Ch.10 Insurgence

Due to negative reception for the original ending of this chapter, I have changed it. It may seem tacky, but I'd rather correct it as I wasn't happy with it either.

A few hours have passed and Justina has awakened her nap and has ordered swift preparations for the announcement of her father coming to the Crimson Empire. Though Ainz feels a bit overwhelmed, he allows her to make a grand display for him as this will lead to his name being announced the entire populace. It will be announced tomorrow and invitations are immediately being sent out by messenger bats under Justina's direct control, and invitation of the highest order.

Lakyus is ordered to rally the knights and make appropriate preparations for them. The guardians within the Crimson Empire are sticking with Ainz and Justina. While she sits in her throne next to her father with his ice throne from Cocytus, Justina nervously looks at her father in the presence of her mother, the elf twins, Cocytus, Sebas, and Lupusregina. She to give instructions of greater detail to her vassals in front of her, her vampire brides are each to give a special task for this ceremony.

With such specifics, she's worried what her father would think and she looks at him "Father, what do you think is needed?" her expression is one of worry of impressing him.

He doesn't really know what to do, so he simply says "This is YOUR Empire, Justina. So show me how you rule."

She swallows some spite as a vampire bride with silver hair holds up a chalice with water in it while concerning asks "Do you need some water, Lady Justina?"

Justina takes the water and drinks it to calm her nerves and looks at the guardians while she is trying hard to think of specific preparations. They await her orders with Lord Ainz watching her.

Now he decides to be comforting when he says "Justina, simply give commands you feel are needed. Do not focus on impressing me."

She takes a deep breath and makes her orders, she points to her four concubines and orders "I want you four to split into teams of two. Ennett and Tre, the two will handle the clearing of criminal activities. No one is allowed to commit any activities that would distract from my father's introduction. Tva and Fyra, you both will make sure that all people in the city know of this ceremony, attendance is absolutely mandatory. Go now, in the name of the Crimson Empire!"

She nervously looks at her father with a look of anticipation and he can't help but put his hand to his face while saying "That's my point. But at least you made your orders known."

She looks defeated but her vampire brides do their best to comfort her by offering minor praises. Like with Lakyus, Ainz is pleased that she such devoted followers. He declares to her "Justina, treasure these maidens of yours. They are more than your servants; they are your closest friends and allies. I'd put the same faith in all the denizens of Nazarick as I would my closest of friends."

The others are moved by his words. They trust in him more than any other in existence, even now. While Justina envies his presence and the devotion he receives, she looks at her personal guard and smiles at seeing that she has a least a few devoted allies.

With the orders given, Ainz stands and orders "Sebas and Aura, I wish for you both to take me where your investigations have made the most progress." The two look at their lord with a nod and he further adds "Shalltear and Mare, you will remain here with Justina. Cocytus and Lupuregina, I want you both to examine certain areas that have intrigued me since my arrival."

Seeing her father so swift and calm makes Justina admire him even more but she adds "Father, I would feel much better if you allowed a squad of my knights to accompany you."

"I assure you, Sebas and Aura are far more protection than I'll ever need." He argues but then says "On the other hand, I should see how your soldiers fare in actual field skills. Very well, I'll allow it." He decides to bring a squad of knights with him in addition to Sebas and Aura which puts her mind at ease. But everyone is excited to get direct orders from Ainz again.

Not long after, Ainz is brought to a squad of knights assembled by Lakyus, who orders "All of you, show your gratitude for the father of Lady Justina!" the knights, soldiers garbed in crimson armor, all salute Ainz and some hold up banners with his symbol on them, no doubt taken from the tomb.

Ainz looks upon Lakyus and asks "Are these your best soldiers?"

She smiles and replies "All my soldiers are the best. Lady Justina handpicked all of them over the years and she has me lead them." She snaps her fingers and the soldiers remove their helms and reveals that every single knight in this squad, and perhaps the entire empire, is a vampire. This is hardly a surprise, but Justina must have been working hard to assemble these knights.

Curious, he wants to know "Are all the workers in Justina's empire vampires?"

She answers "No, just the knights. She thinks humans make poor knights. They're frail, mortal, and corruptible…(gets tense) body, mind, and soul." Thinking of her former allies makes Lakyus visibly angry but she takes a breath and adds "The humans here work the fields, make clothes, and stuff that doesn't' require force. Lady Justina doesn't believe that humans make the best soldiers, not hard to see why…"

"Am I detecting hostilities from you, Lakyus?" he asks with a calm tone but she denies claims of hatred despite seeing an image of her kingdom burning and the image of the two sisters laying waste to her home. But this is just a reminder of her why she is loyal to Justina. To which Ainz further proclaims "Please, look out for her; She seems to have lack of confidence in herself."

She thinks this strange as thinking the Crimson Empress, someone loved and admired feeling low like that seems out of character for her, but back in the carriage it seemed like she was nervous around her father. But it seems like he genuinely cares for her well being and makes this request as a father and not a ruler, something she respects.

Blue Roses Base

The members of Blue Roses have intercepted the message from Justina's bats with Evileye's magic. Whenever Justina needs certain guests, she sends out her bats to swiftly send invitations, and Evileye has developed magic to intercept these messages for espionage. Normally, they aren't important enough to actually warrant immediate action, but this time is different.

Evileye has her team assembled with the ninja having a piece of ice to her head from a previous fight. The woman resembling Renner asks "What is this meeting for? Surely, an introduction of a Nobel cannot be this significant."

Evileye nods in agreement and replies "Normally, we wouldn't bother. But this time is different. Apparently, the Empress' father is one being introduced to the public. She has ordered every major noble and figurehead in her empire to attend. But I'm worried about attending or not. I'm considering relocating our base for the time."

Disguised as Nikola, Pandora's Actor thinks "My lord is being presented to his daughter's people in grand fashion? Oh, I must be the unluckiest guardian in all of Nazarick to fall upon such ill fortune…(he looks around the table and sees the unease in the room) but it's not hopeless after all." In disguise, he proposes "I say we attend this ceremony. After all, Justina is the Crimson Empress, feared by many, and her father should be just as fearsome, if not more so. Learning his face could be beneficial…..(Nailed it! )"

The others think on this and believe these words with the shinobi replying "I agree with Nikola. Learning our enemy's faces is key to victory."

The woman resembling Renner further adds "I concur. Plus, I believe if we showed up, we could possibly get a glimpse of the growing state of the capital because of the shortages. I want to see if helping the carriages is at keeping stability for the people living here."

The woman resembling Renne's stomach rumbles and she bashfully stands up while saying "I'm sorry, but you know…" she wanders off to use the bathroom.

She leaves the tent and wanders off somewhere towards a tree and looks behind to make sure she isn't followed by anyone. She hides behind a tree and puts down a magic object that puts a shield around her as she places her finger to her ear and asks "Can you hear me, Great Mother Albedo?"

Philospher's Empire

Albedo puts her finger to her ear while in the throne room and wanders off away from Flamel saying she must make sure that Flamel's bed is made and her room orderly.

She hides in Flamel's room and places a barrier while saying "I hear you, Perenelle. Tell me what your business is."

Perenelle informs Albedo "I thought you'd be interested in hearing this. But tomorrow, Justina is planning a ceremony to introduce the public to a very important figure."

Albedo interrupts by saying "If wanted to know everyone that little tramp considers important, I'd be senile. What's so important about this one?"

She takes a breath and explains "Apparently, it's her father this time."

Albedo suddenly pauses with a loud gasp. Moments of herself with her beloved Lord Ainz flashes in her mind and her wings begin to move, but she demands "You're telling me the truth, right!?"

But she insists "I'm only saying what I've heard. I can't promise it's true, because it's only hearsay from Evileye."

Albedo ends the conversation after this and she blushes with great redness on her face and utters "Justina may be foolish, but she's not an idiot, nor the guardians with her. I can't…I can't…." but she loses all control of herself as she shouts "Lord Ainz has returned to us!"

She runs out to the throne room and shocks her daughter by immediately hugging her and announcing "Flamel! The greatest of days is upon us!"

In her mother's arms, Flamel nervously asks "Mother, what's gotten into you?"

Calming down for a brief moment, Albedo explains to her daughter while looking at her "Your father has returned to us. Finally, after all these years, we can meet him and you'll see his greatness." She blushes a bit more and realizes "Oh my, even just at the mention of seeing him again causes me to become…aroused."

Flamel panics a bit at hearing this and falls back on the ground with a look of absolute shock and now word has reached her empire about her father's return.

Her mother picks her up and smiles while saying "We can't waste a single moment. We're going to the Crimson Empire at once. We must meet up with Lord Ainz."

Curious, Flamel asks "Mother, how did you find out about this?"

Taking a deep breath, Albedo answers "Oh, I have a spy in that little motley crew you've been gallivanting with inside the Crimson Empire."

Her eyes widen at the utterance of these words "So you knew?" she asks.

Looking serious, Albedo replies "I am not a fool, Flamel. I've known for a while that you've been accompanying that group of adventurers. So I had Pernelle join them, I'm surprised you didn't notice." She then snaps her fingers and the guardians under Flamel's rule gather. Albedo has an announcement to make to them.

Flamel sits in her throne silently while Albedo announces to them of Ainz's return, much to the shock of all of them. She explains that they must make preparations to visit tomorrow since Lord Ainz is top priority to them. Albedo truly believes this to be true and Flamel completely neglects to say anything about meeting her father earlier. She just silently sits and her heartbeat increases greatly while all sounds disappear for a moment. She looks over and sees the excited expressions on everyone that can and she sees white.

Until "el….Flamel!" She shakes her head and looks at her concerned mother who asks "Are you okay?" She puts her hand to her head and replies "I guess I'm just drowsy right now."

But Albedo says "Oh, well, we'll prepare your bed to be transported while we make our way to see your father." Her determination unwavering, she wants to spare no expenses in meeting her beloved Ainz again and wants to move immediately. So she has arrangements made at once. Flamel retires to her chambers until her bed can be moved with her in it.

In her room, Flamel sits in her bed awake and unable to think right now. Her mother is going to find out eventually about her neglect to talk about the meeting in just a couple of days. She ventilates for moment thinking about everything. She worries that everyone will abandon her in favor of her father. Everything she's done, created, and grown will be gone. Now, if she remains obstinate about her empire and all that she's achieved.

"i…I don't want to lose everything…" she says to herself as a tear streams down her face and biting her lip. She stands up with a weapon in hand, but she sees someone familiar, CZ2128 Delta, who is here to act as her guard. She simply stands there like nothing, but it appears she has been there the whole time. She wasn't noticed because Flamel was too upset to hear her.

She simply looks at her servant and asks "How much did you hear?" She sniffles a bit and then the maid just begins to walk up to her.

In a simple, yet kind gesture, CZ2128 places a 100 yen sticker on Flamel's shoulder and simply says "Lord Ainz is still the nicest of the supreme beings, because he gave us you two."

Flamel leaves the sticker on and feels a lot better about things, but is still nervous about what her mother is going to do once things pick up and they meet her father. After this, Albedo enters the room with the battle maids and she happily says "We're ready, Flamel. We leave in a few minutes, so be prepared."

Oddly, Flamel's eyes look happy as she proclaims "Yes, let's go see father…" happy, Albedo turns and doesn't notice Flamel's face get nervous for a moment as she feigns happiness and bliss for her fear.