The next few weeks were heady ones for Zesshi Zetsumei, she was spending the fortune she'd saved on supplies for her ever growing body of escaped slaves, she was killing several times per night, the city was in a panic, and the only good news for the Theocracy seemed to be that 'King Philip' had won the crown and was being pushed to attack E-Rantel.
This made today a grave day, she'd spoken with Raymond a few times, and kept her voice as neutral as she could, but he knew her very well, and she was certain he knew she was inconsolable.
"I know, its bad, its very bad, and I'm sorry…but you know, I'm the youngest of the Cardinals, I can help influence replacements and…" on and on he'd gone, but none of it had mattered, but he did reveal what she'd expected.
"They're going to send the order to kill Climb today, and the rest of the hostages too, after they take E-Rantel." He said.
"I see. So the Theocracy is going to break its word?" She asked.
"I don't approve." He said.
"Are you going to resign?" She asked.
"No." He replied.
"Then you approve. You can't continue to hold that position knowing how they're behaving, you have to make a choice Raymond, you can't say you want to be a good man while you continue to be a party to the things that are happening. Saying you're voting 'yes or no' the right way doesn't mean anything on its own.
"You're still here." He said defensively.
She sighed, "I'm going to go." She got up and walked out and left his house.
She went to the tower where Climb was staying, and when she got to his room she said, "Today they're going to send me the order to kill you. Honestly I thought it would be sooner than this."
Climb had been in mid swing when she said that and Aorli had been pouring tea, but her words sent such a shockwave over them that Climb smacked the stone too hard and stung his hands, and Aorli over poured the tea and spilled several ounces of it over the table.
"I'm not surprised." He said flatly.
Aorli paled. "Sister you won't…?"
"No." Zesshi said angrily. "They made their choice, now its time I made mine. I'm getting you out of here Climb."
Climb set his practice sword aside and approached the table, he sat down and folded his hands in front of him on the table.
"I guess now I can say something." He said, "Please, be seated."
Zesshi and Aorli became confused, but Zesshi seated herself and Aorli passed out the cups and did the same.
"I'm not a prisoner really, or even a hostage." Climb said plainly. "I could have gotten out of here at any time. Even if you had tried to kill me, you wouldn't have even gotten close."
Zesshi looked at him with narrow eyes. "You…are not…that strong." She said with absolute confidence.
"No, I'm not." Climb answered and nodded in the affirmative, "Any doubt of that was answered in the constant beatdowns in training with you. However my body guard is very…very strong." He replied.
The two women looked at him in confusion. "You're going to have to explain that." Zesshi said.
"Easier to show you." Climb said and turned his head over his shoulder and said, "Pardon me, 'Shadow of Typhoeus' please stop Zesshi's attack, but don't kill her."
Silence was the answer.
"OK, Zesshi, try to kill me." He said, keeping his hands folded calmly on the table and looking her square in the eyes. "Do it." He said. "Trust me." He added.
She looked at Aorli and the two shared a mutual nod, and then Zesshi took her scythe in one hand and struck at him, point towards the center of the throat as hard as she could. It was stopped cold.
A shadowy pair of fingers held it in place.
"You have…got…to be…kidding…me." Zesshi said as the shadow swelled behind Climb into the shape of a very large monster.
"I've had him watching over me since I got here. What is more than that, many nights, my princess has come to visit me, all the locations of the hostages are known, and the Sorcerer King has planned on rescuing…if you want to call it that…all of us since the day we were taken, all he's been waiting for is the trap to be sprung in Re-Estize, which I suppose is any day now." Climb added.
"Wait a second…but…those guards really beat the living piss out of you…why…?" She looked at the shadow monster inquisitively.
"I asked about that, he said it was his job to protect my life, not my ass." Climb rolled his eyes, "Probably for the best. And it did pull me from the fire that time."
"Actually, that was me." Zesshi said, "How do you think I knew you'd been up to the second floor, or even that there was a second floor, do you think I'd ever visited one of those brothels?" She said archly.
Climb blushed at the thought of Zesshi visiting a brothel, and said, "Thank you for that."
Zesshi shrugged, "Call it a…big sister's job to look after annoying little brothers, cherry boy." She said with a laugh as he blushed once again.
"But…if you were going to help me escape…doesn't that make you a traitor to your country?" He asked, brushing off the 'cherry boy' comment this time.
"You'd really betray them for me?" He asked with surprise.
"And Aorli…and…some others." Zesshi said.
Her eyes went furious, "But I'm not the traitor, they betrayed me first, they betrayed me a long, long time ago, and what little they hadn't betrayed already, they betrayed the night they returned!" She said with a deep well of hatred boiling out in her voice. She forced herself to remain calm and relayed the events from start to finish…she told them everything. Killing the jailer and his wife over what was being done to Aorli, getting the guards reassigned to Ikari and then killing them on the way, the increased food for the half starved slaves, burning down the breaker facility and killing the students and the instructors and taking the slaves, burning down the brothels…destroying the holding facilities, and targeting individual owners who were especially vile…. She left nothing out as she relayed the story.
"So that is what all those supplies you kept having me purchase were for." Climb said with surprise. "It makes sense now."
"Yes. I'm the arsonist, I'm the serial killer, I'm all of it, and I reject this country as it has rejected me. I tried everything to help them see, if nothing else, what they were doing to me, only one of them really saw, the rest either didn't or didn't care, so fine, if that is the way they want it, so be it." She snarled out.
They were quiet for a short time and then Zesshi asked, "Are you able to contact your princess's ally, the Sorcerer King?" Zesshi asked.
"Me, no. Her, perhaps, but I have to wait until she comes here." He said, "And that isn't until dark."
"Can he?" She asked and pointed to the shadow.
"Can you?" Climb asked, looking backwards at the shadow on the floor behind him.
The shadow gave him a thumbs up along the length of the floor.
"I think that means yes." Climb said.
"OK, will he contact the Sorcerer King for me?" Zesshi asked.
The thumbs up did not appear.
"What if I've got a present he'll like a great deal?" She asked archly.
The shadow made no expression, but she felt the air change as if it were listening with great interest to what she had to say.
"Ask him how he'd feel about getting his hands on a world item." She said.
A minute later a gate opened in the tower, and Ainz Ooal Gown, the Sorcerer King, stepped into the room.
He bore with him an oppressive air of one who did not appreciate his time being wasted, and a lordly bearing in his massive frame that compelled deferential reverence and respect. Kneeling to the powerful had been made second nature to Aorli, and Climb was already aware from frequent talks with his mistress, Princess Renner, that this was the figure who was going to change the world, and whom she would serve, which meant that the Sorcerer King was her master, which made him…Climb's master by extension, and so he also knelt. Zesshi however, was not one for kneeling or for kings, but she could not deny what she felt from him as he walked with his marvelous staff and his rich and royal robes, though strangely there was a stain on this one…but more than that, she was seeking something from him, and so she bent the knee to him as well.
The gate closed behind him.
"You are Zesshi Zetsumei, trump card of the Slane Theocracy, of humanity itself as I have heard it…yet…you call upon me, the enemy of your nation, and offer me your submission and their greatest weapon? What a remarkable development." He said cryptically.
"Go ahead, tell your story." He said, and she relayed everything, she felt the oppressive rage build up as she described the mistreatment of the female elves, and the sister she did not know she had, Aorli lowered her head more deeply and moved into a prostrate posture.
"I see, they do not know much of loyalty it seems." He said, his tone suggesting that criticism was a death sentence.
Zesshi kept her head bowed under the weight of the pressure he exuded still, and added, "Your majesty, what you say is true for most of them, but not for all, there are among the cardinals, two who bear a conscience, one who saw the wounding of my heart and tried to ease my pain, he is a dear comrade, we fought many battles together, we laid down our lives for one another, and when I needed him during all this, he was there, even trying to change the very doctrine of his faith when he saw it made me to suffer and watch the suffering of my little sister. I offer you all my service, I offer you the treasures of the Theocracy, I offer you the wealth of my house right down to the tenpenny nails in the floorboards… and the floorboards, and my life to use as you see fit, if you but meet these trivial terms which are as nothing before your majesty." She said reverentially.
"What are your terms?" Ainz asked indulgently.
"The first is that you spare the lives and safety of the two cardinals, Raymond and Berenice." She said.
"Granted, the former may have a greater use, and though the stubbornness of the second does not appeal to me, it seems she is still worthy of life." Ainz answered. "What else?" He asked.
"I have saved and hidden many slaves over the time since my eyes were opened. I would see them escape this hell this very day, and given a chance to start anew, somewhere safe." She said.
"I already have land set aside for refugees. This is nothing to me, your request is granted, they will be given land, homes, and supplies to begin their lives over again, and they will have it before the sun rises tomorrow." He said majestically. "What else?" He asked.
"I would…include my little sister in this escape." She said fearfully.
"You wouldn't be worth having as a servant if you had so little loyalty to your family. I accept your condition; she will be transported out of here today." Ainz said casually.
"That all elf slaves be set free." She said.
Ainz shook his head, "I cannot accept that as a condition." Ainz answered.
She looked shocked, "But why sire?"
"Because that edict already exists, slavery is banned in every inch of territory I rule, your proposing it as a condition is redundant and unnecessary." He answered.
"I…had thought that something of an exaggeration. I had heard something like this, but always thought in the back of my mind…no…I am sorry your majesty, truly I have offended you by underestimating your nobility." She said softly.
"Think nothing of it, coming from here, I'd expect that doubt." He replied. "Now, what else?"
"Your majesty, I want a chance, a real chance, to kill my father." She answered, "He produced me by the rape of my mother, he destroyed our lives, and I long to end his life."
"I assume that would be the elf King?" He asked.
"Yes, your majesty." She answered.
"Do you intend to make him suffer before he dies? To regret his every choice that led him to being at your mercy?" Ainz asked curiously.
"I do sire." She said with a vicious tone of voice.
"Then I accept this condition, I have met him, and he has offended me. What is more, I will go one better. I will give you the means to raise rebellion in his own lands, you will take everything from him, before you strike him down." Ainz answered. "Does that appeal to you?" The Sorcerer King asked.
Zesshi smiled broadly, one could say she was beaming with joy. "Very much so, your majesty." She answered.
"Then is there anything else?" Ainz asked.
"Despite everything…I don't want to destroy all the humans…if it is not too much to ask, I would not like my actions to lead to the genocide of this nation." She asked.
"Accepted, I do not intend to exterminate it, though no doubt many will need to be severely punished for their choices, the people on the whole, who deserve to, will live and thrive in peace." Ainz answered. "Is there anything else?" He asked.
"Just…one more small thing sire." Zesshi said hopefully.
"Yes?" He asked.
"I want to fight a male strong enough to defeat me, and then I want to bear his children. He does not have to be human or elf…but that is my desire, which I pray you will forgive for its selfishness." She said.
"I can guarantee I have many loyal servants who could defeat you, some of them with great ease. However I would never betray their trust by ordering them to reproduce against their will, I can however, give you the opportunity to fight strong males, after that, it would be up to you to convince them to mate with you and produce a child." Ainz said.
"Even for a world item, you would not grant me that?" She asked with surprise.
"I am their king, their master, to do something like that would breach the trust they give to me, even if they would obey, and I know they would, I would never compel anyone to do something of that nature against their will." Ainz said, revulsion evident in his voice.
"I see…" Zesshi said sadly, "Well, it's still a better chance than I have ever had…and a ruler who doesn't see his subjects' bodies as toys and livestock would be worth the trade off of certainty. I accept your majesty's limitation." She said softly.
The oppressive aura faded away.
"Then take my hand, and rise from your knee as my servant, and you may fulfill your part of the bargain." He said to her.
Zesshi then took the hand of the Sorcerer King, she felt a vague sort of warmth from the invulnerable feeling bones.
She had knelt as a citizen of the Slane Theocracy, but as she stood, she rose up as a citizen of the Sorcerous Kingdom.
"It would be my very great pleasure, your majesty." Zesshi said gratefully.
The Sorcerer King reached into his pocket dimension and pulled out a pair of scrolls and handed them to her, go to where your hidden slaves are, and use this scroll, then go to where the world item and other treasures are, and use the other." He said.
"No need sire," Zesshi smiled a sweet and clever smile. "I am the guardian of the treasury, the ONLY guardian of the treasury, nobody else ever goes down there, and the complex underground is massive, I have been hiding the slaves just down the hall from the sacred treasures, and almost nobody else even knows the way in."
Ainz laughed heartily, "Oh, you're a clever one, hiding their stolen slaves with their sacred treasures, very good thinking Zesshi Zetsumei, very good indeed. Alright, go there promptly, but keep the second scroll, your home will be emptied of all that you desire to be taken with you, everything will be done as fast as you can move to where you need to go." Ainz said simply.
"But first…Climb, and…Aorli, wasn't it? Go through the gate behind me, you will be safe there." Ainz said.
They stood, and Aorli went and hugged Zesshi tightly, and felt a gentle squeeze in return, while Climb bowed to both the Sorcerer King and to Zesshi herself, and then entered the gate, after which Ainz walked through as well, taking them all into his home.
Zesshi, eager to do her part, rushed as fast as she could to the temple, through the secret door, and went all the way down into the treasury. When she opened the door in the dark room, the elves were waiting for her with pale, expectant faces.
"Its time to get you all out of here." She said and took out the scroll.
The message spell activated, and after the briefest of communications, a gate opened. "Go through here, and you will be safe, the hope of the elves…my king…is waiting for you there." She said softly.
"Are you not coming with us?" One of them asked her.
"I am." She said, "But I must work his majesty's will first, and see to the punishment of the Slane Theocracy to the highest degree."
That got approving smiles, which Zesshi returned, and she went down the hall to where the treasures lay, she walked in and took them off their displays, scooping them carelessly into her pack, thus making that cheap leather the most valuable single container in all the world she knew. She laughed in amusement at the thought, and went back to where the portal had formed, and tossed the pack through.
After she was done with that, she went to her home and opened the second scroll, a moment later a gate opened, and several goblins walked through. One of them approached her, "What're we takin here?" He asked in a professional and business like tone of voice.
"Everything." She said, just take that desk and chair last, I need to use it to write a note…also, leave the note I pin to the door…and the pin holding it there…and the door." She said, realizing that he might very well dismantle the whole house unless she was quite clear. The goblin nodded.
"You heard'er boys, get to it!" He snapped and they began to take paintings, chests, clothing, everything. Meanwhile Zesshi sat down to write. She took a deep breath and then penned the following missive.
"To the Cardinals of the Slane Theocracy, you may consider this my resignation now and forever from your ranks. I have served you loyally for many years, with unfailing courage and devotion, I fought and killed your enemies, and named them mine solely because they were yours, for I saw myself as one of your people, and you as mine, I had believed we were of one body, despite the misfortune of my birth.
Yet recent events in the last few months have shown me that…for almost all of you, this is not the case. I am no less an object to you than the females in the brothels, only I am…or was, a weapon, while those were only toys. I have realized that I was manipulated into hating people who were victims of the same man who abused my mother. Because I trusted you, I saw the elves of the elf kingdom as you wanted me to see them. Yet even as I did all this, you kept my little sister as a plaything to a monster in a jail, you dressed her in a moldy potato sack without even shoes to wear in winter, you starved her and broke her in terrible ways…and even for all that, I might have forgiven you for your ignorance.
However when the chance came to declare that I was one of you, by recognizing me as a person by recognizing all of what I am, you mocked the notion, when I moved to prohibit the act that made me, the act that made me hate myself, you openly spoke of encouraging more of it, and lusted with your greed for new weapons, for more of the torment my mother endured.
True comrades, brothers and sisters, accept the whole of one another. You cannot have half of Zesshi any more than I can have half of Raymond. It is all, or it is none, as you cannot halve someone without killing them. You have chosen therefore to have none of me.
Thus, I have concluded that I am fully betrayed, I have no place in this country, no future here, and I will never be a part of it. As you have chosen to betray my trust and my loyalty, I am joining with the Sorcerer King, he has accepted my fealty and I will give him everything, including that which you TRULY valued most."
~Never again yours,
Zesshi Zetsumi
Having written and pinned her note, she walked around the house and one by one, blew out the lights from the top floor to the bottom, she looked around at the bare and empty walls of her former home, certain she could never come back to it again, and then she looked over at the gate that was held for her, and snuffed the light out with her fingers, and walked through the gate without looking back into now darkened house.