Chapter 4 The reward of a Memory

Closing the door of his bedroom after bidding his servants a good night, he looked at the small, peacefully resting basilisk that had decided to steal his pillow.

Why hadn't it disappeared? Sitting on the bed, he picked up the small, puppy-sized lizard and brought him closer to his face for inspection. It really looked like the ones on Yggdrasil. Using magic to make it slightly larger, he ordered it to stand still while he kneeled to check the now lion-sized reptile.

There was nothing out of the- oh. Oh my, was that a scar? Looking closely at the basilisk's eyes, he could see an old-looking scar adorning its scales, a little bit above the right eye, in the place the eyebrow would have been if the creature had had any.

"Did the knights hurt you?"

He felt a negative response. While the Basilisk didn't seem able to understand parseltongue, a pity really, he could still communicate with it, even if it was in the basic levels of yes and no, and through a link he shared with all his summoned creatures that determined their position as servant and master.

If he had summoned a more intelligent creature, he wouldn't be having so much trouble doing this test, but he was being stubborn deciding he could get it done with his very first summon in this new world.

"Have you ever been hurt?" A positive response.

"Have you ever gotten hurt while under my rule?" A negative response.

His hypothesis was that the basilisk had not disappeared because it had not been created from scratch, it had been, as the name of the magic stated, summoned. Meaning it had been taken from somewhere and brought to him, the magic forcing it to obey the caster.

Thinking he was on the right track, now he only wondered if the creature would obey him until death or if it had a time limit…or some other limit really. Would they obey him if he ordered their own death? Could they break the forced imperio they seemed to be chained with using their own magic or something else?

Curiosity peaked; he made a note to invest whatever free-time he had to experiment with summons. Shrinking again the basilisk, he placed it on his pillow before resting on the other side of the king-sized bed. It was curious how he had gotten somewhat attached to the little thing.

Two months have passed since he rescued Carne village. He was glad he could abuse his power to delegate most of Nazarik's administrative functions to Albedo, giving him more time to test out theories. After summoning several creatures with different levels of power and intelligence he had determined a few things.

One was that the imperioused state was unavoidable, even if it was the highest and most intelligent of creatures.

Two was that this state was not permanent. The higher the creature the less time he had to command it, as he discovered when a 90 level chimaera decided he would look well with burned skin. He had avoided the hellfire by a hair, and promptly vanished it before it could try something else. The conversation with Sebas about the burned down wall in his office hadn't been pleasant.

Whenever he summoned something, he needed to vanish it to wherever before the time was up, or he risked the creature's betrayal. The average time for each creature seemed based only on the power level, so he could categorize and plan ahead using this.

Unexpectedly, the creatures that were between 35-50 level of power tended to stay loyal to him even when the time was up. Some had chosen to stay in Nazarik when asked, and Aura had been happy to have new pets. The creatures whose level was lower than 35 were too scared to do anything other than flee, while the higher levels seemed offended they had been chained to obey him (not always the case though, mostly happened when he had his aura hidden and the creatures thought themselves to be stronger than him).

The only one he had kept as a personal pet was his very first summon, the basilisk that now expended some of its time as a puppy-sized lizard.

It was on his lap right now, as he checked the reports Albedo had given about Nazarik's condition. He could sense the killing intent Albedo was emitting, and couldn't help but tease her by petting the little lizard resting on his legs.

He considered it cute, and somewhat disturbing, that his guardians always gave jealous (and killing) stares at the little basilisk whenever they thought he wasn't looking. Sure the little one sometimes accompanied him on his shoulder when he was standing, rested on his lap when sitting down, and at his side at night, using one of his pillows as its own, but…

Ok, he admitted he was doing it on purpose. Not all the time though, he wasn't a sadist. He didn't want to overly bother his guardians, nor did he wish for a lazy good for nothing basilisk. (Also, there was a time when Shalltear had literally cried at the injustice, so he had toned it down since then).

As it was, he now tended to let the lizard recover its giant size and run freely on the sixth floor for a good portion of the day, so it could do some exercise. He had forbidden it to eat other creatures though, all of them were supposed to be treated as members of Nazarik.

Focusing back on the report at hand, the last one, he made a happy sound and congratulated Albedo for a job well done. At times like these, he seriously thought he was overworking them… he may as well give them a reward.

But what could he give that everyone would like? The only thing they seemed to have in common was their total loyalty and adoration for the 42 members of the Guild, the Supreme beings.

He could give them memories of their best times, when Ainz Ooal Gown had been at his prime. Actually, now that he thought of it, he could use it as a learning experience for his guardians.

"Albedo, please tell all the guardians, except for Gargantua and Victim, to meet me in the Throne room in an hour" he said to the succubus that looked like the perfect picture of innocence, as if she hadn't been staring to death his pet a moment before.

Seeing Albedo bow in agreement, he waited for her to leave before letting out a mischievous grin. This should be entertaining.

When he entered the Throne room, the guardians were already on their knees. He walked normally to the enormous seat in the center of the room, followed by Sebas. Once he sat down, Sebas bowed and knelt with the others.

"Greetings my guardians, please raise your heads. I know you all have assigned work, don't worry I'll try to be brief. I just wanted to let you know that I'm very pleased with your hard work." he took in the happy expressions before continuing "So much in fact, that I would like to give you a reward." he said smiling.

After receiving the, by now expected, response of "We are happy to serve, we don't need rewards, your presence and words are enough reward" and so on, he raised his hand in a silent gesture to stop them.

"Then, what about a game?" rising from his seat, he took from his pocket the previously shrunken table he had gotten from the inventory and, summoning the elder wand, returned it to its normal size; placing it gently on the ground.

He took out the vials, each of them holding the same memory, and placed them gently on the table, one for each guardian including Sebas. They looked curiously at the gray swirling liquid in each little flask. He had decided to give them a copy of the very first adventure they had had as a guild, the one where they conquered the Great tomb of Nazarik.

Since the memory was his and there was a portion were they had separated battles, he made sure to include the ending were everyone reunited in the Throne room, got the parchment that designated Nazarik as theirs, and took a photo with everyone laughing.

"These are something from my original world called memories. When used right, they allow you to watch something already long past unfold in front of you, even if you were not present in that moment. I'll give these to you so you can see my friends and me the moment we conquered Nazarik." The guardians seemed happily surprised, so he was quick to continue before they could begin thanking him.

"The objective of this game is to discover the way to actually see the memory. There are neither rules nor time limit. You can experiment with them however you chose, don't worry about accidently destroying it, I'll give you another copy the number of times you need it. All the little flasks contain the same memory of course" looking at the expectant and determinated figures knelt in front of him; he ended his explanation with "any questions?"

When no one said anything he pointed his wand at the memories and levitated them in front of them. They took them as if they were the greatest thing in the world and thanked him, promising to do their best. Nodding in satisfaction, he wished them good luck before leaving the room.

The answer was that they couldn't. Not without a wand or a pensieve. The purpose of this little exercise was for them to learn to admit they couldn't do something, to learn how to ask him for help or a better explanation. Hell, he would be happy if they learned when to say "What you ask for is impossible".

Feeling very proud of his idea, he went back to his room. He was thinking about becoming an adventurer…

Shalltear

"UGHH!" she screamed in frustration as she threw an unlucky Vampire Bride to the other side of her bedroom.

Nothing, she couldn't think of nothing. It had been two weeks since her precious Hadrian-sama gave them the vials. She tried not to think about how it felt more like a punishment than a reward, since it would be disrespectful, but seeing the harmless little flask resting over her desk made her want to cry.

She had been the first guardian to ask for another copy, all because one of the Brides had suggested using undead magic on it. The substance in the flask had become dark before freezing, leaving a very solid rock-like surface in its place. She had brought it shamefully to her Master, and he had given it a brief interested look before he vanished it and gave her a new.

This process was repeated several more times, so now she was without ideas, depressed and with 3 less Vampire Brides.

"Say something! Give me an idea!" she ordered to the frightened Bride that had been too slow to leave the room when she had entered. Listening to the new suggestion, she thought it over before grabbing her threateningly by the neck.

"Now, say something useful before I kill you" she whispered

"M-my apolo—"

"I would suggest you do not disappoint me any further" She interrupted before letting her go, the Bride gasping for air before giving her a new suggestion.

Humming, she grabbed the delicate, transparent vial and gave it a try, resulting in the substance changing to a dark red color. Turning it over, the fluid seemed denser, almost like blood.

At this rate, she would run out of Vampire Brides.

Sebas in the meantime, let out a tired sigh, looking uncertainly at the vial in his hand. He had tried using Dragonoid magic, even if he wasn't an expert, being a monk and all.

Three weeks have already passed, and with each day he felt more like a disappointment. What kind of butler couldn't accomplish his Master's orders? He had tried to physically manipulate the substance, but it always slipped from his fingers. He had then, opened the flask and carefully turned it over his eye, wondering if Hadrian-sama words "…discover the way to actually see the memory" had been literal.

They were not.

The substance had not hurt him in the slightest, but it had inevitably slipped to the floor and he had been unable to recover it. With his head down in shame, he had been forced to ask for another copy for the first time.

Hadrian-sama hadn't looked disappointed, but he could just be trying to be amiable. His Master was benevolent like that, always gentle with his subjects, even to the ones undeserving like himself.

He and the guardians had been appointing reunions in every chance they got, exchanging ideas back and forth, but not even Demiurge or Albedo knew how to proceed this time. Sadden; he always worked thrice as hard whenever Hadrian-sama asked him for anything, trying to compensate for his failed attempts at solving the puzzle his Master had called a reward.

Mare

He had been staring at the crystal flask for a while now, almost hypnotized by the swirling liquid. Lying down on his bed with the covers completely covering him, he turned the little vial on his hand to see the liquid from all angles.

A month had already passed, and Mare held the second place among the guardians for the greatest number of failed attempts, the first one being Shalltear.

He had asked Hadrian-sama for 34 copies already, having tested all kinds of magic; all he got to show for it was the burned mark on the corner of his room, where one of the vials had utterly exploded.

Mare knew he was powerful and very good at magic, but the fact was that this was unfamiliar, since it came from the original world of Hadrian-sama; and no matter how much he researched in the library with the help of the other guardians, they could never find anything that even mentioned something like this.

Maybe if he asked Hadrian-sama… but, weren't they supposed to solve it on their own? He thought depressively.

Then he opened his eyes in realization, bolting out of bed by reflex. Hadrian-sama hadn't say anything about not involving him, he only said the objective, and that there were no rules, meaning that…!

Gasping, he sent a [Message] to the maid that was following Hadrian-sama today, requesting an audience. Feeling excitement at the positive response, he quickly changed into his usual attire and took the vial from his bed before using the ring to teleport outside his Lord's office. Knocking shyly, he entered with insecure steps.

"T-thank you for receiving me so suddenly, Hadrian-sama" he said with a bow, his Lord looking at him with undisguised curiosity.

"No problem at all Mare, I always have time for my loyal subjects"

Mare smiled happily at the warm answer, feeling overjoyed to hear his Lord's praise. Nodding once, he took a deep breath before hurriedly asking "Hadrian-sama, may I ask to know more about how the memories work?"

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, before the shoulders of the Djinn began to shake. Mare was about to start muttering apologies when his Lord let out a delighted laugh.

"Of course!" he answered between chuckles, and asked the maid and assassins hiding on the ceiling to leave the room. Then, he took out his unique wand and waved it around a couple of times before looking back at him with glee.

"What would you like to know?"

Mare felt his eyes widen at the positive response. Hopeful, he asked without thinking "Are we really able to use the memories?"

That had been really disrespectful! To even suggest Hadrian-sama would give them an impossible mission-

He couldn't finish that line of thought however; since laugh started to resound all over the room.

"Well done Mare! Indeed, in your current situation, none of you would be able to use them" he said looking straight at him, emerald eyes shining with pride.

Mare glowed with happiness at the gaze, standing straighter. Hadrian-sama seemed to be waiting for something though, so he asked "T-then… what are we lacking?"

"This" his Lord said with a grin, taking out an odd-looking bowl from the bag he always carried around his neck. The black item was medium sized, and covered in symbols he had never seen before.

"Did you bring your copy?"

"Y-yes!" he said showing it to him. His Master nodded once in understanding before motioning him to come closer to the desk, where he placed the bowl.

"Then, what would you do to see the memory?"

Seeing both items, it was fairly obvious. Opening the vial, he emptied the contents in the bowl, watching with interest as the symbols glowed for a moment before going back to normal. Then, he took the bowl and brought it to his lips, drinking the gray liquid.

And nothing happened.

Hadrian-sama seemed like he wanted to laugh, but was refraining from doing it for some reason.

"…Good try. Any other ideas?" he asked while giving him yet another copy of the memory.

He emptied the flask in the bowl again; sure that step had been right at least. What else could he do other than drink it? He looked at it pensively, the liquid swirling brightly. What could you do with a liquid? Drink, bath, attack, clean…

Uncertainly, he brought his face closer to the liquid, his own reflection staring back at him mockingly. Taking a deep breath, he submerged his face in the not-big-enough-for-this bowl.

And the scenery surrounding him changed.

Once the memory ended, he could feel something pulling him upwards, and found himself standing on the office again.

Crying happy tears, he whispered "Thank you, thank you, thank you…!" over and over again, hugging Hadrian's midsection, his face hidden from view. He had seen her! Bukubukuchagama-sama!

Somewhere on the back of his mind he knew he should stop, since his Master's clothes were getting wet with tears… but then he felt a hand pat his head comfortingly, and he couldn't help but cry harder. He didn't know for how long he bothered his Lord with his gratefulness, greedily taking the warm friendly pats on his back and head before calming down.

Taking a step back to put some distance between them, he bowed to apologize, his Lord dismissing the issue.

"I would give you the bowl, but the other Guardians may deduce its purpose. So, until all of them have discovered it, I'm afraid you will have to wait, Mare"

"B-but Hadrian-sama! To take such a valuable item-"

"It's fine. I can replicate the runes, so I can use almost any recipient to make a pensieve"

Deducing that to be the name of the item, he nodded shakily. He was feeling so grateful and happy, he was sure he would end up exploding.

"Also…Mare. What did you learn with this little game?"

"To pay attention to Hadrian-sama's wording" was the immediate response. His Master just blinked once at him before sighing.

…Not the answer he was expecting to hear.

In the end, Mare hadn't really admitted he couldn't do what Harry had asked them to, but at least came to ask for an explanation… that was something, right?

Harry really wasn't sure whether to take this as a success or a failure. He settled for thinking that it could have been worse.

"You can tell the other Guardians you have finished the game successfully. You are not allowed to give them the right solution, but I'll let you answer one question per guardian. Whether they ask you at the same time so they can hear all your answers or not is up to them" he said winking at Mare, who giggled and nodded in understanding.

Demiurge

He had been surprised when Mare was the one to call for a reunion. After their failure at getting information from the library, the young elf hadn't really suggested anything else. He hoped they could progress this time around.

Mare had been the first one to solve it.

Watching him with wide eyes, he was frozen on his seat while the other guardians expressed their surprise in their own way; Albedo and Shalltear looking like they were torn between being happy for him or sad that it hadn't been them.

How had he done it? He wondered with honest curiosity, focusing completely on Mare when he opened his mouth to speak.

"Hadrian-sama said it was ok to answer one question per person" he dropped suddenly on them. Letting out a surprised gasp, he felt relieved. If they made the rights questions, this game would finally reach its end.

While he carefully thought which question would be best for gathering more information he heard Cocytus ask

" Did. you. receive. help. from. someone?""

Oh no, that could have been phrased better—

"Y-yes" Mare said simply, not saying any names. They would have to waste another question now.

"Who?" Asked Shalltear, who didn't seem to realize that counted as her question

"Hadrian-sama" the elf said with an innocent smile.

He was momentarily confused, wasn't this their task to complete? But remembering Hadrian-sama's wording, he realized he had never stated they had to do it completely on their own.

Good work Mare he thought, mentally admitting he wouldn't have risked his Master's disappointment.

Being one of the greatest minds in Nazarik meant the expectations placed on him were larger than the ones placed on the other guardians. At least for this kind of objective, were they needed to use their intellect to deduce the right answer and fulfill Hadrian-sama's real wish.

He had had his hands full these last weeks. Between playing the game their Lord had made, organizing Nazarik's security system, fulfilling his obligations as a Floor Guardian on the 7th floor, and his duties as researcher to help with the matter of Nazarik's resources, he didn't have much time left for anything else. He didn't want to know what would have happened if his Lord had asked another thing from him.

As his loyal servant, his duty was to accept the request, no matter what he would have had to do in order to work on everything at once. But if he did that, he would risk failing at one of his duties, not performing at his best due to the lack of time.

What would be best in that kind of situation? He wondered before his line of thought was interrupted by the next question.

"How did Hadrian-sama help you?" Was Sebas' chosen question, his sharp gaze making Mare squirm uncomfortably on his seat.

"He… he answered my questions"

Mare was being very unforgiving. He really was answering giving as few details as possible.

"Ohhhh come on Mare! You're not really telling us anything!" yelled Aura at her brother.

"S-sorry onee-san, Hadrian-sama said not to give away the answer. This is j-just to help a little" whispered Mare with an apologetic face.

"Haaaah! how difficult! My head is burning!" came the stressed complaint from Shalltear, her hands grasping her head as she moved restlessly.

"Did Hadrian-sama give you anything?" asked Albedo staring intensely at Mare.

"Y-yes…"

"Oh! What did he gave you?" came Aura's intrigued voice.

"A bowl"

Silence followed the unexpected answer. A bowl? He saw them looking expectantly at him, the very last question.

"Was this bowl something necessary to see the memory?" He asked calmly, tail twitching in anticipation.

"Y-yes"

Ah, so it had been an impossible mission from the very beginning; and it had taken them a month to realize it.

No, Mare had been the one to understand it first. If not for him, it probably would have taken them at least another couple of months, everyone here was stubborn like that, himself included.

Hadrian-sama wanted them to admit they couldn't do it? he thought with a feeling of dread. Had he wanted them to realize how incompetent they truly were?

No, he must be misunderstanding something… Ah, Maybe-

"Maybe Hadrian-sama wanted us to rely more on him?" he thought out loud, drawing the gazes of the other guardians.

"Eh? What do you mean?" asked Aura, her head tilted to the side questioningly.

"If we had thought about consulting with him from the beginning, this game wouldn't have lasted a single day. But instead, we invested a whole month in it." he explained calmly "I think the purpose of this game was to remind us that we should ask for his superior wisdom, so we can serve him better"

"I. see. as. expected. of. Demiurge"

"Ohh! So that was it!"

Tuning out the exclamations of his fellow guardians, he brought attention to the fact that the only thing left was to decide the order in which they would visit their Lord, to finish the game. Using papers with numbers, the order was defined randomly, and the reunion came to an end.

Hadrian

Either Mare said too much in his answers or they made very good questions. Whatever the case, two days after his chat with Mare, all his guardians had solved it. Even if all of them had drank from the pensieve before using it correctly, which he found very amusing.

They had loved the memory of course, their reactions unmistakably happy. The last one to come had been Sebas, so he ordered him to gather the guardians in his office.

Once everyone arrived, he gave one pensieve to each, and asked them to make a list of the things they would like to know about his friends, the "Supreme beings". He would search for a memory that fitted their chosen topics and give it to them, or tell them to ask for something else if he didn't find any memory related to the list.

After telling them they had a week to think it over and make the list, he could finally check the results of the now completed game.

"Now, there's something I would like to ask you. Tell me… What did you learn with this little game?"

Each guardian gave him their own answer, which could be summarized in a "To ask for a fraction of your infinite wisdom whenever we are having trouble with an assigned task" along with some apologies for incompetence and what not.

Their answer had been too synchronized, so he knew this was probably the conclusion they have arrived at in one of their meetings. Looking at Demiurge and Albedo specifically, he thought the idea most likely had come from them.

"It's not a sign of incompetence. If anything, when you ask for more information or the doubts you have on your assigned task is a sign that you consider your job important enough to try to avoid making mistakes." seeing the uneasy looks on his subjects, he added "I want you to know that I'm here to listen and solve any problems you may have regarding your work. Also… it's valid to make suggestions if you think a plan could be better or if you don't agree with a specific part of it. You're more knowledgeable on certain subjects than me, and your opinion is appreciated"

They seemed to understand his point, even if they didn't look very convinced on the "make suggestions" part.

"…If I told you I wanted to fight with someone stronger than me without your help and not using my best items. What would you do?"

Now they really got his point. A chorus of disagreeing sounds coming from them, and he actually saw Sebas fidget from the corner of the eye, as if he had wanted to physically restrain him from doing something so foolish.

"Glad you understand. I have nothing more to say on the matter, is there anything you would like to add?"

"Hadrian-sama wouldn't really do something like that right? It was just an example?" Said Aura with an uncharacteristically soft voice.

The others seemed oddly attentive. Were they seriously worrying? He really wouldn't (unless he was dying of boredom, and even then it was farfetched). In his first few lives, he had been willing to offer his life for others, but as the time passed he didn't really see the point anymore. Death would always come in the end.

"Only an example Aura" he said in a tone he hoped was soothing. When the silence remained unperturbed he dismissed them from his office and retired for the day, taking the small basilisk that had been resting on his desk.

AUTHOR NOTE:

Finally ended! This chapter has been the longest so far.

I'm aware that in my usual chapters the Guardians don't have much screen time, so I made this chapter to focus on them. I had wanted to write from all their points of view, but as I was writing in the end I couldn't make it fit.

So Albedo, Cocytus and Aura didn't have screen time on this one, but I'll try to include them on the next chapters. Also, Demiurge's part was the most difficult by far; I hope I represented him decently.

What do you think so far? Feel free to let me know in the reviews.

Thanks for staying with me. See ya!