Time, for Blue Rose, had moved like molasses going uphill. They'd been given quarters that made the noble house of Lakyus look like a dirty pig sty, that made Renner's palace appear to be a pauper's shack in the woods, the beds were as comfortable as if they were being cradled by angel's wings, and the food was as sumptuous as anyone could ever ask for, but the greatest shock had been the maskless Keeno, their shorty, their Evileye. They'd finally seen her beautiful face and heard her beautiful voice without her mask, but what they'd never seen before was the comfortable glow she exhibited as they settled into the comfort of the home of the Sorcerer King.
As they were relaxing in a deep heated bath together, Lakyus could not take her eyes off of Keeno, prompting the little vampire princess to look at her quizzically and ask, "Do I have something on my face?"
Lakyus shook her head, as if shaking herself out of her reverie.
"Then...what is it?" Keeno asked softly.
"I'd ask if you're alright...but clearly that is the case, so...I guess my question is...WHY are you SO alright? I've never seen you like this." Lakyus asked and said to her in a confused voice.
"Oh." Keeno said, and the rest of Blue Rose looked over to her. "I guess...well how do I put this..." She asked of herself and thought for a moment.
"When Neia called for us and we answered...we saw horrible things, didn't we?" Keeno asked her team, that drew grim looks and solmen nodding.
"The torture places...gods the pits...the abused females, the terrified children, the mutilated males, the brothels we stormed through, it was the first time in my life I ever really enjoyed killing humans, because never in my life have I ever been so sure that people deserved to die. I guess part of it is that we unambiguously did the right thing there. But it is more than that. Lakyus, why didn't you hesitate in agreeing to the destruction of that city?"
Lakyus paused, "I saw what Remedios did, and I saw what those...people...were doing. They were butchering civilians, they were butchering the young, the old, and I saw what those they were killing looked like. The mutilations, the near nudity...it was enough to make me think that that...what was it they were calling it? 'Spiritual Heteromorphism' was actually real, they may have looked like people, but their actions were more like monsters."
"But why so many?" Keeno asked, "It was a whole city after all, the guards sure, I understand, but the population?"
"When we split up, how many whipping points did you all see?" She asked Gagaran and the twins.
"Many." Tia said.
"Very many." Tina added.
"More than one was bad enough, I found someone still in one, poor guy...coin box was near him, he was living entertainment, people had been throwing money in the box just to get the chance to hurt him." Gagaran said with a shudder, she splashed some of the hot water onto her face and ran her fingers through her hair. "Never seen anything like it."
"Same." Lakyus said to Keeno. "I figured none of that should be possible unless the whole city was rotten to the core. But what is your point?"
"Well, I guess its because I'm safer among monsters than I am among humans." She said.
That drew blank and hurtful stares.
"Please don't look at me like that." Keeno said, "I didn't mean you, now that the...secret...is out of the way, I feel much better, more 'whole' now that I don't have that dagger in my heart that I've been hiding some deep dark secret from the sisters that I love. I know you accept what I am..." She said as her blood red eyes locked to each unflinching pair from one sister to the next. "But think about it, what would you have done if you'd learned I was a vampire the first day we met?
That drew some shamefaced looks back at her, while some looks turned away in shame.
"Exactly. You're the heroes of humanity, but without knowing me, you'd have killed me and felt no more regret about that than you would have for pissing on an ant hill." Evileye's voice took on a bitter note. "I know what I am, and I didn't ask for it, nobody cared what my opinion was when they did this to me, but still...to most humans, I'm just something to be killed, even though I...Landfall...fought for humanity against the Greed Kings, without my mask, I was nothing more than a mad dog to be put down and forgotten. Now tell me sisters...who do I have to fear in this place? Who hates me? Who fears me? Where are the ones who would burn me with fire, hang me, cut me and gut me just for the crime of daring to exist in the same world as they do?"
There was silence among her sisters then.
"That is why I can relax like this, because there are only two types of beings in this place. The sisters who I love and trust with my life, to whom I offer everything, even the secret of my nature..." She began, only to be interrupted briefly.
"And...?" Gagaran asked.
"And beings who would face the same fate as myself if they were left at the mercy of humanity, heteromorphs, monsters, I don't know how many are good or evil or just plain neither, but none of them think twice about seeing my face, my red eyes are no more notable than your hair color, I'm actually safe here at every moment, I've never had that, not even once since that was taken from me as a child." Keeno said, happiness returning to her voice.
The mood was somber.
"Well, there is one danger." Gagaran said.
Evileye looked concerned. "What?" She asked.
"Getting your hair wet." Gagaran answered, and her giant meaty hand pushed a wave of water at the little vampire mage, who...soaked and stunned, looked at the large laughing goofball...and then started to laugh long and loud, the tension was gone and laughter filled the bath that was as comfortable as the heated water itself.
Lakyus privately filed away Keeno's words for future contemplation, alongside a mental note to give the Sorcerer King further thanks for offering her and her team a few days rest in Nazarick before a formal meeting, she concluded that he had recognized the mental drain of what they'd seen and done, and that they badly needed downtime to cope and recover mentally as well as physically. It stood at stark contrast to the cold way in which he had annihilated the city of Wenmark, but she did not forget that the children were themselves spared from the punishment of their parents, in accordance with Lakyus's request, it made for a complicated set of thoughts that she was not sure she would ever be able to resolved.
The horseplay was just dying down when a beautiful blonde woman entered the room, she was wrapped in a pure white robe, and she looked at the group more than a little shyly.
"Oh we don't need anything, thank you so much." Tia said with a wave.
The woman looked confused for a moment, and then realized what they thought, and said, "Oh no, I don't work here, I'm a guest...at least I suppose that is the best way to say it."
"Oh, well there is room in the bath, gods this thing is enormous." Tia said as she leaned back and slowly kicked her legs under the water.
She looked hesitant still, and Lakyus gestured to an open space, the bath was very large, Tia had not been exaggerating, she'd seen homes that were smaller. "Please feel free to join us, we might be a while, and I would hate to deny you use because of us, we've had a...very hard time, and need to relax a great deal." Lakyus said with a gentle smile. "I'm Lakyus, and this is Keeno, Tia, Tina, and Gagaran." Lakyus carefully made sure not to announce that they were all Blue Rose, unsure of just who this was, but reasonably comfortable that she was at least somewhat trusted by the Sorcerer King.
The woman gave a gentle smile that fairly lit up her face. "Wonderful to meet you, she said as she set her bathing materials down and slipped into the bath, "I'm Queen Calca Basreaz of the Holy Roble Kingdom."
That drew shocked expressions of silence, Tia blushed with embarrassment that she'd mistaken a queen for a bath attendant.
"Oh um...sorry I mistook you for...you know." She muttered.
The Queen actually giggled. "Its definitely a first." She said.
"But weren't you...?" Lakyus began.
"Killed? Yes. Jaldabaoth killed me before he killed my country, several years ago apparently." She said sadly, "The Sorcerer King managed to scrape together enough of my corpse to facilitate a resurrection."
"Are you his prisoner?" Gagaran asked.
She shook her head, "I could be I suppose, but no, he assured me that I'm free to leave, but he's offered help to reclaim my throne, since it seems that my family was otherwise wiped out and the Theocracy has seized control, if only by proxy."
"If you wanted to leave?" Tina asked.
"He offered me an estate to retire to, or an escort to my kingdom to do what I wished on my own, without any charge or cost for doing so. He has been very generous." She said softly, gratitude in her voice.
"What do you know of Wenmark?" Lakyus asked, her eyes taking on a hard glint, prompting the Queen to look down in shame.
The next few hours were consumed with conversation, with the Queen answering for her oversight of the horrors that took place in the Southern Kingdom and promising never to let it happen again, she broke down for a time when some of the things they found there were told to her, and all she could do was hold her own body as it trembled.
"I failed twice as Queen it seems." She finally said, "I was naive, I thought most of my kingdom, North & South, shared my vision for a wonderful place, I knew there were a few who needed to be brought low, like Count...King Handor. But I didn't know the South had all but abandoned me, I'm almost glad I died before finding out how little they cared for the North, or even each other. In retrospect it seems obvious, but I won't be that naive again, not ever." She said with steel in her voice.
"Now however, I'm back, and I won't be so foolish again, I will take back my kingdom, my throne, and set everything to rights." She said with a bold confidence that came from being raised a noble of destiny.
"What does he want in return?" Lakyus asked with some degree of cynicism.
When the Queen told her, she almost couldn't believe it, and then she told the story of her last few days occupying the Sorcerer King's time, meeting former acquaintances from the surrounding Kingdoms to confirm it was really she, but that was the least of it, the truly shocking thing were the things the Sorcerer King spoke of. They knew of his postal system already.
But then he talked about stamped coinage to certify true weight, another recent innovation he was rolling out to replace old coin systems, he talked about the use of an insurance system for his bankers to ensure that a bad or dishonest lender didn't lose or steal everybody's money, preventing the destructive hoarding that actually caused so many problems for kingdoms in the past.
Gagaran and the twins were frankly bored by that kind of governmental gobbldygoop, but Keeno and Lakyus were stunned, he seemed to be hell bent on fixing problems that had not even been well understood before, let alone addressed.
"So wait...he holds back a sum of his kingdom's treasury, and any lender that wishes to operate must pay tiny fraction of their net profit into that treasury as well, and in return they're 'certified insured' and then if something happens, for example if they get robbed and the money taken, all they have to do is notify the Sorcerer King's agents, turn in their books, and all the money can be restored. And all they have to do is keep a reserve of their own in addition to loans made out, and subject their books to regular inspection by the local accounting constabulary to prevent fraud...its genius. Plus it must make it easy to tax the lenders as well, and nobody is going to borrow from an unsecured lender." Lakyus said admiringly.
"It seems every time he speaks, he starts a revolution in something." Calca said, her voice as crystal clear as the bath's waters. "I have known many nobles, fair, false, fine, frail, and faulty, but never have I encountered a king I would term 'supreme' he seems to think leagues ahead, and by simply restoring me to life, he has made it easy to turn those who have taken away my nation, the ones who should be the villains...into the villains they truly are, even while they disguise themselves as heroes, and he asks nothing special of me or my kingdom to do it, his only thought seems to be to protect his followers that are otherwise out of his reach. He called it the obligation of the nobility, the mark of a worthy king. He said that absolute power begets absolute responsibility, I confess his philosophy is...compelling." Calca went quiet for awhile and lowered herself deeper into the bath and let out a sigh.
"Oh by the gods this feels good." She said as a water jet pounded her lower back, "Did he tell you what he calls these baths?" Calca asked.
"Hot tubs." Tia said.
"I want one." Tina added.
"I think it is safe to say we all do." Lakyus said as she felt the tension being pounded out of her sore muscles.
They luxuriated in relative quiet for what seemed like hours more before hunger began to gnaw at their collective bellies.
"I'm starving, girls, are you coming?" Lakyus said as she stood and reached for a nearby towel.
A collective growl from several stomachs said yes, and as they got out, they bowed to the resurrected Queen and departed.
After they had dried and dressed and returned to their rooms, Keeno said something that made them freeze. "I have been offered the chance to feed tonight."
"How...?" Lakyus asked.
"The Sorcerer King has informed me that one of his heteromorphic servants has...my condition as well, and aside from servants of her own, there are some others who do not attend her directly, but who were created expressly to serve as donors to her or others with...that need." She said.
"Are they compelled?" Gagaran asked softly.
"I asked the same thing, and he said no, they were created beings, who were created not only for this purpose, but also to enjoy the process. I'm the first guest to have this...nature, so he tells me they are very excited by the possibility and hope that I accept." Keeno said softly.
"If it makes you uncomfortable to think of me that way...I don't have to, I'll refuse." She said.
"No, I have to get used to this, I have to." Lakyus said more to herself than to Keeno. "I have to get past who I was, to accept all that you are, I won't let my issues, stay your issues." Lakyus said. "Let me come with you." She said.
That drew the surprised looks to Lakyus instead, but her voice was resolute.
Keeno's beautiful red eyes went narrow, "You are sure of this?" She said with doubt.
"I am." Lakyus said with confidence.
"Then follow me." She said, and Lakyus gave a glance to the rest of the team, and then walked out behind her vampire sister.
The bar they arrived at had an unusual nonhuman creature behind it, and an odd little penguin fellow drinking there, but over in the corner of the otherwise empty bar, there sat a corner booth, with a large round table, and two figures of shocking beauty, one male, one female.
Lakyus followed quietly as Evileye moved with purpose to the booth, and sat down next to the man there, he was bare chested and had rippling muscles and youthful vigor, and the pair seemed to welcome her enthusiastically, and this set Lakyus much at ease, and then Evileye gestured to her.
"This is Lakyus, a dear sister, but she is not like me, she doesn't have my needs or desires." Evileyes words were not hurtful, but very plainly spoken as if she were giving a weather report. "She's still getting used to the idea of what I am, and she wanted to join me to better understand, and probably to see that there was no compulsion on you to do this."
The pair gave Lakyus a slightly dirty look. "Of course we're not compelled, this is what we are here for, its why we were created." The sylvan, willowy woman said in a lilting voice.
"Created." Lakyus said incredulously.
"Yes, created." The man beside her said. "By one of the forty one supreme beings who created this place."
Lakyus looked dumbfounded.
"Forgive my ignorance, I don't understand." Lakyus said politely.
Her good manners seemed to wipe away their distasteful expressions, "We are a symbiote class of life, though we appear human, we are not, we draw sustenance by giving of ourselves in turn, we specialize in giving to vampires, bestowing many benefits and buffs on them when they consume our blood, in return, we gain as well. We draw physical pleasure, but we also draw knowledge, understanding, and sustenance, when a vampire feeds from us, a small amount of their saliva enters our bodies, and this provides us with the nutrients we need. The more we give, the more we learn and improve ourselves. It makes us better hosts."
"Hosts?" Lakyus asked, already stunned and confused.
"Yes, we were created to ensure patrons enjoy this place, though our lord allows us to go anywhere, there is nowhere we would rather be." The woman said, her voice like a babbling brook or a bird's song.
"Did the Sorcerer King create you?" Lakyus asked, awestruck.
"No." They said and shook their heads, "We were created by Lord Peroroncino, the same one who created Shalltear, though we're much nicer than she is." The man said with a wry grin.
"Was he the god of the Sorcerer King?" Lakyus asked softly, prompting the two to laugh uproariously.
When the laughter began to die down "Oh how I wish you could feed on me, I'd love to gain your sense of humor." The woman said, her breasts still heaving from the force of her laugh.
"Lord Peroroncino was one of Lord Ainz's subordinates." The woman said with a titter, "Lord Ainz was the ruler of all the other forty supreme beings, together they created everything in Nazarick, from the walls and floors and ceiling, to the grounds around it, and everything that fills it, except for some of the treasures they got from god hunting."
"God...hunting?" Keeno swallowed hard. "What the hell is that?"
"They hunted others like themselves." The man replied, and Lakyus felt like the world was opening up under her feet and swallowing her whole, Ainz appeared to have the power of a god of gods, her original concern was almost forgotten in the face of this revelation, and she forcibly wrenched her thoughts away from that course of contemplation.
"Forgive me, I have gotten side tracked, please...if it will not offend you, may I watch?" She asked the pair of hosts.
The two shared a look and shrugged, and the man held out his arm and turned it over, baring his wrist to Keeno. She took it gently, reverently, and he nodded with a grin, and Keeno kept her eyes on Lakyus, and opened her mouth, baring her fangs, and sank them slowly into the vein. If the man felt any real pain, he didn't show it, he didn't try to pull away, he simply relaxed himself into the plush of the seat and waited.
Lakyus could not look away, part of her instinct was to flee, part of it was to fight, part of it was to shake Keeno and ask what she was doing, but as she watched, she realized how much of her response was built up around her own prejudice against what Keeno was, everything she'd been taught to think about vampires was clouding her vision of what was actually in front of her. Keeno didn't hate this man, she wasn't even trying to hurt him, she was just trying to exist in the best way possible for herself, and he was a willing participant who was neither harmed nor forced. After a few minutes, she saw the man take and squeeze Keeno's hand gently, and she released her grip and pulled away from his wrist.
He lowered his arm back to the table. "Would you like some more?" The female asked as Keeno licked her own lips, drawing in flecks of blood that had fallen away.
Lakyus remained silent, and her attention was diverted only for a moment when the bartender placed a drink in front of her. She was about to speak when he said, "On the house." She nodded numbly, and watched as Keeno leaned in, and latched on to the woman's wrist in the same way as she had that of the male. The woman shivered as it happened, and for a moment Lakyus thought it was distress, before she recognized that the woman had a blissful expression on her face and that was not at all what her shuddering was over. Lakyus's discomfort took on a whole other dimension, and eventually Keeno released the woman's wrist and leaned back into her seat again.
She looked at Lakyus, who downed her drink sharply and slammed the glass down, and Keeno's red eyes, which were bright in normal conditions, now shone like twin red suns and they bored into the very core of her dear sister. "Look into my eyes." She said to her sister, her leader, her friend. It was a chilling sentence out of most vampires, but Keeno said it in a way that showed she was vulnerable, like a dog offering its belly to show trust, and Lakyus did not want to fail her, and so she met Keeno's gaze straight on, eyes of the living and eyes of the undead, one met the other, and Lakyus felt no fear. She did not break her gaze, and the boldness that made Lady Aindra a woman of legend showed again, she held out her arm, placing her wrist in front of Keeno.
"I would give my life for you without hesitation, so why wouldn't I give blood for you by the same standard? If you want it, its yours for the taking." Lakyus said with a confidence that was distinct and sharp and strong, her moment of apostasy was a tense one weeks before, she'd struggled mightily to rid herself of her bigotry, her past vulnerability born of the heat of the moment, but which prompted her to bury or burn out every part of herself that hurt the little vampire mage she'd loved, and this act was the culmination of those efforts, freely, thoughtfully, and with compassion.
Keeno's eyes were held with hers, and the red eyes clouded with tears, and she grabbed the wrist, and pulled Lakyus over to her, clear across the table, knocking the glass aside and surprising the two symbiotic beings, and she squeezed Keeno like a child would a stuffed animal, her small arms wrapped like a vice around the tough noble adventurer, pinning her arms to her side, and Lakyus looked down to see a joyful smile on Evileye's face, she tried to return it, but the vampire's strength was...ample.
"Sister..." Lakyus said, "I know I said I'd give you my blood...but...I'd rather not have broken bones...too...tight!" She gasped out, and Keeno let go in embarrassment, allowing Lakyus to collapse and breath again.
It was at that moment that a small brown haired human looking maid entered and said to the disheveled pair of adventurers, "The Sorcerer King will see you now. I have already informed your companions, so you may proceed directly to the throne room for a private audience. Please, follow me." She said softly.
That prompted the two women to collect themselves hastily, after being somewhat disentangled, they walked up behind her and casually Lakyus said, "It wasn't what it looked like, I swear." Her face was beet red at what it must have appeared. The shy girl blushed a bit, and said, "It is not for me to judge." In a small sweet voice.
Keeno had a blush to herself as well, but chose to fill the moment with a question, "Can I ask which supreme being created you?"
"I was not created here, I am a human." She said softly.
"A human, like me?" Lakyus asked.
"Yes, Lord Ainz had me rescued from Eight Fingers, my husband, his Head Butler, killed Zero and the rest of my captors and saw to my safety." She said with a voice full of warmth and bitterness both. "I was one of the toys that worked in the slave brothels, Sebas Tian found me...saved me. When Eight Fingers tried to trap him to exact revenge, he took me back, and became my husband."
Lakyus listened with care and looked over at Evileye. "I know this story, or parts of it anyway. I've heard of your husband from a boy named Climb."
The maid smiled, "I know of him, my husband spoke of him warmly." She said.
Then Lakyus added, "We wondered what happened after all that, your husband left the capitol, and we never heard anything more."
"The Sorcerer King said he owed a debt to my sister, that he learned things from her diary after her death, so he repaid his debt to her through me by allowing me to live here with Sebas. He has given me clothes, good food, let me work, kept me safe..." She said softly, her voice broke up a bit, "So many nobles...they treat us like animals, like pets at best and disposable playthings at worst, its how I ended up where I did, the noble of my village used me till I became boring, then sold me to a living hell for less than a bottle of good wine. Lady Lakyus, I don't know what you have heard of the Sorcerer King, I do know about the thing that happened on the Katze Plains, but please don't let that cloud your judgement, he's terrible to behold, powerful even to look at, he has the appearance of a monster...but inside...he's not that at all, just..."
Lakyus touched the maid's shoulder, "I have had hints at this, I met him briefly and saw what he was capable of doing, and I don't believe he's what he appears to be, I don't know what I should think yet, but I do have an open mind."
The maid swallowed emotionally as they came closer to the throne room, and when the door opened, Ainz was there, attended only by Sebas, the other members of Blue Rose were present, but it was otherwise empty as the pair stepped forward into the center of paradise. Ainz however, had locked his gaze on Tuareninya, who had obviously just had tears running down her face. "Tuare, are you alright?" He asked, his voice echoed with concern, which shocked them to their collective cores, not many nobles were attentive enough to their mere maids to detect distress, or compassionate enough to respond to it.
The girl nodded, "I am sire, its just...memories." She said.
"Sebas, why don't you go attend your wife, I will be fine by myself with our guests for a little while." Ainz said politely, and Sebas bowed, deeply.
"As you say, my lord." And he stepped down from beside the throne and took Tuare's hand and escorted her out.
When the door shut behind them, Ainz gestured for the team to approach the throne. They knelt in front of the throne, and after a long moment, Ainz began to speak.
"I think most great rulers would have a profound speech to make at this point," he said as he stroked his chin, "but I will not waste time on flowery prose just now."
His red orbs swept over them all and the large skeletal king on the magnificent throne seemed to grow before their eyes, it was like the opposite of a killing intent. Where killing intent created paralyzing fear, he seemed to have in him 'Noble Intent' where his pressence swelled and filled the room, where their eyes could not leave his form and their ears could not help but hear him speak.
"Instead I will be blunt." He said, "The world is changing, most of the time that happens whether people want it or not, frequently it happens because the wrong people want it to change in the wrong ways. This time will be different, because I am going to change this world, and I am going to change it for the better. There will be no more Wenmarks, there will be no more slavery, nor 'contracts' that are slavery in all but name, rape will not be the right of the victors, and peasants will not be toys to the corrupt, nor will I tolerate corruption. The cycle of destruction and abuse will be ended, and the peace and prosperity I desire will be made real. Everyone no matter their race, be they beastman, heteromorph, human, vampire...anyone and everyone who accepts the social contract to live, let live, care for their community and prosper through service to the public...will be welcome in that world."
His words pierced their hearts like arrows, they'd heard Princess Renner speak of lofty goals before, but she had no power to enact them, in fact only a handful had ever been successfully applied, and those were frustrated at every turn by powerful nobles. The Sorcerer King seemed to be able to upend what he wanted, when he wanted, and things did not end well for those who dared to try to stop him.
"Do you intend to oppose any of those aims?" Ainz asked, leaning forward with orbs of red meeting each gaze in turn.
The legendary team looked at one another for a moment, and then Lakyus answered, "Sire, may I speak freely?"
"I would have it no other way." Ainz said.
"Sire, you know what my sister is." She said matter of factly.
"Yes." Ainz replied.
"Had I known what she was, before I called her sister, I would have killed her. You showed me I was wrong, she showed me I was wrong, one of your priests in Kedyn showed me I was wrong. When I passed through Commonton, a snakewoman told me that under your rule she for the first time lived without worrying that someone would kill her children, when I expressed surprise at her care, I was reminded that she was a mother, and loved her young like a human mother would. When I spoke with dwarves, they told me you saved their nation, when we saw the way your followers prospered, the use of the undead, the reverence for the living, the willingness to sacrifice...when we saw that your priests not only healed others for free, they would not even consider payment for it...I cannot deny I was moved by such compassion. I have seen a great deal in my travels, but no rule like yours."
She took a deep breath in, and exhaled very slowly, "Queen Calca has told us what you've asked of her in exchange for your help, and...well with everything that we have heard, and everything that we have seen, I do not have it in me to oppose your vision. Your vision gives my sister, our shorty, our Evileye, a place in this world, but the old ways of which I was a part, demand that she die, my gods demanded that she die. I abjured my gods, I condemn them for condemning her, I do not know that you are a god...I no longer even know what a god is anymore...but you've made me rethink the world, and as I see the way you change it, I find myself wanting you to succeed."
"Does that answer your question my lord?" She asked, gaze meeting gaze.
"It does." Ainz answered. "But it begs another question. Will you help me?" He asked just as bluntly.
"How?" She asked softly.
"There are those who do not want change, who want a world of Wenmarks, a slave trade, who want to wipe out those who are different and impose their corruption, these advocates of the old are on the move, striving to prevent my upending of what they know, and they call me evil for it. By reputation alone you would change many minds by siding with me, but more than that, my armies have been mustering and are ready to go, only a handful of preparations remain, I would ask that you join the ranks of my army under General Zaryusu. His army includes the volunteers of my nationalized adventurers who have thrown their support behind me, including someone you know, I believe you've met Momon before?" Ainz asked politely.
Keeno blushed furiously, suddenly missing her mask.
"May we consider it for awhile sire?" Lakyus asked.
"You may." He said.
"Are we free to leave?" Lakyus asked.
"Have you done anything that leaves you deserving of being detained?" He asked.
"No sire." She answered.
"Then you are not prisoners, tell me where to send you, and there you will be sent." Ainz said.
"Back to Kedyn, our contract may have been cancelled, but we're paid through the end of the month." She replied.
"I will continue to cover your costs for work in that region for the foreseeable future." Ainz answered, "I am already doing the same for adventurers I have allowed to be hired out of my Kingdom, I will extend that courtesy to you as well, as a show of gratitude for your assisting of Neia Baraja." He added.
"Thank you majesty...for this...and also for the wonderful chance at relaxation and recovery, we badly needed everything we got here." Lakyus said with deep respect in her voice.
"Think nothing of that, and instead think on my offer." He answered, and when he summoned a gate and gestured to it, the women stood, bowed, and stepped through without hesitation.
AN: Well readers I hope you enjoyed the TRIPLE updates today. :) For that you should thank the reader who made a generous charity offer in their review of a previous chapter, I promised I would do 3 updates the day of his donation, but I was so moved as a result that I was compelled to double down...no...triple down...today. Of course it remains to be seen whether the offer will be kept, nobody can know the future, but I'll take their word on the matter until I shouldn't.
Truth be told this chapter IS indeed something of an intermission, I wanted a more involved 'Blue Rose in Nazarick' moment, and a chance to further refine this characters and show some consistency of growth in Lakyus from her time in the story 'Unholy Rose', plus I really thought it was neat to get a chance to introduce them to Calca and to Tuareninya, a cute, tragic, and often ignored minor character and show what had become of her life since moving to Nazarick.
To answer other questions:
The only side story I currently plan is the short one taking place before ALL the current events here, with the defeat of the beastmen invasion. That will be relatively short, I 'might' do a few whimsical little shorts along the way, oneshots and the like, but when God Rising is done, truth be told, baring some significant inspiration, I think this will be my last full fledged Overlord story.
As far as the 'Part 2' I should have clarified. Part 2 is still continuing through this one main story. See I did a MASSIVE FUCKING OUTLINE for this one, and 'part one' detailed the rise of tensions. Part two begins with the straw breaking the camel's back, the declaration of war, and the ensuing conflict. Part three with pacification and peace, and part four with the aftermath and the Synod. Original chapter length was to be 50 odd chapters, however the end result I am expecting a MINIMUM of 80 and more likely well over 100 as I continue to add details to the outline before writing them out. All of them however, will be HERE in this single story title. Incidentally...I've been writing the epilogue off and on for awhile now as this story has unfolded to ensure I left nothing out worth mentioning.
And as to how I could put you through all this...well what can I say...I'm the kindest sadist you'll ever meet. I torture you, and you love me for it. Why...I'm the male Shalltear. )