Hello again, everybody.

We're coming closer to ending the equivalent of Vol 7, and thus Vol 9 will soon begin. There are a few things I would like to tell you all, but that will come after the chapter. So, on with the show.

See you again in the afterword.


[X][X][X]


It was finally dawn at the worker camp, and the nearly pitch black sky at long last began to shine. One by one, the residents of the tents came out from their resting places. Although most, if not all, of them didn't seem rested at all. It was natural. No one would be able to sleep soundly after facing the horrors they had seen in the ruins.

Hekkeran was among those who came out first from the team's tent. The rest of the team soon followed, including Sheep who last night had seemed as if she was in the brink of death. She was now fully recovered, and that was a great relief for Hekkeran and the others.

"Sheep, just wondering, are you sure you are alright now?"

"Sheesh, I told you that I just needed some rest, didn't I?"

Sheep sounded mildly irritated, but she still let out a small laugh. Right at this time, Hekkeran once again took a good look on her, making sure that the illusion spells to conceal her horns and red eye had been properly reapplied.

"Right. Let's get ready then"

After a few minutes of freshening themselves up, all the workers gathered in one area. They were grouped up according to their teams, and all had their eyes on the man in black full-plate armor, Momon, standing straight facing them. His companion Nabe and the escort adventurer team were also there standing near him. Before long, Momon spoke up with a loud and clear tone of voice.

"Well, first of all, good morning. I will not ask about whether you slept well or not, since I'm sure most of you didn't, if not all of you. Second, I'm gathering all of you to ask a question"

Momon took a brief moment to clear his throat.

"After hearing your stories, I conclude that what lies within the ruins is overwhelmingly powerful. With that in mind, the one team which still has not returned will be presumed dead until proven otherwise. Thus I will ask this once: Do you want to return to the ruins as per the initial plan of the job?"

Indeed, according to the original plans, the expedition was supposed to take more than one day, depending on how large and deep the ruins were. However, that plan was made on the assumption that the workers could handle the hostiles lurking inside. After what they had experienced inside, all the workers present gave a single, unanimous answer.

"No!"

Of course nobody would have chosen otherwise. They all had basically survived by the skin of their teeth, and no man in the right mind would try risking it again.

"Good. I expected the wise decision"

Momon said those words with a straight tone. Nobody felt offended in the slightest, because only a stupid or insane person seeking death would return to that ruins after experiencing what they had barely survived from.

"In that case, we shall return to Arwintar and report what we know. But before that, I have a selfish request if you are willing to hear me out"

Nobody gave out any answer, so Momon continued speaking after a brief moment of silence.

"There's a village not too far from here, about one or two hours trip with the carriage. I would like to check on a few things over there before returning. Will it be alright for me to borrow one carriage to take me there before returning?"

The so-called 'selfish request' turned out to be just for one of the two Sleipnir carriages to take a small detour before returning to Arwintar. Since each carriage could only fit so many people within, at least one team would have to ride the carriage taking the detour. The workers looked at each other and gave various gestures like a small nod or a shrug, but overall they all didn't mind the detour, since after all they were going to return earlier than planned. Hekkeran exchanged a few words with his members, and they all agreed. Right after that, Gringham and Parpatra gestured Hekkeran to speak in behalf of every worker, and so he spoke.

"Momon-san. We all don't mind the slight detour"

Momon nodded in response to the approval.

"Thank you for your approval. Let's begin the preparation for departure, then"

The workers and adventurers then returned to their tents and began their preparation to leave, mainly packing their equipment and disassembling the tents. Since all present were experienced in this regard, it only took less than ten minutes before everything was ready for departure. The two carriages were ready to depart, so all that was left was to decide which team would take which carriage, and where they would rendezvous later. Right now, the adventurers were looking at a map and discussing the latter point, while Momon and Nabe stood facing the three leaders of worker teams.

"From the number of members within each team, I suggest Foresight coming with me while the others take the other carriage. Are there any objections?"

Hekkeran spoke in response. Both Momon and Gringham already knew the point he wanted to get across, but since Parpatra had not been there back then, he felt that he ought to restate his team's intention.

"Actually, my team planned to go to E-Rantel for some business, so coming along with you would be the best for us as well, if we're thinking of the same village"

"Ah, yes. You will be much closer to E-Rantel if you come with me. Do the other teams have any objections?"

Both Gringham and Parpatra shook their head, and therefore everything was decided. The adventurers also seemed to have made their decision, so everyone boarded their respective carriage and departed.

For Hekkeran and the rest of Foresight, the carriage ride this time felt more spacious. It was a given since now there was only Darkness Team riding with them and Nabe was sitting alongside the driver to give directions, so Foresight pretty much had nearly the entire carriage interior for themselves unlike before.

The ride was smooth and uneventful so far after. For the last thirty minutes or so, the members of Foresight were having some idle chat about irrelevant things just to pass time. Momon had never said any words during this time, and he just sat there without any motion. With his face fully concealed by the helmet, some people might assume that he was asleep.

But suddenly he spoke, breaking his silence.

"There is something I want to ask if you don't mind"

"Sure, Momon-san"

Everyone's attention were directed towards Momon at this point. Disregarding Sheep and Rose, even though the team members were workers, an Adamantite Rank adventurer was still like a celebrity figure worthy of respect. Therefore they tried their best to treat him with reverence.

"I remember that this team is going to retire after this job, right? What are your plans after that? Any place in your mind for settling down?"

Hekkeran looked at his members, and they all shrugged, telling that none of them had any idea yet. He then looked at Momon again.

"We haven't decided on that yet, actually. We do know that Sheep and Rose will part ways from us and go with Sheep's brother once they reunite, but what comes after is still undecided"

After Hekkeran spoke, Arche immediately followed up.

"Umm... I do have to return to Arwintar to take my sisters with me first"

"I see. Then I have a suggestion for you to consider. The village we are heading to, Carne Village, is a decent place to settle for at least a while. It is a frontier village located next to a forest where uncommon herbs can be found. E-Rantel is only one day walk from there, and a certain incident left the people with many vacant houses, so they could use some more capable ones"

"Incident?"

Hekkeran couldn't help muttering the question. An incident which left many houses vacant could mean anything from a dispute which made some villagers left, or something violent like a monster attack which killed a lot of people. Momon was silent for a few seconds before speaking again.

"This is actually related to the business I have in the village. According to the stories I heard from some survivors, the village was once under attack by knights bearing Empire flags, though they later learned that the banners were fake and there was a different motive. Anyway, that attack would have left no survivors at all if a powerful magic caster didn't interfere and annihilated the knights"

"Wow, someone strong was at the right place and time, although a little late"

Imina spoke her opinion. Indeed it could have been the best if the magic caster had come sooner, but the village had already been lucky having a savior.

"Now here is the thing..."

Momon was silent again for a brief moment. Then after looking around as if he was making sure nobody else could hear him, he spoke in low voice.

"They said that the name of the magic caster was... Ainz Ooal Gown"

"W-What!?"

Hekkeran and the others couldn't hide their surprise hearing what Momon had just said. Momon immediately put his finger over his mouth, signalling everyone else to stay quiet.

"Sshh.. Don't let the adventurers know, at least not now"

Hekkeran understood the intention. There were currently two members of the adventurer team sitting at the front seat of the carriage, and Momon didn't want to make them unnecessarily alarmed. After checking and making sure that none of them heard anything, Momon continued speaking.

"That is why I'm going to check if the villagers knew some more information about him. Outside that ruins, the village might be the only link we have to glean information. Therefore, try not to antagonize the villagers even if they think highly of him"

Momon glanced at Roberdyck as he spoke.

"My concern is on you for the most part. You look like someone who bears hatred towards undead and will immediately preach on the villagers"

"Hey, I'm not among those hardline Paladins. I know my place, and I'm not so blind as to the unusual nature of Ainz Ooal Gown. He's... quite different."

Roberdyck was annoyed by Momon's remark, but it was understandable so he didn't say anything further.

"Good to hear"

The trip then continued for a while without much to say. Later the carriage arrived right at the front gate of Carne Village, and as Momon had told them about during the trip, some well-equipped goblins came out from the bushes. Momon immediately came out from the carriage and approached the goblin guards, who noticed soon enough.

"Ah, I remember you. You are ane-san's acquaintance"

"Yes, I came here for a short visit if she is available"

"Alright, you may go in. I will accompany you there"

The gate opened, then Momon and Hekkeran's team followed the goblin guard into the village. The two adventurers and Nabe stayed outside guarding the carriage because it was too big to go through the gate.

Hekkeran and the rest of his team had not planned to enter this village at first. They had intended to immediately depart for E-Rantel upon arrival, but looking at the situation and how this village was connected to Ainz Ooal Gown, everyone couldn't help being curious.

The group walked a distance until they arrived at a simple house. There was a long wooden table outside, and the dirty dishes on it implied that a group had just finished eating there. A girl, seemingly on her teens, was picking up the dishes.

"Ane-san! You got visitors!"

The girl immediately looked at the group and showed a slightly surprised expression.

"Momon-san! Please have a seat, and your companions too! Thank you for the notice, Suigyo!"

"I will help, ane-san"

"Thank you again, Suigyo!"

The goblin, Suigyo, helped the girl who immediately hurried to clean the table from the dirty dishes. The group slowly one by one took seat around the table as this was happening. Momon began speaking after everyone was seated. Suigyo left the place to return to the front gate after the table was cleaned.

"Let me introduce her to you all. This is Enri Emmot. I knew her from a man whom I escorted here from E-Rantel some months ago"

Hekkeran then spoke on behalf of the others.

"Pleased to meet you. I am Hekkeran. This is Imina, Roberdyck, Arche, Rose, and Sheep. Our team just happened to be accompanying Momon's team at this time"

"Pleased to meet you too. Would you like a drink?"

Enri bowed as she spoke. Momon raised his hand as a sign of declining.

"I am here just to ask a question or two. This shouldn't take long"

"Oh, alright. What would you like to ask, Momon-san?"

Enri took a seat as she spoke, her attention was fully directed at Momon.

"Would you tell me everything you know so far about Ainz Ooal Gown?"

"Huh? I don't mind, but did something happen?"

"In a sense, yes. I wasn't there to witness it directly, but according to them he was still doing fine, so no need to be concerned"

"Alright, then"

Enri then began to tell her stories about Ainz Ooal Gown, from the moment he had saved her and her sister from certain death, until the pretty recent time when he and a visiting adventurer team had saved the village from a Darker attack. Sheep and Rose seemed quite surprised at the last part, but they didn't say anything.

"Ryu-dono did most of the work, but it was thanks to Gown-sama that the village did not have any casualties, though poor Cona had to lose an arm. Thankfully, one of Ryu-dono's companions grew his arm back with a healing spell"

"So, do you think Ainz is a good person?"

"Of course he is! He had saved this village and asked basically nothing in return!"

Enri looked genuinely respectful towards Ainz, and she didn't seem to have been mind-controlled or such. Hekkeran began to consider the possibility of Ainz being a good-natured undead, and the others probably thought the same. Although the very notion of it would be deemed 'insanity' at best, and 'heretical' at worst by the world at large.

Right at this time, someone came towards the group and greeted Enri. At a glance this person looked like a male adventurer bearing a Gold Rank plate, but upon closer look Hekkeran could see some feminine features. This person was actually a female.

"Good morning, Chief Enri. You have visitors this early?"

"Good morning, Vivi! Yes, they wanted to know more about Gown-sama, so maybe you could tell your story?"

"Oh, sure. Why n-"

The girl, Vivi, suddenly stopped speaking upon seeing Momon. She looked very surprised.

"Momon-san! It's you!"

Momon looked at Vivi, seemingly a little confused for some reason.

"...Ninya? What are you doing here? I thought you were at the capital with your team"

From Momon's reaction, it was clear that they knew each other but haven't met for quite a while. In addition, there could be some complex stories behind them since Momon remembered Vivi with a different name.

"Ah, you see Momon-san. My real name is Viviana Veyron, and now everyone calls me Vivi"

"So that means you have found your sister?"

"Yes! It was all thanks to Ainz-sama!"

Momon nodded hearing Vivi's words.

"Looks like you have quite a story to tell. Why don't you sit down and tell us your story?"

"Certainly, Momon-san!"

Vivi then took a seat, and after a short introduction she began telling the group about how Ainz had saved her sister from brothel life by buying her off with his own money and fully healed her body with a sixth tier spell scroll. In return he had only asked Vivi to stay in this village for a while, and as some kind of bonus he had given her a tome of [Lightning] which she had been trying to learn. The other members of her team had followed her along on their own volition, and they all had been living here decently happy.

"So you believe Ainz is a good person?"

Momon repeated the same question he had asked before.

"Yes, of course! He had reunited me with my sister for practically nothing in return! I would have been willing to serve him forever, but instead he scolded me, telling that my own free will shouldn't be taken lightly. If that wasn't enough to tell that he was a good person, what would be?"

"I see your point"

Momon nodded as he spoke, and then Enri asked a question.

"Momon-san, if I may know, why have you been asking these? Did something bad happen?"

"Well, to tell the truth, these fellows here had an... unpleasant encounter with Ainz. Unfortunately none of us are allowed to tell you any more details than that"

Before Enri could respond to Momon, Hekkeran spoke up.

"Well, after hearing your stories, I came to think that everything has just been a misunderstanding. Do you guys think so?"

Hekkeran looked at the other members. There had been no misunderstanding at all in truth. The team had intruded Ainz's home and he simply just defended. It was thanks to his mercy that everyone here was still alive and well. Hekkeran spoke like that because that was the only way he could think of to prevent himself from leaking any information about the job. Now Hekkeran just hoped that the others would play along and agree with him.

Thankfully, they all seemed to understand his intention since all of them nodded. Enri was seemingly happy seeing their response.

"I'm glad that you understand! I believe if you get to know Gown-sama more you will see the light in him!"

"Perhaps, yeah. In any case, I think we should go now if we want to reach E-Rantel within today"

"Oh, alright. Do you need anything like food or water before you go?"

"We still have enough supplies, no worries about that"

"Alright then. Be careful out there"

After a farewell, the group walked back towards the front gate of the village. Nobody said anything about Ainz because they didn't want to risk any random villager overhearing what they said. Soon, they arrived and walked through the gate after one of the goblin guards noticed them and opened the gate.

"Alright, it is time to separate. I'll see you again soon, if you're still in E-Rantel by the time I return"

Momon said that as he went into the carriage. Hekkeran nodded and was about to walk away when suddenly Arche spoke.

"P-Please wait a moment!"

Everybody, including the ones driving the carriage, stopped and looked at Arche. She looked hesitant for a few seconds, but then she spoke again.

"Umm... may I... go back to Arwintar with the carriage?"

The rest of the team was surprised with Arche's sudden plea.

"Huh? Why, Arche? We have decided, right?"

Before anyone could respond or follow up with Hekkeran's question, Sheep spoke up.

"Your sisters, right?"

"Yeah... After hearing Vivi's story, I started to miss and worry about my sisters, and I felt that I had to return to them as soon as I can. I'm sorry, Sheep!"

Arche bowed deeply at Sheep, who immediately held her shoulders and gestured her to stand straight.

"There's nothing to apologize for, Arche. I miss Ryu-niichan too, so I know how you feel."

Sheep then looked at Hekkeran.

"Would you let her, Hekkeran?"

Hekkeran thought about the matter for a brief moment, and then he made a decision.

"Well, alright. Though... Rober"

"Yes, leader?"

"Go with her"

"Huh? Sure, but why?"

Roberdyck was naturally confused from the sudden order.

"Call it a hunch, but I feel that Arche might need a friend to be with her later"

Hekkeran's hunch was just that, a hunch. Since a while ago, he had deducted that Arche might be part of a noble family because Rossaur, the former noble back then, knew about her parents quite well. If Arche was from a noble family she should have no need to risk her life doing Worker jobs, but it would make sense if her parents were among the nobles purged by the Emperor in a way that they still lived but lost their wealth. Her family problem could be anything, but if Arche for some reason had become the breadwinner of the family and she intended to walk out from it with her sisters now, she would get resistance from her parents. Judging from stories about how bad nobles could be, Hekkeran didn't want her to face everything alone.

"You have no say in this, Arche. This is my condition if you want to go back to Arwintar with the carriage"

"If you say so..."

"Arche, I don't know what you will do after you leave your house, but I plan to stay in this village for about a month. If you need me later, you know where to find me"

"And me too!"

Imina suddenly followed up with Hekkeran's words. Seeing this, Arche smiled warmly.

"Thank you, both of you"

"Hey, I will accompany you as long as you need, so you can depend on me too!"

"I know, Roberdyck. Thank you too"

"Be careful out there, you two"

"You too, leader"

Both Arche and Roberdyck boarded the carriage while the rest of the team stood still looking at them. Soon, the carriage departed and the ones left behind stood there until the carriage disappeared from sight.

"Alright, let's go. If our pace is good, we should arrive by sundown"

With Hekkeran's command, the group began walking towards E-Rantel. They were very close towards reuniting Sheep with her brother, and they were looking forward to it happening.


[X][X][X]


Ainz let out another sigh, which felt like the thousandth time he had done this overnight. He was now alone in the office room and he had nothing to do for the moment other than waiting.

I really should give Pandora's Actor more credit. If it had been me back there, I would have screwed things up royally.

Ainz was very glad that he had had Pandora's Actor take the role of Momon during the visit to Carne Village. The one biggest thing Ainz had noticed had been his reaction towards meeting Viviana. His reaction had been spot on and consistent with how the relationship between Momon and her had been so far.

Seriously, I would have forgotten that point and casually called her Viviana, which would have totally blown my cover!

Ainz knew that Pandora's Actor, despite his eccentric and embarrassing behavior, was very intelligent. Ainz had seen every proof of that, and he really wanted him to have more active roles. But no matter what, Ainz still could not stand the embarrassing embodiment of his past mindset. He was in a lose-lose situation, having to choose between not utilizing his own creation to his fullest, or suffering perpetual embarrassment from his behavior.

Knock Knock Knock!

Ainz heard someone knocking, and so he straightened his sitting posture. It was basic courtesy to sit upright while receiving visitors after all.

"Ainz-sama, Ryu's team has arrived"

Ainz could hear Albedo's usual calm and straight speech from behind the door. He was fully expecting the guests, and therefore he responded.

"You may come in"

The door opened, and behind the door was indeed Ryu's entire team of three and Albedo. All of them walked past the door and stopped right in front of Ainz's work table.

"Thank you, Albedo. Now, I need to speak with them alone."

"As you command, Ainz-sama"

Albedo bowed before walking away and closing the door. Now there were only Ainz and Ryu's team in the room. Not even stealth sentries were present, other than the spy inside Lily. Ainz then stood up and walked around the work table to directly face the group without any objects in between.

And suddenly Lily hugged him.

"Hello, Papa! I missed you!"

"Uh, yeah. Welcome home, Lily. I missed you too"

Ainz looked at Ryu, who was still standing there with a slightly weird expression, seemingly both happy and envious at the same time.

"Welcome to Nazarick again, Ryu and Alice"

"Thank you, Ainz-dono. So, what has happened that you need us here? Is there another Darker attack?"

"Actually, yes. But that was not why I wanted you here. Before we talk, let us have a seat there"

Once again, the group of people sat around the small conference table. Some snacks and drinks had been prepared there beforehand since this time the other three people present were humans with their basic needs, so it was a normal courtesy.

"Feel free to eat or drink anything on the table as we talk. First and foremost, I want to know the details of what happened during your recent job"

"Alright, now where should I begin..."

Ryu then began telling his story about the Adamantite Rank job to investigate the Sea Dragon supposedly turning randomly violent, from the beginning all the way to the end where they had to retreat from what had been seemingly a new Dark Falz. Ainz listened intently during all the time Ryu, sometimes Alice, was speaking, and he couldn't help feeling worried about this world.

"Infected merfolk and Kraken... and also a new Dark Falz. The situation of this world looks bleak now"

"But I'm concerned about something I observed from the Falz Angel"

"What is it?"

Ryu then told Ainz everything about how several things about the Falz Angel he had seen had not been consistent with the Falz Angel normally fought by ARKS, including the fact that the original host, Luther, was supposed to be out of the picture already.

"So you think there is a chance that it might have been a different being that happened to look similar, and might be actually not hostile?"

"Can't really ignore the possibility"

"Right, though we should still prepare in case the worse scenario is the true one. So, what is your plan for the near future?"

"I can't really do anything significant alone, so my plan for now is to go back to E-Rantel and be on guard for any possible Darker attack"

"Not a bad decision, but I do wonder why the ARKS fleet is still not here yet. Do they normally take this long?"

"No, they shouldn't take this long. I have no idea why"

"Is it possible, that the entire fleet has been annihilated by some other Dark Falz?"

"I don't think that can happen. They must be simply obstructed by something"

"I suppose there is no way to find out until something comes, hopefully the fleet"

"I'm afraid so..."

Ainz could notice how Ryu didn't want to admit the possibility of ARKS having been annihilated because pretty much multiple worlds out there, this one included, would have their existence in jeopardy if that was true. Ainz himself didn't want that to happen, because for once he finally had a place to call home, a place so much better than the hellhole he had been from before. Therefore, he made a firm decision.

If worse come to worst, I will guard Nazarick, or even the whole planet, with all I have. If I am destined to perish by whatever is out there, I will go down fighting. I guess that won't be a bad way to go.

"Anyway, let's have a break"

Ainz stood up and walked away from the small table. He stopped after a few steps, hesitating whether the next thing he was about to do would be a good idea. In the end, he decided to go for it.

"Lily, come with me for a second"

"Oh, alright, Papa!"

"As for you two, just get yourselves comfortable there. This shouldn't take long"

"Alright, sure"

Ryu's answer was straight, while Alice didn't say anything. For Ainz, her sleepy eyes somehow felt as if she was staring at him, full of suspicion. Ainz paid no heed to that, and he walked away as Lily followed her with somewhat happy and excited mood, which was a little hard to discern since her helmet covered every part of her head other than her mouth and chin.

Ainz brought Lily to his private bedroom. Like his office room before, there was nobody else present other than Lily and himself. No stealth sentries either, so it was certain that nobody other than the spy inside Lily would hear the two of them talking.

Ainz sat on his bed and let out a sigh, remembering that he would never get to make a full use of the furniture because of his undead nature. He immediately gestured Lily to sit beside him by patting the spot right next to him.

"Sit here, Lily"

Lily nodded, but before doing exactly that, she took her helmet off, fully revealing her adorable face and the long golden hair tied into ponytail. Ainz couldn't help feeling bewildered at how a totally randomized appearance could have resulted in such beauty.

After Lily sat down, Ainz put his hand on her shoulder and looked at her. Her curious eyes and smile made Ainz hesitate even more, but he had to do it.

"Lily, there is something that I want to confess to you"

"Huh, what is it, Papa?"

"..."

"Papa?"

"...Come out, Kashin Koji"

Immediately, a wisp of light came out from Lily's chest and manifested into the humanoid ninja creature Ainz knew. Lily, having evolved and gained a lot of skills including various resistances, did not get stunned by the spy coming out from her. But nevertheless, she naturally was surprised by what had just happened.

"W-What just happened? Who is this?"

The spy immediately kneeled in front of Ainz and bowed his head.

"My Lord"

"You are dismissed for now. Rest up, you earned it"

"Thank you, My Lord"

The spy then stood up and walked away from the room. Lily was still bewildered from what she had just seen, her mouth being agape as the spy closed the door on his way out.

"Lily..."

"Yes, Papa?"

"That was the spy I put inside you, so that I could watch over Ryu. From the beginning, I created you just to contain the spy so that I could keep Ryu under my surveillance. Nothing more than that"

"Papa..."

"I gave you all your equipment just because I didn't want to risk losing the spy container, that is you. I was not lying when I said that you only live once, because if you die you cannot be resurrected, unlike the others in here. But yeah... I gave those not out of love, but for my benefit"

Ainz let out a sigh, while Lily was speechless.

"I'm sorry, Lily. Like I once said before, I'm not the loving father you have been envisioning me as. I have never been. I'm just a manipulative one looking to exploit you for my own interest"

Ainz sighed again, and now there was a silence for half a minute.

"...Pfft!"

Suddenly, Lily laughed.

"What a great prank, Papa! You really got me for a second there!"

"Huh?"

"If Papa was really like that, you wouldn't have let me into this room back then and talked with me for hours! You wouldn't have let me sleep on your own bed and given me a goodnight kiss!"

"Ah, that's- Uff!"

Lily suddenly hugged Ainz from the side.

"I love you, Papa!"

"Ah..."

Ainz didn't speak in response, instead he just caressed Lily on the head. He let out yet another sigh, with one sentence going in his mind.

Just as planned.

Ainz had been thinking long and hard about the circumstances of the spy inside of Lily. He had no idea which part of the enchantments within her armor was the cause of the [Message] obstruction, and there was no good reason to give her another set of armor within this short time-frame, so replacing her armor was out of the question. In addition, having basically exhausted his stock of [Message] scrolls, the spy no longer had any use. Especially since Lily's natural level had become so high that [Reverse Assimilation] no longer made her any stronger. He also suspected that putting the spy back into Lily after resupplying the scrolls would be much harder since she now had a lot of skills and resistances which might outright prevent [Reverse Assimilation] from working altogether.

With all those in mind, Ainz had decided to just extract the spy and put him to work on some other fields rather than having him rot in there without any use. Ainz believed that privately confessing like this was the most efficient way to extract the spy, having no need to use any deception, spells, or such. Ainz also had judged from Lily's personality and rather blind love on him similar to other NPCs that he would face no repercussions from revealing the truth, and that was exactly what happened. He was glad that his prediction was spot on.

Now the only problem left is to prevent Ryu and Alice from knowing this, since unlike Lily they possibly won't take it well and that would reduce my standing. Not that I care much, but until I can be sure about the alliance I don't want to look bad in front of any ARKS.

"You know, Papa..."

"Yes?"

Lily released her hug and stood up gently. Her face now showed a warm smile instead of the cheerful grin she had had just before.

"Having a loving father like you... is like a dream. So..."

There was a brief silence as Lily walked away from the bed a few steps. She then stopped and looked back at Ainz over her shoulder, still showing the warm smile.

"I don't have to wake up from the dream... right?"

Without giving Ainz chance to respond, Lily put her helmet back on and began to walk away.

"Let's go back to the others, Papa."

Ainz froze up, having been caught by surprise by how Lily had just acted. For starters, that mellow tone of her as she spoke was a significant deviation from her cheerful and lively personality. Then she had just taken the initiative to prompt him to return to the others. That was very unlike any other NPCs of Nazarick. It was as if she was a real person with a free will of her own. Seeing this, Ainz began to doubt if he had done the right thing, and as the one who created her, he also began to feel guilty for it. A feeling he silently cursed as his emotion suppressor passive was not working now for some reason.


[X][X][X]


Afterword:

The next chapter should bring Vol 7 to a close, and with that the story will fully cover a total of 8 volumes of the original Light Novel. One thing that intrigues myself is that a lot of plot points have changed significantly from my original plan when I wrote the early chapters nearly two years ago. To give some examples, Ryu's first companion was at first planned to be a male warrior instead of Lily, and there was no plan to add Alice to the main group. Meru/Rose was at first supposed to be alone in her whole journey instead of having Sheep/Hikaru as a guardian figure. There are still many other things, but it will take too long if I mention every single one of them.

Speaking about original plan, I will drop the bomb here and say that my original plan was to end this story as a whole after covering Volume 9. Whether I will stick to it or not, I'm still not fully decided yet. One thing for sure is that this story will last for at least five more chapters after this one. I have a certain reason why I could give an exact number of chapters like that, and you can find that out pretty easily with some observation. ;)

Nevertheless, I will see you again later.