Following breakfast Tobi was brought to a small room. A blackboard with chalk and erasers had been provided. There were seven chairs at a table. The six maids were seated, the man named Sebas was standing.

"Please instruct us well, we are in your hands, Tobi-sensei." He bowed to him before sitting down.

"Ah, thank you." Tobi was glad they appeared to be taking this seriously. When he taught at the school the students were always quiet and respectful too, but that was because teachers were free to smack them is they didn't pay attention. Tobi was not about to try that here. "Before I begin do any of you have any questions?"

The blonde maid spoke up, he thought her name was Solution. "Are you a loud screamer?"

"Wh- what?"

Both Sebas and Yuri turned to look at her. "Solution," Sebas said. "He is a fellow servant of Nazarick, not a toy.

"I was just curious." The blonde bowed her head.

Tobi noted though she continued to stare rather intently at him. For some reason there was a little drool coming out of the corner of her mouth. Tobi got the sense it would probably be safer not to ask for any sort of clarification.

He took a piece of chalk and drew the forty letters that made up the Western alphabet. He pointed to the first which was shaped like three vertical lines. "This is the letter Ro."

XXX

Momonga eventually had the prisoners brought before him for interrogation. After freezing within the prison fortress of the fifth floor, they had all been eager to tell everything they knew and to offer to turn their coats. They knew little that was actually valuable. The prisoners could tell him what equipment Turnersport had, but no specific details. Tobi had serviced those machines and knew everything about them. Likewise, the prisoners could tell him about the physical outline of the city and local settlements, but Tobi had given him the same information. What was more, Momonga had used the Mirror of Remote Viewing to see it for himself.

Turnersport had a total population of about five thousand. The other settlements in the region had only a few hundred people each. They all considered Turnersport to be a city, in Japan it would have been considered a small town. The men were expert at handling their ship and various weapons, but they did not know much else. Four of them admitted they were illiterate and felt no embarrassment about it. The sailors had a very strange bias against education and knowledge, they equated it with weakness and cowardess. Physical courage and toughness were the only traits they respected. People who did not carry weapons; farmers, shopkeepers, fishermen, and others were looked down on. This also included women, who were expected to have children and stay home to raise them. But Techs, who were the best educated and technically skilled people in their society, were especially despised.

Momonga pointed out that people with greater knowledge and skills were useful. The captain of the sailors had an answer for him.

"A toilet's useful, doesn't mean you don't still shit on it."

This, more than anything else, drove home the fact that these men were barbarians. They were Mongols who just happened to carry automatic rifles instead of composite bows. They cared nothing for the freedoms or rights of others. They had no sense of duty or loyalty. So far as they were concerned the strong had the right to take whatever they pleased.

All the sailors eagerly offered to work for him. Momonga decided to instead give them to Demiurge to do with as he pleased. As the men were dragged away screaming, Momonga was surprised at how little he felt. The idea of torture and taking human life did not bother him. He wondered if his new form had caused him to change mentally as it had physically.

XXX

Momonga used the mirror to safely investigate Turnersport.

His very first impression was that it was dirty. Only its main thoroughfare and a few other streets were paved, the rest were dirt roads. The alley ways all seemed to be piled up with refuse and there was trash scattered all around. All the buildings were crammed in together and looked weathered, they were built from wood or red bricks. None of them were painted, every structure had a faded, worn look to it.

Near the water were warehouses, a fish market, and shops making rope, sail, and other goods. On the waterfront itself there were wooden piers, some empty and some with sail boats tied up to them. The pier at the far right had a metal ship that dwarfed the others. Two men with rifles stood guard in front of the ship's walkway. At another was the seaplane he had seen the other day. On the bay were boats dropping nets to fish, all but one was wind powered or had oars. The sole exception had an iron furnace that was black with soot. A man tossed in firewood to feed it, and a steady greyish smoke rose from it.

Just behind the docks were the windmills, fifteen of them. They stood about three stories tall and each had four blades going round at a steady pace. A black cable ran from each along a string of wooden poles that covered the waterfront. They converged on a squat two story building that was on Main Street. A single cable then exited this building, carried by more poles. The individual houses were not connected. From watching day and night Momonga knew only a handful of buildings received electricity.

One was a massive structure of red brick that sprawled over the area of four city blocks. This the factory, where they were able to produce munitions and various weapons. Those were the only things mass produced in Turnersport. Everything else was hand made in small workshops or in the Techs' school.

The school also received electricity. The building was two stories and surrounded by a high wall with watch towers and only one gate. The towers and gate were always manned by armed soldiers. The place looked far more like a prison than it did a school.

Momonga saw Techs enter and exit at all times of day or night. They went in groups of one up to six. The Techs would works for twelve or more hours and then return when their task was completed or replacements arrived. Momonga noted that when they worked common people would deliberately avoid them. Many went to so far was to cross from one side of the street to the other. The attitude of the ship captain was obviously the social norm.

There was an army base located near the docks. It consisted of a couple warehouses and a dozen wooden barracks. He estimated there to be between two to three hundred armed men living there. On the grounds of the base were three rusty cars and a truck, all four vehicles had machine guns mounted on them. The vehicles would go out on patrol and then return to be hooked into the electric system. Momonga never spotted any other motorized vehicles. Most of the people got around on foot. There were also bicycles and horses and horse drawn wagons.

The only other building to receive electricity was a castle located next door to the army base. It appeared to be the center of the local government. A lot of foot traffic came and went all through the day. Many of the two man patrols also reported there before returning to the base.

There was no way to miss all the patrols with armed soldiers that covered Turnersport. The regular people kept out of their way, and jumped to do whatever they were told. On more than a few occasions Momonga would watch the patrols harass a pretty woman or push around someone for no obvious reason he could see. When these incidents happened passersby would walk away as quickly as they could while pretending not to notice.

Was this really what passed for civilization in this world?

XXX

Shizu hesitated. While she was programmed to obey all orders of the Supreme Beings, she was also programmed to defend them, even at the cost of her own life. When directives came into conflict she was forced to gather information and problem solve. She needed to prioritize her commands. In the current situation there was a simple method she could use to gather the necessary additional information.

"Momonga-sama, are you certain you wish me to carry out this order?"

He nodded. "Yes, go ahead."

"As you wish Momonga-sama." She was in the throne room with one of the rifles taken from the prisoners. Shizu had made herself familiar with its function. There was already a full clip of ammunition and a round in the chamber. She thumbed the selector level from safety to full automatic fire. Shizu then opened fire on Momonga-sama and emptied the magazine.

When it was done, Momonga again nodded. "Excellent, as I suspected, Higher Tiered Nullification was effective. In practical terms, these human firearms are low level weapons. These bullets can be defeated both by this passive skill and by magical armor."

"I am very pleased to hear that, Momonga-sama." Shizu slapped in a fresh magazine and worked the bolt to chamber a round.

"Now we will move onto the next experiment." He motioned to an ogre named Alaric, a level twenty-five monster with a hundred and forty hit points. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, Momonga-sama." The ogre bowed and turned to face Shizu.

"Please remember," Momonga said. "I want only one shot and it must be to the head.

"Understood." Shizu was a level three sniper and Alaric was standing just thirty feet away. The human weapon was not the finely crafted tool her own sniper rifle was. But it was good enough. She sighted, aimed, and squeezed.

This time a single shot rang out. The bullet went through Alaric's right eye and exited the back of his skull, along with most of his brain. The ogre immediately collapsed and fell over dead. Unlike the result of the previous experiment, this one did not appear to please her lord.

"It seems this world works under a combination of the laws of physics and the game mechanics of Yggdrasil. The bullet inflicted twenty-six hit points of damage, yet it was lethal. It seems that under certain circumstances even powerful individuals can be killed with these weapons. I will need to keep this in mind. Well done, Shizu."

She bowed. "Thank you for allowing me to serve you, Momonga-sama."

"Now, let me resurrect Alaric."

XXX

Momonga was not the only one to learn useful things.

Demiurge fell to one knee and presented Momonga a basic fire scroll. "Please use this, Momonga-sama. The Librarian assures me it will serve."

Momonga read the words written on the scroll. The result was a moderate ball of fire. As the spell activated the scroll disintegrated to ash.

"Excellent! You've found a native source for making low level scrolls?"

"I have. Making potions in this world is still uncertain, but I can confirm we have the means to make as many scrolls as necessary."

"Well done, you have not only served me well but made Nazarick more secure."

Demiurge had a wide smile. "I am unworthy of such praise, to serve you and Ainz Ooal Gown is my greatest joy."

Momonga nodded. "Tell me, what is the source, and is the supply large?"

"Ah, it was made from the skins of the human prisoners. It turns out to be an excellent substitute for enchanted parchment. Even better, once the skin is converted into a scroll healing magic can be used to restore the skin. Meaning a single human can be harvested multiple times. Given the number of humans in the world we should have absolutely no problem acquiring enough of them to meet our needs. A herd of perhaps one hundred should be more than enough."

The scroll was made out of human skin?! The thought was initially disturbing, but his emotions were quickly suppressed by his undead nature. When he thought about it he knew he should have been completely disgusted by the notion of using prisoners this way. But as soon as the initial emotional response was removed he discovered he didn't really care.

The people of this world were barbarians. He'd watched them carefully over the past week. They had no culture, no sense of community, no respect for beauty or cleanliness or education. The only thing these people respected was force. Momonga couldn't even make himself care about the civilians of this world. They might be helpless victims of their local tyrant and his armed men, but he'd seen the way they treated the Techs. They were every bit as cruel and uncaring as the soldiers, just weren't as well armed.

Rationally, Momonga understood these people were living in a world that had suffered nuclear devastation, and did not have the resources or population of modern Japan. But that excuse only went so far. This world might not compare to the real world he was from, but these people had, had two hundred years to recover. And they were only technologically backward if you compared them to a fully industrialized society. In comparison with Yggdrasil they were very advanced, and these people did have resources. They might not be as abundant as in Yggdrasil, but they existed. The people here could have built something worthwhile… if it had been a priority.

Every culture was shaped by what a people valued. Family, nature, art, wealth, stability, order, knowledge, or whatever else that mattered. A people decided what truly mattered to them and acted accordingly. The people of this world cared only about force.

"Very good. When we conquer Turnersport you can acquire as many humans as you need. Now the important thing is to try and find a way to make potions using local ingredients."

Demiurge nodded. "I will conduct research into this area next."

XXX

Ten days had passed since the capture of the Evil Witch. Momonga had gathered all of the guardians together. Momonga and his followers had been conducting all sorts of experiments in order to gain knowledge in different areas.

One of these experiments was a bit more subtle, and aimed not at the humans, but rather at his own followers.

In Yggdrasil, PCs could gain experience points and gain levels, statistics, new abilities, new classes, new spells, and new proficiencies until they were capped at level one hundred. NPCs weren't allowed to gain experience points or to grow. They were given their level, statistics, classes, inventory of spells, and other attributes when they were created. And once they were brought into the game they remained exactly the same, regardless of how they were used.

Momonga wanted to see if in this world, NPCs could learn and grow. The cooking experience had been a disaster, but he was not ready to give up. He had deliberately asked Tobi to teach Sebas and the Pleiades his language to see if it was possible. With seven participants it would provide a decent sample size for the experiment. The results had been varied. Both Entoma and Solution had failed miserably to even memorize the alphabet. Lupisregina managed to do that much at least, but was not progressing. Naberal had gotten the basics of grammar and sentence structure. Yuri and Sebas had actually started to read at a very basic level. Given the amount of time spent, Momonga was actually encouraged. It seemed that at least some of the NPCs might be capable of learning.

And then there was Shizu.

According to Tobi she was now fluent in the written language of the West. As an automaton Shizu had a photographic memory and was, literally, built to acquire and store information. She had learned the alphabet, the rules of grammar and sentence structure, the tenses, and other forms on the first day. The rest of the time was devoted to memorizing vocabulary and definitions. Momonga was greatly pleased by Shizu's ability and had brought the guardians to the throne room to act as an audience to the book reading. He wanted all of them to listen to whatever story was in the book and to give their own opinions. Momonga knew they might have a perspective he lacked.

"Momonga-sama," Albedo spoke. "While we are always happy to gather in your presence and be of service in any way, I do not understand the point of this."

"There is an ancient saying from a great military strategist. 'Know your enemy and know yourself, and in a hundred battles you need not fear.' Even if the humans appear weak, it is still wise to try and learn about them. Even leaving battle aside, it would help afterwards to better understand them."

"Ah, I understand now," Albedo bowed her head. "You merely wish to leave nothing to chance."

Demiurge nodded approvingly. "As expected of our inscrutable ruler."

Momonga motioned to Shizu, who was holding the tome they had found onboard the human vessel. "You may begin, Shizu."

"Understood." Shizu began reading with her monotone voice. "Marla sauntered over to her master in her naughty little maid uniform. She knew how much Roderick liked it when she wore her black stockings and garter belt. With one hand she slowly fondled her own large and supple breasts. Marla loved how Roderick was staring at her so hungrily. His manhood was already stirring, the young master was only seventeen and constantly full of energy. Her hips rhythmically rocked from side to side and her milky white thighs rubbed together as she approached. 'What can I do for you, master?' She teased with an innocent little girl smile. 'You know what I want!' He grabbed her by the back of the head and roughly forced her down to her knees. She gave a throaty laugh and slowly ran her tongue over her lips, oh yeah, she knew what he wanted. Taking her fingers she-"

"That's enough!" Momonga cried. If he'd actually had a face it would have been as red as a tomato. The book was erotica? Somehow that had never occurred to him. Luckily, the sense of utter embarrassment and shame were quickly suppressed. "I think we have the, ah, gist."

"Actually, Momonga-sama," Shalltear had an excited look on her face. "I would like to hear more."

Albedo's cheeks were bright red as she nodded. "I would also like to hear the rest, it might be very educational."

Educational how? Momonga wondered.

Demiurge pushed his glasses up with one finger. "Should we not be thorough in our examination of the enemy, Momonga-sama?"

To his surprise he noted all the other guardians were nodding. If they felt this way as a group he couldn't disappoint them. "Very well, please continue Shizu."

"Yes."

And for the next couple hours they listened to the tale of Marla the Lustful Maidservant. Immediately after both Shalltear and Albedo needed some time alone.

XXX

"How much do you think this would be worth?" Momonga handed Tobi a gold coin. "I realize your currency is paper, but give me a rough estimate."

Tobi turned the coin in his fingers and examined it. "This is gold?"

"Yes it is, with a purity of above ninety-nine percent."

"Well, maybe you could sell it for two or three guilders."

"Is that all?" Momonga said in surprise, he had initially guessed the exchange rate would be at least a hundred to one. And he'd tried to be conservative.

"Well I suppose you could melt this down and make some shiny rings or necklaces, but that's all. It's a soft metal so it doesn't really have a practical use."

"Huh, I had not expected that. In the world I am from gold has always been highly valued. In ancient times most societies used it and silver as modicums of exchange."

"Well in some of the old stories and myths men treasured it, but we don't now. For us gold is just a pretty metal."

"What do you value then?"

"Guns, weapons, iron, saltpeter, rubber, any kind of working tech, and the most valuable substance is solnium."

"Oh? I am familiar with the other materials you mentioned, but I have never heard of solnium. What is it?"

"Really? Forgive me for saying this, but I can't imagine a very advanced society in a world without it."

"And why is that?"

"It was the power source of the golden age. Mankind went from using water and wind power, to coal, to oil, to atomic energy, and finally to solnium. It was solnium crystals that powered the ships that traveled the stars. It was said that one pound of crystals could power a city for an entire year. The ancient mechas were each powered with a single crystal, which effectively gave them unlimited energy and fuel for the service life of the mecha. All the world's known solnium mines were targeted in the Last War and are gone. But a few new sources have been discovered, and whenever they are a war erupts, as people try and take control of them. Hannover has a mine and some mecha and they're the most powerful city in this whole region because of it."

"Interesting, there was nothing like this in my world. Describe these crystals to me."

"Well I've never seen one myself, but it would be hard to mistake it for anything else. The crystals naturally break off into small pieces and give off light, they glow."

Momonga's head snapped up. He opened up a pocket dimension, reached in and took out a book. He quickly flipped through it to a drawing. "Like this?" Momonga held the book out to Tobi. Of course the man would not be able to read it, but the image was clear.

Tobi took a look, and almost immediately nodded. "Yes, that looks like solnium. I don't understand, I thought your world didn't have any."

"We called them something else, reward crystals." Momonga laughed softly. If reward crystals existed in this world, then all sorts of new possibilities were suddenly open to him. And for the first time a frightening thought entered his mind.

I could be God here.

XXX

Momonga once more had a gathering in the throne room. This time he had assembled not only the floor guardians but the Pleiades Maids, area guardians, and other important servants. All of them were kneeling before the throne and Momonga could sense their nervousness. They had no idea why he had summoned them all.

"It has been thirty days since we arrived here in this new world. We have gathered much information and I have made a decision I want to share with all of you. But first there is a short story I would like to tell you about."

They remained silent, but there were confused glances and blank expressions on many faces.

"Long ago there was a land called Japan. It was a beautiful and fertile island filled with a hardworking and cheerful people. But the land was ruled over by a host of petty, small minded lords who cared about nothing but their own individual status. They warred and raided each other constantly. The ordinary people suffered as they were killed, conscripted, taxed, and forced to live in constant fear and servitude. Everything was devoted to war and so Japan was nothing more than a desolate and backward war zone.

But then a man named Oda Nobunga started a series of wars to unify Japan under a single authority. He and his followers succeeded. They brought an end to all the pointless struggles, they built roads and harbors, encouraged education and the arts, supported business and brought real peace. Because of their actions Japan as able to become a great and prosperous nation."

Momonga suddenly stood up. "I have decided the reason Nazarick was brought to this world was so that I could bring peace to it! The humans here have ruined their world and are fighting each other like a pack of squabbling children. I will give the people of this world peace! And what is more I will remake it!" He pointed up at the banner that bore his name. "Greater break item."

The banner disintegrated. Throughout the hall there were shocked gasps.

"I have decided to change my name! From this day forward I am Ainz Ooal Gown! You will refer to me as Ainz-sama! Do you understand?"

Albedo lowered her face and placed a hand over her heart. "We have heard your sacred name and devote absolute loyalty to you. Ainz Ooal Gown-sama, banzai!"

"Ainz Ooal Gown-sama, banzai!" Every throat there were cried out.

"We shall give ourselves completely to the Supreme One," Shalltear said.

"To the most powerful king," Aura and Mare spoke as one.

"Everyone in this world will know of your greatness," Demiurge promised.

"The one who rules over all, our king," Cocytus said.

"Glory to the Overlord! The ruler of death!" Albedo declared.

Ainz slammed down the staff. "Loyal servants of Nazarick! I give you an absolute command! Conquer this world in my name! Make every knee bend and acknowledge me as absolute ruler!"

His followers screamed in delirious joy.

XXX

The next morning was a regular day down by the docks of Turnersport. When a portal opened no one immediately noticed. It wasn't until the skeletons began coming out that people paid attention.