know it is too much to ask, after all you've done already, but would you consider staying with us and seeing this through to the end? This country already owes you a great debt, but I hear you slew that demon with barely a scratch in return. Please, my lord, I lay my country's existence before you. Whatever title or lands you want will be yours if you can save us from this fiend"
From her seated position, the Holy Queen bowed forward at the waist, her hands extended beseechingly to the trio. The rest of the room quickly followed suit, even an extremely begrudging Remedios.
I really have nothing better to do, and having lands does certainly sound enticing. Maybe somewhere nice by the sea?
As Karolus opened his mouth to accept her terms, Carloman spoke up loudly from behind him.
"You insult us by offering these lands and titles! We are servants of the Lady alone! What lands we owned are now hers alone, what titles we had are given up for her. We fight for her glory, and so that her name may be held high by our deeds. If we bring you the head of this demon, and end your petty war, it will be because the Lady wills it, and for no other reason!"
Aaargh! What?! Why would you give that up? We could have had a comfortable beach mansion and lived happily there!
Karolus sighed deeply to himself inside.
Still, at least he interrupted me before I said something stupid. I don't want these two companions of mine to think poorly of me…
"You would be willing to let countless millions die to the demihuman horde on the whim of some random woman?! How dare you call yourselves Knights? How dare-"
It was the blink of an eye, and nothing more. Only two pairs of eyes in the room could track the movement, and neither of them intended to do anything about it. At an impossible speed, Carloman drew the claymore from his back in a single smooth motion, and in an instant crossed the distance between himself and Remedios as she continued her tirade, the gleaming edge of his blade pressed softly against her throat as his face came to rest only inches from hers.
Absolute silence descended as a frigid cold descended over the room, frost forming quickly on metal surfaces as a deep chill radiated out from Morgiana, her hands shaking where they held the grail as she attempted to contain her anger.
"Say that again. Say ONE more word against the Lady. DO IT."
Carloman's voice had dropped almost an octave, taking on an almost bestial quality as his furious glare froze Remedios in place like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming truck. Red lightning crackled ominously around the stone in the hilt of his sword, threatening death and destruction as Carloman held himself back.
"Remedios!"
"Carloman!"
Karolus and the Holy Queen spoke at the same time, each one calling out to their subordinate. The moment lingered in the air for a moment longer, before simultaneously the killing intent from Carloman faded and Remedios averted her eyes, sweat beading on her face.
Turning to the Holy Queen before either of his companions changed their mind and brutally murdered Remedios, Karolus quickly said the words he figured everyone wanted to hear, a perfect clarity of thought returning to him as it had before when he had been stressed.
"Our apologies, your majesty. Despite this outburst, we will do our best to end this war for you. Killing demons is our speciality, so this one should be no different. Peace will one day return to your lands."
The Holy Queen sighed quietly in relief, and once more inclined her head toward Karolus.
"Your words are a great relief, Ser Karolus. With this demon and his invasion, and the rising of the Sorcerous Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown, many believed this to be the beginning of the apocalypse. You will surely be a light to my people."
"You are too kind, your majesty, we merely do as the Lady…uh..."
Wait, the Sorcerous Kingdom of what?
\|/
Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.
The familiar sound of metal striking stone rang out across the throne room as the only sound in the chamber, the footsteps of Ainz and Albedo a practiced whisper in comparison. As he took his place on the World Item that served as his throne, Ainz looked out over the row upon row of assembled figures before him, the majority of Nazarick's forces here at his summons.
"His majesty, Ainz Ooal Gown, has graced you with his presence. Raise your heads."
To his right, Ainz heard Albedo formally introduce him, and at once the heads of everyone in the room rose to look at him.
Thank goodness I have the emotion suppressor, I don't know how I could possibly have spoken to a room like this in the beginning without it.
Ainz mused to himself as he quickly ran over his prepared speech in his head one last time. While he was still nervous addressing the NPCs like this, at least it wasn't as bad as the first few times, where the emotion suppressor had kicked in multiple times per speech.
"For any venture to be successful, it is important for everyone involved to be on the same page. News travels fast, and so what I am about to tell you is not new information to many of you. From the first hand reports of the servants of Demiurge, we have confirmed that it seems another group has come from Yggdrasil into the new world."
Ainz looked over at Demiurge as he spoke, watching the demon's hands clench into fists as he was mentioned.
"Through Demiurge's meticulous foresight and planning, the demon that was sent in to test the Holy Kingdom was nothing more than a summon, and so our full power is still unknown to our foes."
When Albedo learned what had happened, she arrived at my office with an executioner's axe and a chopping block for Demiurge. This really needs to get nipped in the bud before she does something I'll regret…
"Demiurge and Albedo, you have both asked for there to be punishment for this, but it is still too soon to tell if this is a failure or not. Instead, I task you both with using this opportunity to improve yourselves. Consider your extra workload from dealing with this new issue your current punishment."
Demiurge wordlessly bowed his head, the frustration at the situation coming through only by his agitated tail. Next to him, Ainz could feel Albedo's displeasure at the situation, but she made no move to change his decision.
"Now, onto the main discussion. We have confirmation that another group from Yggdrasil has entered the New World. Albedo, the floor is yours."
Albedo took a step forward, and waved for the three homunculi maids who were waiting at the side of the hall to come forwards. They quickly hurried onto the stage and placed a number of large blue orbs on the ground in a circle. After a moment, a 3D image made of light sprung up, which showed in slow motion various bits of the fight that Ainz had already been briefed on.
"Here we can see the three individuals we have been able to observe from this new group. Our gracious lord has identified this one here as Ser Karolus Boucicaut, the World Champion of Asgard. This is an order which you are all to strictly obey, if any of you encounter him and do not have orders to fight him, you are to immediately withdraw - he is to be considered on the same level as Lord Touch-Me. This is a standing order from Lord Ainz - do not underestimate him under any circumstances, and do not throw your lives away pointlessly."
The solo dungeon raider eh? You really did make a name for yourself in the community in that last year didn't you. Too bad we never met, that would have been useful in this situation.
While Ainz had been musing to himself, Albedo has continued on to talk about Karolus' known skills, and what they knew about his companions, which wasn't a great deal. Ainz had never looked into Karolus' situation, because it just wasn't relevant to him, so all he knew was the public information that floated around about such a well known figure.
Well, I guess we'll see how this all plays out. I sure hope I end up with someone I can actually talk to…