Hello again, all.

Before we begin, I want to announce that last week I posted a oneshot story on this site. It can be read as a standalone, but it tells about the backstory of some familiar characters from here. Check it out if you haven't already.

Now we resume. See you again in the afterword.


[X][X][X]


Whoosh...

Ryu and Lily ended up in the skies above E-Rantel as they stepped out of the portal provided by Ainz. They weren't terribly surprised, but the sudden falling sensation was still quite shocking. Nevertheless, both of them activated their flight spell once they got close enough to the ground, and then they flew straight to the Adventurer's Guild building.

Once they arrived, they both immediately went to the large conference room where the others were waiting. Upon opening the door, the ones inside immediately turned their heads towards him.

"You're back already? It's barely been half an hour"

Rigrit asked with a slight smile, showing that Ryu's fast return was unexpected, yet pleasant.

"Yeah, things went quite well"

"So, what was his response?"

Tsar asked the question while looking straight at Ryu, who immediately answered with a calm tone.

"He agreed to meet all of you in an hour. The thing is, we might have to hurry because even with [Fly] it will take one hour to cover the distance from here to his home"

"No worries in that regard. I can use [Mass Teleportation]. Though naturally we need a place where no civilians can see us. There's no need for them to witness it"

Rigrit spoke with confidence in response to Ryu's statement.

"Then I guess we can take it easy and wait for a bit"

"Right. But just in case, inform me the location while we wait"

Ryu only responded with a nod and a slight smile as he sat down on the seat he had sat on previously. After Ryu informed Rigrit about the location of Nazarick using Alice's map, all the people waited with some idle talk among themselves until about thirty minutes later.

"I think we should get going now"

Rigrit spoke to the others, and nobody disagreed, even from Ryu's group. It was common sense to try arriving slightly earlier than the appointed time after all.

The whole group soon left the guild building and went to the nearest forest from the city. Because not everybody could fly, the trip took them about fifteen minutes until they arrived at a forest outside the road.

"Alright, everybody stand in a circle around me"

Rigrit spoke as she clasped her hands, which began to glow. Everybody else immediately complied, standing in a circle formation around Rigrit. Each designated group held hands with each other and stood firm.

"Mass Teleportation!"

The spell happened within an instant like blinking one's eyes. Without Ryu realizing what just happened, the scenery within his sight changed from a cluster of trees in a forest into an open grassland.

"We're half a click away from the location. I figured teleporting right there would be too surprising for him"

Rigrit spoke with her hands on her hip as she looked around. Ryu looked around too, making sure that the members of his group were present. They thankfully were.

"I'm guessing that the guy we're going to meet lives in that tower, huh?"

Gagaran spoke her remark while looking away towards a distance.

"Huh? Tower?"

Ryu spoke out of reflex hearing the remark, and he immediately looked at the same direction. Indeed, there was a pretty tall tower standing at a distance. Ryu had never seen the tower before, but he still could recognize the elevated land further ahead which hid Nazarick from view without him flying.

"Heh, from your reaction I'm willing to guess that he prepared a whole tower within one hour to welcome us"

Tsar spoke while sounding a little intrigued. The members of Blue Rose seemed to be greatly astonished hearing that.

"I have never heard of such a large structure being constructed within one hour. How powerful is this person, huh?"

"Rather than constructed, I suspect that it was conjured out of thin air. Traces of magic are all over it"

As Gagaran and Evileye spoke, Ryu felt a little worried that what he had said would turn out to be a fatal mistake.

"There's no use waiting here gazing at the tower. I suggest that we go there and see what will happen, while keeping ourselves cautious"

Lakyus spoke to her team, and nobody disagreed. Soon, the group went towards the tower at a brisk walking pace, and what they saw upon reaching the front entrance was two large undead knights guarding it, fully clad in enchanted armor.

Without giving the group time to observe the knights, the door opened with a clicking sound and a rather slow motion, revealing three persons; one butler and two maids, standing upright. Ryu could immediately recognize that the butler was Sebas, and the maids were the ones who had fought against the Zeshrayda back then during the battle in Re-Estize. Although, he unfortunately had forgotten their names.

"Welcome, honored guests of Ainz Ooal Gown"

Sebas spoke while bowing, and the two maids followed suit. Sebas then followed up right after he stood back upright.

"Lord Ainz Ooal Gown has been notified of your arrival. If you wish to take a short rest, we have a room prepared with refreshments. But we shall gladly take you to the conference room, should you wish to see him immediately"

Rigrit glanced at Tsar next to her, seemingly whispering something Ryu couldn't hear. Tsar then spoke out without further waiting.

"We don't wish to take too much of his time. Please take us to him right away"

"Certainly. Please follow us"

Sebas and the two maids turned around and began walking away. The group immediately followed, entering the fortified tower. The insides of the tower were surprisingly clean and well-furnished, though naturally not as grand-looking as Nazarick.

The group were brought two stories upstairs where there was a large door, in front of which Sebas and the two maids stopped. Sebas then gently knocked on the door, and a voice immediately answered from the other side.

"You may come in"

Ryu could immediately recognize that it was Ainz's voice. Sebas then opened the door and gestured for the group to enter the room.

"Please proceed through the door. We shall be standing by right here"

The group then entered the room one by one. Ryu was one of the last to enter, and what he saw upon entering was a huge round table with seats around it, more than enough for the entire group. At the other end of the room, there was Ainz himself sitting on his seat, with Cocytus and Albedo standing upright at his sides, the latter fully clad in her black armor.

"I warmly welcome you, my honored guests. Take a seat wherever you like"

Ainz spoke in his usual dignified tone. There was no word spoken in response from either Ryu's team, Blue Rose's team, or Rigrit's group. Everybody just silently took a seat, grouped up according to their respective teams. After all the people were seated, Ainz spoke out with his arms resting on the table and looking towards Rigrit's group.

"Ryu has notified me about your intentions. I shall get right to the point and say that I, Ainz Ooal Gown, am indeed what you would call a Player"

Some gasps could be heard, especially from the area where the members of Blue Rose were seated. Seemingly not heeding the reactions, Ainz resumed speaking.

"Now that I have confirmed it myself, what would you like to do?"

Right after Ainz asked the question, Rigrit put her hand on Tsar's armored shoulders and spoke in a low voice, which Ryu still could hear.

"Let me do the talking"

Tsar responded with just a slight nod, and Rigrit cleared her throat before speaking.

"It is a pleasure to meet you in person, Ainz Ooal Gown"

Clank!

Suddenly, Albedo reacted at Rigrit's words by knocking the butt of her weapon to the floor, creating a loud noise. But as quickly as it happened, Ainz raised his hand to Albedo, signaling her to stop, which she complied immediately.

"I believe I have instructed you to only stand guard for my safety and not interfere with the conference by any means"

Albedo frantically bowed once after hearing Ainz's words, and went back to her standing upright posture. Ainz looked back at Rigrit and bowed slightly.

"I apologize for the disruption. My subordinates believe that I have to be addressed as a superior being, so they reacted upon you addressing me with just a name. But I believe right now we are all at the same height, so there is no need to address me with anything more than my name. Now that it is out of the way, please resume"

Rigrit made a slight nod before speaking again.

"We are here on an investigation regarding the disturbances which have happened throughout the land over the last few months. If you don't mind, I would like to ask whether you were involved in them"

"I see. Then mention the so-called disturbances one by one, and I shall respond to your inquiry accordingly"

"Alright, then I will begin with the sudden emergence of a huge crater in a forest near a village named Tranmere"

Ainz immediately turned his head to Ryu upon hearing Rigrit's words, and Ryu instantly knew what that meant. Therefore he raised his hand.

"Uhh, that was my doing. I went overboard against a foxman tribe, and I still regret it"

Everybody not in the know about the past event looked at Ryu with some visible astonishment upon hearing his words. Not paying further attention to that, Tsar spoke out.

"I think shortly before that occurrence, there was this very powerful vampire in red armor, whom I fought against"

Ainz's head quickly turned to Tsar, and he immediately asked a question in a very serious tone. At the same time, both Cocytus and Albedo seemed to twitch briefly and very slightly, reacting to the statement.

"The vampire you just mentioned, there is something which concerns me. Would you... tell me your experience?"

Ainz spoke with his eyes seemingly glowing brighter than before. Ryu couldn't help feeling that some kind of sinister aura was oozing out from the already menacing appearance of the undead overlord. Tsar didn't seem to be fazed, and so he replied with a straight tone.

"I encountered her standing still in the wilderness, and she attacked me when I approached. I fought back, but in the end I retreated. This is the scar from that battle"

Tsar pointed at the visible damage on his armor as he spoke the last part. Ainz seemed to relax a little hearing the statement, and Ryu felt the sinister aura dissipating.

"I see. Then you were not the cause... I shall tell you more about it later, but for the time being, we should resume"

Tsar leaned back to his seat as Rigrit resumed her listing of disturbances.

"The next one on the list is the demonic battle which occured in the capital of Re-Estize"

"Ah, that one... Admittedly, that was one of my subordinates who unfortunately fell under a mind control effect orchestrated by Darkers and a Dark Falz"

"Ah, yes. During the past hour the ARKS people here have told us a few things about them. In fact, Janus here has fought against a spawn of the Dark Falz, called Falz Arm"

"Wonderful. That saves me some time for explaining. I believe you have also heard what those abominations are capable of, and how dangerous they are"

"Yes, we all have. In any case, there are several more disturbances, but Ryu and Guardian have answered our questions regarding all of them"

Ainz leaned forward after Rigrit spoke her words. He folded his arms resting on the table, and began speaking while looking straight at her group.

"I still remember my own words, so I shall let you know that the vampire you fought was also one of my subordinates. She was like that because like my other subordinate in the capital city, she fell to a mind control effect"

"Another work of Dark Falz, it seems"

Tsar commented while still leaning on his seat with his arms folded.

"Might be possible, but that matter is still under investigation. Nevertheless, now that you have my answers, what are you going to do?"

Tsar, Rigrit, and Janus looked at each other briefly, and then Rigrit spoke to Ainz.

"Would you allow us a few minutes to discuss this between ourselves?"

"Certainly. In the meantime, my servants shall bring in refreshments"

Ainz did a finger snap, an astonishing feat given the skeletal nature of his fingers, and the doors opened, revealing a group of maids bringing in an assortment of snacks and beverages. Within less than a minute, the round table which had been completely empty was now filled with those refreshments neatly arranged on it.

Ryu's team calmly accepted their snacks and drinks, already used to this kind of thing, while the Blue Rose team members were visibly in disbelief as they ate, awed at the superlative quality of the refreshments. Especially Gagaran, who pretty much wolfed down everything she could reach without reserve.

Meanwhile, Rigrit's group talked to each other in low voice, with Rigrit herself sampling the refreshments as she did. Ryu had no intention to listen in, so he just decided to enjoy the luxurious and tasty Nazarick food stuff for now, hoping that things would progress smoothly by the end of this conference. The last thing he wished was for this world's native, powerful forces to be hostile to each other. That would complicate ARKS' mission, and make it difficult to eradicate Darkers. Both in the short-term, and the long-term.

About five minutes later, Rigrit spoke up to Ainz, visibly trying to be as polite as possible.

"Lord Ainz, we would like to ask a few questions if you would allow us"

Ainz, who had been silently watching over his guests while sitting still on his seat, turned his head towards Rigrit and spoke.

"By all means, go ahead. I will answer truthfully if I am able to"

Rigrit took a breath, her eyes narrowed as a display of determination, and she spoke out the first question.

"What is your plan for the future, if you are willing to let us know?"

"Hmm..."

Ainz put his hand over his chin, going silent for a brief moment before giving his answer.

"I intend to make my name known throughout the land, and I shall begin the first step by establishing my own nation"

All people other than those in Ryu's group didn't hide their surprise hearing the answer. Ryu could understand their surprise, because no common sense would find a nation led by an undead acceptable. Nevertheless, Rigrit immediately spoke, asking a question in a rather tense tone.

"What is your ultimate goal by doing that?"

"Bait"

Ainz's quick answer visibly confused everyone else, including Ryu himself and his group. Noticing this, Ainz immediately followed up with a speech.

"According to the information I have obtained from Ryu, the Dark Falz commanding the Darkers is a battle seeker yearning for a good battle against a strong opponent. Therefore, if he hears about the existence of a powerful being like me, he eventually will come at me. That is when I shall pummel him down and seal him inside the darkest dungeon where not even light would reach for eternity"

Nobody said a word upon Ainz finishing his speech. Nobody, not even Ryu himself, would have guessed that an undead, commonly believed to bear hatred towards the living, would put himself as bait against a greater threat. It sounded like a very selfless and noble intention, everybody was effectively stunned hearing that.

After a few more seconds of silence, Rigrit finally spoke, asking another question.

"Why would you go so far?"

"Because there's no use trying to conquer the world if there is no world to conquer in the first place"

The entire room fell silent again hearing Ainz's straightforward answer, and this time not in an exactly good way. Disregarding the silence, Ainz resumed speaking.

"Darkers and Dark Falz are creatures of indiscriminate destruction. Left alone, they will corrupt and destroy everything in the world, leaving nothing but ruins and barren lands. I simply cannot have that, and therefore I shall get rid of that pest, so I can conquer the world for myself"

The members of each group glanced at each other, clearly having mixed feelings about the statement they had just heard from Ainz, because it basically meant there were now two powerful sides fighting each other, one wanted to conquer the world while the other wanted to destroy it. In other words, a lose-lose situation for the locals.

Tsar was noticeably upset, his hands clenched into fists and visibly shaking. Rigrit put her hand on Tsar's shoulder and shook her head, which seemed to calm him down a little.

"Now, before any of you get too terribly upset from my previous statement, let me tell you that my world conquest is for the survival of both myself and this world. Why? Because there are more than one Dark Falz, and not all of them can be lured like the one currently roaming about. We cannot depend on ARKS forever, no? We should learn to defend ourselves, and only a united world can make that happen. Needless to say, I shall not conquer the world with only force and violence. Negotiations, trades, alliances, there are a number of options that shall not end lives unnecessarily, and those are the methods I prefer to pursue, until I am left with no other options"

After hearing Ainz's explanation, Rigrit looked at Ryu's group and asked.

"Is that true that ARKS won't always help?"

Guardian was then the one to answer.

"While we always try our best to help, we can't deny that our manpower is not limitless. Moreover, Oracle has recently experienced a catastrophic event and is now having a very hard time recovering, if it ever will"

Hearing Guardian's rather gloomy answer, Tsar made a remark.

"I want to know what kind of catastrophic event could have inflicted such a huge blow on Oracle, but something tells me that I shouldn't concern myself with that"

"Yeah, you shouldn't"

Tsar then let out a pretty heavy sigh, and he stood up from his seat.

"I'm done here. There is nothing more to discuss"

Before walking away, Tsar looked at Ainz straight in the eyes and made a bold statement.

"Ainz Ooal Gown... For the time being, I shall give you the benefit of the doubt and not interfere with your quest to protect the world from the otherworldly threat. However, the moment I judge that you have become a threat to the world itself, I shall not stay put and let you do as you please"

Being unfazed, Ainz replied to the statement with his usual calm, straight, and dignified tone of speech.

"I thank you for your understanding, and I wish that we shall not meet again in such a hostile situation"

Everyone other than Ainz stood up from their seats and left the room after giving a small farewell gesture. Sebas and the two maids escorted them out of the tower, and soon they were all out and away from the tower. The escorts had only accompanied them as far as the front door, so now the group was by themselves.

"So, what do you think, Tsa?"

Rigrit asked Tsar with a serious tone of speech and facial expression. Tsar let out a heavy sigh in response before speaking.

"He's very dangerous. For now, we're somewhat lucky that there is a greater threat he decides to focus on. But nobody can tell what he will do in the future, near or far"

"How dangerous?"

Evileye asked the question. Her face was concealed by her mask, but it was quite clear that she, along with the other members of Blue Rose behind her, was highly worried.

Tsar turned his head to Evileye and gave his answer.

"I would say that... his power is comparable to Eight Greed Kings"

Some gasps could be heard again from the members of Blue Rose. Ryu had never learned about this planet's history yet, so he had no idea what Tsar's answer meant. Nevertheless, Tsar then turned his head towards Ryu's group and spoke.

"ARKS, you really have made an alliance with a very-"

Tsar cut off his own speech and went silent briefly before resuming his speech with his head turned away from Ryu's group.

"...a very powerful person. I must admit that despite what I said, allying with him is your best bet in order to defend this world against Darkers and Dark Falz. Anyway, I'm going to return home for now and discuss this matter with the other councilors. I won't be seeing you again for a while"

Rigrit made a slight nod in response.

"Understood, Tsa. Try to convince them not to do anything foolish"

"That is a given"

After saying the short answer, Tsar immediately took off to the skies and disappeared from view within seconds. Rigrit looked towards the sky with a mild smile, and then she turned towards the Blue Rose group.

"Well, the investigation is over. Thank you for your help"

Lakyus was then the one responding to Rigrit's gratitude.

"The pleasure was all ours. Assisting the former leader of Blue Rose, and also one of the Thirteen Heroes of legend, was a great honor for us"

Rigrit laughed hearing Lakyus's words.

"I'm just a wrinkly old woman now, you know. In any case, I'll teleport you all back to the capital city. Can't let you walk all the way there, right? Speaking of which..."

Rigrit turned her head to Ryu's group as she spoke the last part.

"I have to apologize that I can't bring you back to E-Rantel. Not enough mana left to do that on top of this"

"Ah, it's alright. We all can fly, so don't worry about that. What about you, though?"

As he spoke the question, Ryu looked straight at Janus, who waved his hand as a gesture that he had no problem with it.

"I will walk back to E-Rantel by myself"

Ryu made a slight nod to acknowledge Janus' words. Rigrit then spoke once more to Blue Rose team.

"Are you ready to go?"

"A second"

Gagaran spoke, then she approached Ryu with a smile on her face.

"Thanks to you, I got to eat all those delicious meals and have an experience of a lifetime. I owe you a big one!"

Gagaran spoke cheerfully while giving Ryu a pretty hard pat on the back. Ryu responded with a wry laugh, not knowing what to say.

"By the way, are you the only guy on the team?"

Gagaran asked while her eyes were scanning over Ryu's team, which was indeed all girls other than Ryu himself. Ryu had never put any thoughts about the fact because the majority of ARKS operatives in Oracle were girls to begin with, so he was already used to it for a long time.

"Yeah, what about it?"

Gagaran grinned widely upon hearing Ryu's question, then she gave him another pat on the back.

"Good luck with it! Hahaha!"

Ryu couldn't understand what Gagaran meant, but he could see the rest of Blue Rose team facepalming and shaking their heads, including Rigrit. Gagaran then returned to her team and stood among them, while Rigrit spoke to Ryu.

"I don't know when we will meet again, but good luck and stay safe"

"You too"

Ryu and Rigrit shook hands, and soon she teleported away along with the entire Blue Rose team. It was at this point Ryu realized something.

"Wait, where's Janus?"

"Already gone when Gagaran patted your back"

Alice answered Ryu's question with a straight tone.

"Eh, alright. Then, shall we fly back to E-Rantel?"

Before Ryu could get any answer, he felt a tug on his coat. He looked, and immediately saw that Lily was the one doing that.

"Ryu-san"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Can I... go back to Papa? Just for a minute..."

Ryu was a little surprised that Lily made a request on her own, and said request was spoken in a rather mellow tone, unlike her usually cheerful self.

"Eh? Well, sure. Take all the time you need"

"Thanks..."

Right after saying that, Lily dashed back to the tower at an incredible speed. She arrived there within seconds, and she didn't seem to have any trouble entering.

"Did something happen to her that I didn't realize?"

Ryu asked the question to the rest of the team, and all of them responded with either a dejected shrug, sigh, or facepalm.


[X][X][X]


Click!

The door of the conference room suddenly swung open, and what Ainz saw behind it was Lily, all by herself. Most of her face was covered by her helmet, so her facial expression was largely obscured. But her mouth was still visible, and it was very apparent that she was gritting her teeth. Cocytus and Albedo reacted to the sudden intrusion, but Ainz raised his hand, gesturing them to stay put.

"Lily? Is there something you forgot?"

Ainz asked the question, but Lily only responded by taking her helmet off, fully revealing her face. It was at this point where Ainz noticed that Lily was trying very hard to hold back her tears. Breaking down crying was just a matter of 'when' with that kind of face.

"Lily, is there something which made you upset?"

Ainz's question was spoken in a straight tone, but one could feel the genuine concern behind the stoic voice.

"Come here, dear. Tell me"

Ainz gestured his hand, telling Lily to come over. Without saying a word, Lily ran over to Ainz and hugged him. Her face was sunk into Ainz's embrace as she spoke with a muffled voice.

"Uuurgh! I don't like that guy!"

"Who is this guy?"

"He threatened Papa, then he said Papa is dangerous! I just... can't have it! Papa is not dangerous! Papa just wanted to keep everyone safe!"

"Mein Gott, you don't need to be so upset over that, Lily"

Ainz caressed Lily's head as he spoke, but she immediately froze up and raised her head, looking straight at Ainz's face.

"Wait, did you just say...?"

"Ah, oops"

"You're not Papa. You're big bro!"

Boom! Pssh!

With a cloud of smoke, the figure of Ainz changed instantly into the original form of Pandora's Actor. At the same time, a dark portal appeared nearby and the genuine Ainz walked out from it.

"I apologize for the deception, Lily. I needed to take precautions"

Ainz spoke while making a hand gesture towards the ceiling. A strange creature, seemingly no more than a slab of pink meat with a pair of decrepit wings and eyes, and barely functional limbs, suddenly appeared out of thin air and descended down towards Ainz. It was Victim, having been concealed with various high level spells and standing by in case the worst possible scenario happened.

"Good work. You are all dismissed now. Return to Nazarick through the portal. Also, Pandora's Actor, it's time to show them the result of your work"

"As you command, Ainz-sama!"

Albedo responded with her affirmation, and she walked through the portal along with Cocytus and Victim who followed. Pandora's Actor was still embracing Lily at this point, and he spoke.

"Liebe schwester, I want to tell you that even though I was not exactly myself, I really was concerned when you came to me with that face"

"Yeah, big bro. I know"

The scrawny hand of Pandora's Actor caressed Lily's head once more, and then he released his embrace.

"Well, I should go. Bis später, liebe schwester"

"Yeah. See you later, big bro"

Lily waved her hand as Pandora's Actor entered the portal and disappeared from view right before the portal itself dissipated. Without saying further words, Ainz embraced Lily with one arm and caressed her head with the other.

"Don't feel too upset for me, Lily. It is the risk all people have. No matter how nice and kind you are, somebody out there is bound to dislike you for any kind of reason. Be it fear, jealousy, or simply hate for the sake of hating"

Lily didn't say any word. She just hugged Ainz quite tightly.

"Nevertheless, there is something I want to show you"

"Huh? What is it, Papa?"

"Let us go outside"

Lily nodded, then she put her helmet back on and walked to the door of the tower along with Ainz. Sebas, Yuri, and CZ were still standing by there, and they bowed as Ainz passed.

Click!

The door opened, and right outside they saw the rest of Ryu's group gazing at the sky while looking quite confused. In addition, there was a continuous sound which should be quite familiar for everyone there.

It was the sound of a running engine, coming out from the ARKS Fighter ship hovering above.


[X][X][X]


Ryu, and probably everybody else around him, was very confused yet amazed. The Fighter ship which was supposed to be broken back then after the trip from Slane Theocracy was now hovering above, looking fully functional.

"Hahaha! How do you like it?"

Ainz, quite excitedly, spoke the question out while approaching the group along with Lily, Sebas, and the two maids. Despite the skeletal face, one could really sense the feel of pride coming out from him.

"A-Ainz-dono. You managed to repair the Fighter ship?"

Ryu asked, still feeling astonished by the fact that someone from a very low technology planet had managed to repair an ARKS Fighter ship. Magic was probably involved, but still...

"Indeed, the Chief Blacksmith and one of my most trusted subordinates has been working meticulously and restlessly. With the assistance of some magic, you all can see the result"

After a few more seconds of feeling amazed, Ryu looked at Guardian and spoke.

"Do you think this can fly to Laguz?"

Guardian, who had been having her photon interface activated, replied to the question.

"I'm not sure. The readings of this Fighter are now very different from the standard ones. It now feels so... alien. What do you say, Xiera?"

Among the interface displays, Xiera was also connected to Guardian. It was easy to see through her face display that she was as confused as everyone else.

"Uhh... from remote analysis... I conclude that this Fighter is more than capable of that. Umm, can you bring that Fighter here? Ludmilla just happens to be here as well, and now she won't stop bugging me!"

"Ah, I have to ask the one who repaired it"

Guardian looked at Ainz, who immediately spoke while raising one finger.

"It is yours to begin with, but I would like to have just one form of compensation in return"

"What would it be?"

"Well..."

Ainz folded his arms, being silent for a couple more seconds before he spoke again.

"Bring me along"

"What?"

"We have long established an alliance, no? All of you have visited my home several times, so I would like to visit your home base for once"

"Well..."

Guardian went into a thinking posture without saying further words. Ainz immediately followed up.

"If my appearance is too unsettling for your people, I can wear a disguise"

"No, there won't be any problem in that regard. It's just that your body is quite large. I'm not sure if you'll feel comfortable sitting in the small space inside the Fighter ship"

In response to Guardian's concern, Ainz laughed.

"Hahaha! Shed your worry over that!"

Ainz gestured his hand to the sky, and the Fighter ship responded by lowering its altitude and ultimately landing on the ground. It's back hatch opened, seemingly inviting everyone to come in.

"Get in and see for yourself"

Ainz gestured his hand again, telling Ryu and the others to enter the Fighter ship. Guardian was the first to do just that, followed by Ryu right behind her.

"Wait, what?"

Guardian exclaimed her surprise, while Ryu was left speechless. The moment he entered, what he saw inside was a spacious room with lined up seats enough for at least twenty people. Somehow, the Fighter was now bigger on the inside.

"I have told you that some magic was involved, no?"

Ainz spoke as he entered. He sounded really proud, and it was totally justified. Something like this was unheard of within ARKS, and he had somehow managed to implement it into a property of ARKS.

Click! Vrrm...

The door at the other side of the room, which presumably led to the cockpit, opened with a smooth sliding sound. What was revealed behind it was a somewhat humanoid crab creature with four arms, one of them was a giant crab claw. The head was covered in hood and goggles, concealing their face. They waved their hand, seemingly trying to look friendly from a distance.

"Let me introduce you to Amanomahitotsu. He and his assistant the Chief Blacksmith were the ones doing the most work bringing this ship back to life"

"Oh, so he is the trusted subordinate you mentioned"

Guardian spoke with her arms folded, her eyes inquisitively looking at Amanomahitotsu.

"No, Amanomahitotsu is my friend! I would never put myself higher than him!"

Ainz quickly spoke, seemingly out of reflex. His sudden action slightly surprised everyone else.

"But you said-"

"No, uh, I mean... Ah, darn it. Just reveal yourself"

Ainz lowered his head and put one hand on his forehead, facepalming as he spoke.

Boom! Psshh...

The humanoid crab figure was suddenly engulfed in a cloud of smoke, and what was revealed next was a humanoid figure with practically no face, wearing a military uniform.

"Big bro! It's you!"

Lily quickly approached the figure while saying that, surprising the rest of the team.

"Wait, what? Lily has a big brother?"

"Heh, so Lily has an oniichan too"

Rose and Hikaru spoke out while Lily held hands with the apparently big brother of hers. Ryu just stood there not saying a word, and the same applied to Alice and Guardian.

"Urgh... let me redo the introduction. This is Pandora's Actor. Doppelganger, creation of mine. Therefore he is indeed Lily's brother in a sense"

Ainz spoke while still having his hand over the forehead of his lowered head.

"Guten tag! Wie geht es dir?"

Pandora's Actor cheerfully spoke while waving his hand towards Ryu's group. Meanwhile, Ainz now had both hands over his even more lowered head.

"A-Anyway. Now, can we just depart?"

Right after Ainz spoke that, suddenly Sebas intervened.

"Ainz-sama. Please forgive my intrusion, but I am highly concerned about you going out there to an unknown territory without proper escort"

Ainz, seemingly having regained his composure, put his hand over his chin, showing a thinking posture briefly before speaking.

"Hmm... you may have a point there. Very well, you can come with me, Sebas"

Sebas' eyes went slightly wide, but he quickly reverted to his calm self and bowed.

"I shall abide by your orders, Ainz-sama. But would you kindly explain to this foolish servant, the reasoning behind your decision?"

"Pandora's Actor has to stay because there are important roles for him here. As for the other possible choices, you are the most capable when it comes to walking among people with human ideals, which is exactly what we are going to do. I can trust you to be my bodyguard while avoiding unnecessary trouble, right Sebas?"

Ainz spoke while putting on his mask and gauntlets and zipping up his robe, concealing the skeletal nature of his body. Sebas responded with a bow and a short, determined affirmation.

"Certainly, Ainz-sama"

"Pandora's Actor, I believe you already know what you should do while I am away"

"Oh, bestimmt! Leave everything to me!"

Pandora's Actor put his fisted hand over his chest, and he immediately walked out from the ship.

"Yuri and CZ, return to Nazarick along with Pandora's Actor"

"As you command, Ainz-sama!"

The two maids bowed while speaking their response.

"Wait, who's piloting the ship?"

Rose asked, looking at Ainz who immediately answered with confidence.

"A golem has been created and set up for that purpose. All it needs is a command from an authorized person, and I am one of them. So, shall we depart?"

Ainz looked at Ryu, who looked at Guardian, who looked at Xiera. The latter was the one giving a response.

"Alright. I'll prepare an entry point! Godspeed, everyone!"

Everyone in the ship then took a seat and buckled up. After looking around making sure everyone was ready, Ainz put one finger over the side of his head and spoke.

"Destination: Behind the moon. Depart immediately"

Complying with the command, the Fighter ship took off from the ground and left for the skies at full speed. At this point, Ryu felt quite excited that he finally could get back to ARKS, even though it was not the same ARKS he knew. He just hoped that the guests coming along with them would not cause too much trouble over there later.


[X][X][X]


Afterword:

Ainz is IN SPACE!

Anyway, the next chapter will be mostly lighthearted and comedic. Look forward to Ainz walking around in a futuristic setting. See you again in another two weeks.