Chapter 20 Preparations
"… and what would you gain from this alliance?"
"An equivalent compensation" Ainz' smiled invitingly, opening his arms as if in welcome "I will offer to lend my strength so the Baharuth Empire doesn't dare to strike again, this covers any conflict that arises not only this year, but in the next decade."
That sounded too good to be truth—
"In exchange" Ainz continued ruthlessly, ignoring the shock that was engulfing the whole room "I will ask only for the city of E-Rantel and its immediate surroundings"
What ensued following that declaration could only be described as a political mayhem; one where all the people present started to whisper to each other and the room was filled with unintelligible murmurs and affronted words.
The King Rampossa III was apparently speechless however, the only person apart from the Warriors that remained silent after that unexpected declaration. The magic caster, Ainz, seemed unperturbed by the reaction of those present in the Throne room, until a certain phrase resounded particularly loud among the Noble faction.
"Just who does he think he is? He can't just come and—" the end of that phrase was swiftly interrupted by the authoritative statement of Ainz, who had turned his head to face the Noble, frowning with cold annoyance.
"Silencio." he said accompanied by a small, elegant motion of his hand.
And the whole room felt silent in an instant.
The Noble continued to move his mouth as if he was still speaking, but no sound came from it. The others in the room mimicked the action, panicking when they finally understood their voice had been stolen by whatever spell the magic caster had used.
Wasn't the use of magic supposed to be followed by a colorful light? Just what kind of magic was that?!
The guards held their weapons more strongly, moving minutely closer to Ainz as they silently expected to receive a signal from the King, or from Gazef, to attack.
Rakesheer on the other hand seemed to be excited at the presence of new magic, like a child in a candy store, moving his mouth incredibly fast and touching his own throat in wonder as he tried to comprehend what had happened.
There was a silencing spell that negated every sound on a small area, but such a thing was normally very specific. In most cases, it was typically used to make armors move silently on infiltrating missions, but it didn't hinder the ability of speech of the user. That's how precise this spell was.
There were not any recorded cases of it being used in a whole room, even more so considering how large the Throne room was and the number of people it currently held.
The body of Rakesheer glowed lightly a couple of times, as the man tried to get rid of what he probably considered as a debuffing spell, but in the end the silence remained unperturbed. Since the Magician's Guild Master could not surpass it, it meant Ainz' spell was a high-tiered one.
The King cleared his throat, eyebrows slightly rising when he noticed he was still able to produce sounds, and raised an elderly hand regally.
"Please calm down." the old voice resounded in the otherwise silent room with a touch of finality, which made the affected nobles practically glare at him. The sense of hostility increased in the room, almost like a physical presence that weighted over everyone's heads, but the King had no choice but to ignore it as he turned to look at the magic caster that was standing in the middle of the room.
"This spell…" Ramposa began to say with an impassive face, even if it didn't conceal his worry completely.
"Is not permanent." Ainz nodded at the King, ignoring everyone else in the room, the guards that were slowly approaching him included "I just needed them to be silent and listen, for I will only say this once."
If Gazef thought the room couldn't feel tenser, he was oh so very wrong.
But the powerful magic caster seemed to be immune, for he only arched an eyebrow elegantly and said "I may not have expressed myself correctly, since you don't seem to understand at all. I will participate on the next war, whether I am your ally or your enemy, is up to you to decide."
A sense of power radiated from Ainz at the end of that phrase, as though he were giving off burning heat. It was so palpable Gazef wasn't surprised when the guards, his own men, took the smallest of steps back as if fearful that a single movement would bring the wrath of the being in front of them.
"No matter the decision you take or in which side of the battlefield I am, my goal will still be the same." Ainz continued expressionlessly, looking directly at the King "I will request the land of E-Rantel and its immediate surroundings."
"… For what purpose?" The voice of the King Rampossa was soft, desperately trying to comprehend the main reason this unexpected situation was happening.
"Because it rightfully belongs to us." that statement caused the tension to increase exponentially, but was now combined with confusion. Ainz seemed to notice this, for he simply nodded in understanding before elaborating further "Or used to, at least, a few centuries ago before we retreated to our home. We were content with our quiet lifestyle, keeping mostly to ourselves, until the exterior world perturbed that harmony recently."
…That statement was strange.
The Re-estize Kingdom had been established 200 years ago, after the Demon Gods had destroyed the country that used to be situated before. This was truth for many Nations, so most historic documents only had documentation on the last two centuries, while anything prior was little more than rumor or legend.
For Ainz to have been residing there before the foundation of the Kingdom, it would have to be…
…Ah.
So Ainz was not human. Either that, or he had managed to somehow slow down his aging like it was rumored Fluder Paradyne had done. Another option would be for Ainz to have entered into a coma-like state, in which case it would explain why he only got out when an alarm was triggered.
It was highly probable that Ainz and his people had hidden away to survive the Demon Gods' attack, only coming out to investigate when something from the exterior world came too close to them.
Ignorant of Gazef's thoughts, Ainz continued his explanation after a small pause, having let his words sink in for long enough.
"…When the presence of the invading force that was coming closer to Carne Village awakened us, to be precise." Ainz said lightly before turning to look at Gazef, which made him tense so much he was sure he could successfully pass off as a statue. "I didn't mention it back then, but I was aware there were soldiers in the vicinity, simply because some triggered the wards we have around our property. That's the reason I went out to investigate in the first place."
"…Ainz Ooal Gown-dono" the King answered for Gazef, something he was incredibly thankful for because he didn't know how to answer properly to that "Does that mean your… domain, is currently residing on my Kingdom's lands?" Rampossa had seemed to struggle momentarily for the right word to use, but in the end had settled for 'domain' with nothing but a single pause to show for it.
"That seems to be the case, yes." Ainz answered the King's question, tilting his head slightly as if asking why that would be relevant.
"In that case, we can arrange a mutual consent. If you were to describe where exactly your domain is located, we may reach an agreement—"
"I apologize, but that is not up to negotiation." Ainz interrupted with a tone of voice that left no room for arguments "I simply came out of courtesy, no… out of respect; for the companions I made back in Carne Village. If I am honest, I would rather fight along with the Kingdom than against it, which is the reason I came here to offer my alliance. Nevertheless, I will respect the decision you take regarding this delicate matter."
'And become an enemy if you wish me to be' those words were left unsaid, but still managed to get across quite clearly.
Ainz smiled comprehensibly at the King, whose age seemed to have duplicated in the last few minutes, and spoke one last time with a calming tone "I understand this is not something you can decide on immediately of course. I will give you two weeks to discuss the matter with these gentlemen. Once you have reached a conclusion, just send an official messenger to Carne Village and call for my full name, I will send a vassal to retrieve your answer."
He bowed his head lightly towards the King in farewell, before muttering parting words towards the others as well. Once that was done, the powerful presence Ainz displayed increased even more for a short moment before the magic caster disappeared from within the room.
The aura that had frozen everyone in their places was finally gone.
For an infinitely long moment nobody moved, before Rakesheer whispered tentatively, surprised to see his voice had come back. The Nobles were the next to test out their voice, shoulders relaxing slightly upon finding they had regained their ability to speak.
Gazef took his gaze away from the Nobles to look up at his monarch, who seemed suddenly exhausted, the old gaze still fixed on the place Ainz had been standing at until just a few seconds ago.
Since the curse silencing them had been lifted, the room became noisy once again with an exchange of whispers.
"Did that… man at least specify what he was asking for?" Marquis Pespea, one of the Nobles that belonged to the Royal faction, whispered to his comrades. The Noble seemed to have hesitated at the use of 'man', probably wondering if such a person could even be considered as human. The others had probably reached a conclusion similar to Gazef's, wondering on how such a man could be older than 200 years old.
Marquis Blumrush simply huffed in response "He only said 'Immediate surroundings' as if we could decide with that."
"Does it matter however? Can we really fight if he forms an alliance with the Empire?" Marquis Raeven interjected as the voice of reason, speaking with astounding calm all things considered.
The Noble's lips thinned in annoyance, but no one replied.
Until this date, neither nation had suffered significant damage, but that was because the Empire never used all its strength. If they intended to destroy the Kingdom, there would be no need to camp on the Katze Plains and wait for Kingdom forces to arrive after all.
The forces of the Re-estize Kingdom were composed of militias, while the forces of the Empire were composed of professional soldiers and had a hierarchy of Knights. It was obvious which nation possessed a more powerful military force.
Because of this, the Kingdom had to mobilize twice the numbers of the forces of the Empire, which at the same time made the army require a greater quantity of provisions. There was also, the fact that the invasion of the Empire coincided just in time with the harvest. With the lack of labor in the villages, the result was that the harvest was delayed.
Gazef and a few other nobles who could still use their brains recognized that the reason why the Empire used that kind of method was because they wanted to exhaust the national forces of the Kingdom. Once the national strength became too weak, the Empire could invade the Kingdom with all its might…
That had been the case at least. But now, considering the wild card known as Ainz Ooal Gown, how much worse would it be if that magic caster participated in the battle as their enemy?
The answer was obvious.
A massacre.
So why were the Nobles not seeing it? Gazef was exasperated, barely refraining from shouting at the foolish aristocrats who believed that their own power could exist perpetually.
"Could he be someone from the Empire with the goal of infiltrating our ranks?" Is infiltration even necessary for a country like the Empire?!
"Ah, I heard that the Empire had an academy of magical casters, so that's quite possible."
"The names of the people who live in the Slane Theocracy consist of a proper name, a baptismal name and a family name; would it be possible for that name to be a pseudonym?" That's not important; this is not what you should be discussing right now!
"Hmph! Maybe we should consider killing him?" Everyone turned their incredulous gaze towards the man who had spoken, Marquis Boullope of the Noble faction "What can one man do? If he flies, we'll shoot him down with bows. The same if he attacks from far away. What can one magic caster do? Those stories of magic casters who change the battlefield by themselves are just that, stories!"
Hearing this, Gazef could not remain silent a moment longer, even if he did his best to keep his voice neutrally courteous.
"Wait a moment please. That way of thinking is really imprudent—" Gazef gave his opinion in an attempt to make the man see reason, which made several of the nobles offer obvious looks of displeasure.
" —That magic caster claimed to have great military strength." Marquis Pespea interrupted Gazef, knowing that the statement of the Captain-Warrior would not be well received by most Nobles.
"Anyone can make a claim!" How could Boullope say that after witnessing Ainz' mere presence?!
"There is also that silencing spell he used." Raeven's voice imposed silence on the others, blue eyes narrowing apprehensively before looking away from the Nobles "Rakesheer, which tier would that magic be classified as?"
The Magician's Guild Master, Theo Rakesheer, turned his surprised gaze away from the parchment he had been furiously writing in, looking at Raeven with uncertainty.
"I tried to cancel it many times without success… I would classify it as 5th or maybe 6th tier."
So high!
The Nobles whispered against each other upon hearing Rakesheer's answer. The most intelligent understood that it was a big deal, since that would place Ainz on the same level as that terrible magic caster, Fluder Paradyne of the Baharuth Empire. Some Nobles on the other hand simply looked confused at the statement, not really getting why that was considered strong.
Even if Fluder Paradyne was the famed magic caster of the Empire, rumored to be able to use magic of the 6th tier, nobody really knew how powerful he really was. That was because he had never taken part in the Empire's wars, nor had he used his magic to rout the armies of the Kingdom.
While the 6th tier of magic was impressive, exactly how impressive it was remained to be seen.
The nobles were not magic casters, but had probably only been told about magic as part of their education. Many of the Kingdom's nobles thought little of Fluder, thinking of him as nothing more than a poster boy for the Empire's propaganda. The nobles who had little contact with magic-users like adventurers were even more likely to think that way.
Marquis Boullope was one of them. To him, magic casters were little more than stage magicians. Of course, the priests he turned to when he was sick or injured were a different matter.
"Hmph! We are still speaking about only one man! Our troops are—" Boullope began once more, only to be interrupted by another Noble.
"—I don't think that's quite right. They can be quite hard to deal with if they use flying magic and attack with area-effect spells. Long-ranged attacks can be quite damaging as well."
Those severe words were spoken by Margrave Urovarna, whose head of white hair and wrinkled face conveyed the stern dignity of a senior individual. As the oldest of the six Great Nobles, he was a clear contrast with the young Marquis Boullope.
"I believe we don't have all the facts. Stories are embellished to draw attention, and after the facts are exaggerated, the stories are well-removed from reality. This only gets worse when bards spread stories heard from other bards." Marquis Pespea said neutrally, neither on favor nor against any decision.
"However, if they could gather a lot of magic casters that could use [Fireball]―" another Noble started to say, only to be interrupted by Boullope.
"And how likely is it that they'll be able to gather a whole group of people who can use [Fireball], hm, Captain-Warrior?"
Having been suddenly addressed, Gazef didn't have much option but to answer tentatively.
"I… don't think it's too likely."
[Fireball] was a 3rd-tier spell. It would be impossible to amass a large number of magic casters who could use that spell, even if one had the magical academies of the Empire.
"Then, isn't that the answer? Magic is a good weapon, but no matter how powerful he is, one man cannot change the battlefield! You ―forgive me― the Captain-Warrior is a perfect example. While nobody can match yourself in a duel, even you can't slay tens of thousands of people in one go!"
He was right. Gazef could not find anything to rebut Marquis Boullope's argument.
Those tales of slaying ten thousand men with a single spell were dubious at best. Even that granny, Rigrit Bers Carau of the Thirteen Heroes, could not accomplish such a feat.
Could it be that he had not met a truly amazing magic caster, but was simply clueless?
However, the disquiet still lingered in Gazef.
"…Then, what if it was a dragon?" Gazef said firmly, trying another argument.
"Captain-Warrior… that magic caster is a human. Why would you even bring up a dragon?" Gazef took a breath to start explaining how exactly Ainz had arrived to the Royal Capital, but didn't have a chance to speak.
"In the first place, there's no point mentioning dragons when we're discussing humans! I don't know what you're all thinking, being so afraid of a measly little magic caster―" Boullope spoke harshly, turning his sharp gaze to glare at Gazef, before looking at the Royal Faction sitting on the other side of the table. "As nobles of the Kingdom, you should be ashamed of yourselves, cowering at the sight of his shadow!"
"Ainz Ooal Gown-dono arrived riding a dragon." Gazef hurried to say before anyone else could interrupt him.
"…He did what?!"
Relieved that his words finally seemed to reach them, Gazef began to explain what he had seen just a few hours ago.
Dragons. Masters of the sky, capable of producing powerful breaths, with scales that were almost impenetrable, and possessing a physical skill that was by far superior to any human. As the dragons get older, they are even able to use magic, and since these winged creatures had a long lifespan the wisdom they could end up possessing could humiliate even the wisest of men.
There was no way the Nobles would be able to look down on them, right? There should be a limit of how conceited they can be.
He even took the opportunity to remind them of the Basilisk he had seen before in Carne Village, and…
"…He easily wiped out one of the Six Scriptures… and although he said he didn't kill them, it would be a bad idea to make an enemy of someone with such power." Gazef finished in a serious manner, waiting expectantly for the Noble's comments.
There was no way they could dismiss Ainz as a threat now—
"...In that case, it should not pose a problem so long we attack before that man can call forth his monstrous pets."
For God's sake—!
"…Enough." the King, who had been witnessing the exchange with tired eyes finally interfered "We have deviated from the main topic long enough. Right now we need to decide whether to comply with his request or not."
"Well... if your Majesty says so..." The nobles did not refute, temporarily holding back their personal opinions. Gazef showed a look of gratitude to the Monarch to whom he had sworn allegiance, which was met with a tired nod.
And so the discussion began. And with each passing minute, it only turned worse and worse.
The sad truth was that the Re-estize kingdom was divided in two: the Royal faction and the Noble faction. Currently, the only thing keeping both working together (or at least tolerating each other's presence) was the constant, annual war with the Baharuth Empire. The King had talked to Gazef about this, so it was more than a simple supposition, it was a terrible fact.
Considering this, Gazef was worried that, if they formed an alliance with Ainz Ooal Gown, the war would end and the Kingdom would no longer have a reason to stand together. His home, the land he had sworn to protect as the King instructed; would fall down from the inside in a civil war.
"—damned Gown!"
…then again, the hate and wariness that had been focused on the Empire seemed to reside now on Ainz Ooal Gown.
After all the disputes of power coming endlessly from both factions, his heart and mind were exhausted. However, Gazef did not let this show on his face as he remained silent, standing just behind his Monarch.
The Nobles had been discussing back and forth for a while now, without reaching any conclusion at all. Some believed Ainz was more bark than bite, while the more knowledgeable in magic believed it was better not to antagonize him.
…although they only meant that the Kingdom should let it pass this time only, while they reunited information to properly confront Ainz later and recover the lost land.
Gazef really hated politics.
Just as he thought the discussion would finally be postponed for the next day, a knock was heard from the main door of the Throne room. One of his warriors went to open the door, before hurriedly coming to Gazef's side.
"Captain, may I have a word?" the warrior muttered hurriedly, clearly worried.
Finding Gazef's gaze, the King nodded gently as an indication. Having gotten permission from the King to leave his side for the moment, Gazef walked to the other side of the Throne room. This chamber was wide enough to hold a small party, so this distance was enough to speak privately while completing his job as guard.
Gazef could not go out of the room without leaving the Monarch without his bodyguard after all, so this was a fair compromise.
"Captain, a letter was delivered at the front stage… it is not addressed, nor signed, but the way it arrived it's unusual."
"How so?"
"It— er, it came tied to… the leg of a Nachtkrapp."
Oh no.
His men understood the implication of that particular communication method. Gazef had told them about it after all.
"And the message?"
"It's only a map, with an area delimited…"
Ah… so that was the reason Ainz had not specified his demand. It was true that it was better done with an actual map, but the timing was odd.
Shouldn't it have arrived at the same time he disappeared?
Then again, maybe the delay had happened due to the odd communication canal, since no guard would expect a Nachtkrapp to deliver a letter. They had probably tried to scare the bird away or something of the sort before noticing the parchment it held.
Nodding to the man, Gazef took the high-quality parchment and opened it, confirming it was nothing more than a detailed map before going back to deliver it to Rakesheer. That way, if there were any spells or harmful substances in it, the spell caster would be able to detect and nullify them.
When Rakesheer found none, he placed the map on the middle of the small table the Nobles and King were sitting on. The parchment was large enough for it to be read by everyone present, without need to take it and pass it hand by hand individually.
The area Ainz was requesting was actually… very small. It would make his territory a Nation-State, situated just between three countries: The Re-estize Kingdom, the Baharuth Empire, and the Slane Theocracy.
Now with that question answered, the discussion began anew, completely eradicating Gazef's hopes of letting the matter rest for another day.
Sighing internally, he knew this was only the beginning of a long, dreadful day.
"James-sama! James-sama, please wait!" Climb exclaimed as he jogged after the adamantite adventurer, who hadn't said anything after their brief encounter with Ainz Ooal Gown.
"…I know you want me to explain, but that is not something I can do right now." James muttered softly without looking back at him, walking with long strides towards the Palace's exit. Climb wanted to insist, but figured that maybe the adventurer was keeping silent since they were still walking in the hallways, passing a few Knights now and then, who could listen to their conversation.
A place without people may be better for this.
So Climb remained silent, following behind both adventurers as he temporarily forgot he was the one that was supposed to be leading them out of the Palace. It didn't take long for them to step out of the building, so Climb waited a little longer to make sure no one was around before inquiring once again.
"James-sama, what—"
"I told you I can't." James actually turned this time to look at Climb, with a serious but conflictive expression "Not yet… I know I ask for too much, but please give me time. There is something I need to sort out before I can share this with anyone."
The blue gaze was almost pleading, for him to understand, to not question any further. Considering everything the adamantite adventurers had done for him and for the Kingdom, Climb couldn't do anything other than nod in acceptance, swallowing the worry and confusion that was threatening to consume him.
James and Shizu had proven time and time again that they were trustworthy, that they were people that cared for the well-being of those around him and tried to help others the best they could.
If Climb could not trust them, then who could he trust?
With that determined thought in mind Climb straightened up and nodded, standing still just out of the Palace as he watched the adamantite adventurers leave, doing his best to ignore the uneasy feeling on his gut.
Shizu and James walked by the less transited parts of the city, as had been planned, before stopping at a pre-secured location. Once inside the building, no one would be able to use divination magic on them, and no spy could hope to trespass the wards Hadrian had placed around the property, as it was a mix between Yggdrassil magic and his original magic.
Just in case, CZ evaluated the surroundings before moving from their position near the entrance, but the building was effectively empty except for the shadow demons hiding on the walls and ceiling.
The adventurers walked down to the basement before activating their respective portkeys, which brought them directly to the Sixth Floor, right in the middle of the zone covered in circular runes. A soft, tingling sound echoed to indicate their arrival, designing them as allies for the Golems that were warding opposite directions of the circle.
Jumping lightly to avoid stepping over the second and third layers of runes, which were meant to bind any intruders, Shizu and James finally felt secure enough to let their act drop.
"The Captain-Warrior's face!" Pandora exclaimed, bending over in an exaggerated expression of amusement as he returned to his usual appearance "Although Climb was also panicked, don't you think my fair lady~? I really liked their expressions!"
He pointed dramatically to his face as he finished the sentence, trying to emphasize his comment. CZ looked at him with her usual deadpan look for a short moment, before bringing up her hand to cover her mouth and releasing a soft "Uwahh..."
"Please don't respond like that." Pandora said in a sing-song voice, dragging the vowels as he shrugged his shoulders in a playful manner.
"…But I have no choice but to respond that way to disgusting things…" CZ answered simply before walking away towards the passage that led to the upper floors, probably intent on reporting to Albedo their successful mission.
Pandora raised his arm to accommodate his military cap, not answering CZ's comment. He busied himself inspecting his uniform, making sure his jacket was hanging from his shoulders at just the right angle, that his cuffs were perfectly buttoned and that the badges that adorned his uniform were not crooked.
He only stopped his inspection once he felt CZ had left, so he was now accompanied only by the Golems. Clicking his heels once and straightening up, he finally decided to use the ring of Ainz Ooal Gown his Master had gifted him, teleporting to the area he was meant to guard: the Treasury.
Truth be told, Pandora's Actor was quite confused by the attitude of his comrades.
Hadrian-sama had given him permission to go out of the treasury, in fact, his Lord had actually instructed him to travel inside Nazarik, since Pandora was meant to cross reference the knowledge he held with the actual condition of it.
So he checked the traps he knew should be in place, met his fellow NPCs and talked to them, doing his best to see for himself the truth as he already knew it. As expected of his creator, Momonga-sama, everything was as Pandora already knew it should be.
The only thing that perplexed him was the way the others reacted to his presence. It varied depending on who he encountered, but for some reason people tended to look… coldly at him.
No matter how much he thought on the subject, he couldn't really understand why he wasn't well liked.
With his manner of speech, expressions, style and appearance, he should be coming off as SUPER COOL! Besides, Pandora was created by a Supreme Being just like most of them, which meant that he was perfect just the way he was.
Pandora wouldn't change anything, his appearance, his clothes, his personality; all of it was as it was meant to be, as it had been defined by the one and only Momonga-sama.
So he ignored the way most servants would try to avoid crossing paths with him, even if it did hurt somewhere within.
But in the end none of that mattered. He had been created with a specific role in mind, he was an Area Guardian, and there was no one within Nazarik that could do what he did.
'Hello Pandora, how have you been?'
And that was proven by the numerous visits he received from Nazarik's Lord, Hadrian-sama. He, along with the Floor Guardians, were the only ones that didn't seem to find Pandora's presence unpleasant.
At first, the visits were meant to help Pandora role-play successfully as needed. Sebas' test of loyalty was only the beginning, and, very deep inside, he admitted to be grateful for the butler's foolishness.
Without him, Pandora wasn't quite sure what would have happened. But since that occasion had him interpreting the magnificent role of being in Hadrian-sama's shoes, his Master had admitted that there would be times where Pandora would have to impersonate him, which meant he needed to undergo a special training.
An actor needed details of the characters they impersonated after all. This meant that, since Pandora was to impersonate Hadrian-sama, he needed to know more about the way his Master thought and reacted.
During the first sessions, Pandora limited himself to act, and Hadrian-sama would only correct him on the details. The way he talked, the way he walked, the expressions, the tone of voice, all of it was criticized thoughtfully. It made Pandora very happy, since not only was he improving his acting skills, he was also learning (although very little) about his Lord.
He really thought he couldn't be happier.
But then, as the sessions advanced, such a simple explanation was not enough for him to understand the difference between reacting this or that way. With this in mind, Hadrian-sama actually began to explain a little about the reasoning behind his actions and decisions.
'But why?'
And Pandora began to question them. Up to this date, the Area Guardian still didn't understand how such a simple question had surprised his Master so much.
'What do you mean?'
'Why choose that path? Wouldn't it be better to—'
His Master remained silent during his whole speech, as he explained an alternative that, he considered, also fitted Hadrian-sama's pattern of decision-making.
'Are you… questioning the plan I have devised?' the question was soft spoken, more than mad; his Master seemed simply curious, even expectant to some extent.
So, naturally, Pandora straightened and clicked his heels together, answering firmly while saluting in a way a soldier would.
'Yes! Momonga-sama always said that every plan had blind spots, and that the people that could spot them should always speak up!' That particular phrase had been followed by a frustrated speech, as Momonga-sama spoke to no one in particular while pacing within the treasury, how the most recent raid would not have failed if Luci Fer had actually said something.
Truth be told, Pandora wasn't particularly fond of that Supreme Being. He would die for Luci Fer and follow each and every order he gave, but if Pandora was ever forced to choose between him and another Supreme Being, he would go with the latter.
His relationship with Lupusregina was specially strained for this very reason.
'Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!' his Lord had exclaimed with an expression Pandora identified as genuine happiness. He could recognize it like the back of his hand, having practiced it numerous times already.
This moment marked the end of the acting sessions, and the beginning a new role as an adviser of sorts. When Pandora asked for a reason, he was told that no other servant ever questioned anything.
'If I say white is black, then is black. Do you have any idea how frustrating that is?'
But Pandora still had a duty to complete within the treasury, which was one of the reasons advice was only provided when his Lord came to visit him. Hadrian-sama had also mentioned something along the lines of 'Albedo would get mad' but Pandora wasn't sure if he heard right since it had been almost inaudible.
To be honest, Pandora had never felt lonely while guarding his area, deep within the treasury. He certainly loved to administrate the items, equipment, weapons… ah, to classify them and keep them on pristine form! It was his job, and everything he could ever ask for, he felt something was amiss when he was away from the treasury for long periods of time.
But when he started to have regular visits, his job became even better.
So what if the other NPCs didn't like him? The Floor Guardians always took his opinion in consideration, and Hadrian-sama always smiled at him, calmly and sometimes amused, but he smiled nevertheless.
It was alright, so long Hadrian-sama and the Floor Guardians were within Nazarik, he didn't mind getting the cold shoulder from most of the other servants. He could ignore them just fine.
It was during one of those visits when Hadrian-sama told him about the events to come, and how the warrior persona he had constructed, James, was meant to meet with the magic caster he truly was, Ainz.
Pandora had naturally assumed he would be roleplaying as Ainz, since that was the reason he had practiced so much, but Hadrian-sama had shook his head and instructed him to go as James.
'I will be using my own magic after all, and you can only replicate Yggdrasil spells.' was the reason behind said decision. Pandora argued against it; and his Master smiled knowingly before countering each and every argument in a debate that lasted only a couple of minutes.
If he recalled correctly (and he most certainly did), Pandora had only 'won' an argument once in the last few months since this all began.
They discussed the details the rest of the afternoon, having a short session to practice the new role as James he would have to play, before deeming it was good enough to fool the people Pandora would have to interact with, since none of them were particularly close to the adventurer persona.
He couldn't wait to receive his Lord's evaluation! It was going to be a positive feedback, surely!
With this happy thought in mind, he began to clean the trophies and re-organize them all over again.
…This was beginning to get terribly dull.
Harry yawned for the third time as he watched the debate come back and forth. The Noble section seemed adamant that Ainz was not really that threatening and that it should be plausible to kill him if they gathered enough, strong forces. The Royal section on the other hand voted to comply with his demands, at least until they saw Ainz fight against the Empire so they could assess his weaknesses and counterattack. Some even mentioned the possibility of him dying on the battle against the Empire, which was deemed unlikely but still commented on.
Even when Carne Village was brought up and the Nobles considered sending a troop to question the villagers about Ainz, in the end it was rejected since they were aware Ainz lived quite close to that village, and there was no way he wouldn't notice the Kingdom's envoys.
Dull.
Very, very dull.
Harry had increased his aura exponentially before calling it back and becoming invisible, so everyone rightfully assumed he had left the Throne room. Harry had then, added repellant wards to avoid bouncing with another person accidentally, as well as silent and odorless ones.
He had stayed to judge the Kingdom's reaction, but from everything they had discussed, there was nothing he hadn't already considered and planned for. Each and every scenario was already taken into account.
Bored by the tedious talk happening over the table, he chose to walk over to Rakesheer's position, who was still writing down madly over a parchment. This was the sixth page he had written, and it didn't seem to be going to stop anytime soon.
He examined lazily the page that was heavily stained by ink, reading over theories upon theories of how Harry's spell worked and its classification. Rakesheer was writing about both, the "debuffing spell" that silenced people, and the "Adivination magic" or "Faith magic" that detected lies. It was wrong on almost every aspect, but it served to show the difference between the magic of this world and his original magic.
Harry was actually quite surprised the Nobles and the King were not worried about his "lie-detecting" skill. He had mentioned it with the objective of stopping them from making a stupid decision after all.
Didn't they think Harry would notice a fake-alliance using that? It was Legilimancy and it did much more than detect lies, but he had determined that should be enough to discourage any back-stabbing proposals.
Not like it seemed to be working though. Poor idiots.
Figuring nothing of importance was going to happen, he finally decided to apparate away out of the room. He was curious about the inner structure of the Valencia Palace, so he strode calmly among the halls while thinking about the next course of action.
From what he had witnessed, the Noble faction seemed much more problematic than the Royal faction. None of them were perfect of course, but the first one was definitely much more… suicidal, quite intent on dismissing 'Ainz' as a threat.
Should he send the, recently acquired, Eight Fingers on them?
One of the positive results from the whole "Demon invasion" to the Royal Capital was that the heads of the eight divisions were now under Nazarik's control.
Nobles or not, the underground society was powerful enough to override them on their own… hm, but that would be a waste of resources. No, it was better if the Eight Fingers focused on their investigation on the Empire.
The main benefit of that specific, shady organization was to provide him of information after all. It was particularly good since it had ties not only within the Re-estize Kingdom, but also on the Baharuth Empire and, to a lesser extent, The Slane Theocracy. Other close-by countries were still out of reach however, like the Holy Kingdom and the Republic, so the need to improve on the intelligence network was still there.
With this in mind, Harry confidently decided that the Nobles didn't matter in the slightest. Their only impact was the weight of their decision on whether to ally with him or not, and Harry had already done what he could to try to sway them to his side.
He really would rather fight against the Empire than the Kingdom however, mostly because while the Empire could recover from the loss without much difficulty, the Kingdom would certainly end up completely devastated.
The inner structure of the Empire was much more stable thanks to the ´Bloody Emperor´, Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix, who had established an absolute monarchy by purging many of the nobles. The young man was smart enough to get rid of the useless Nobles, who were in turn replaced with commoners that were actually capable of performing their functions.
The great violence used during this purge caused people to give him the nickname "Bloody Emperor" but still, the benefits were easy to see, since under the young Emperor's rule the Empire had continued to gain more and more prosperity. They had also established a Magic Academy that was widely known among the human nations, and engaged in various magical research projects to improve the life-quality for the Empire's citizens.
Compared to the Kingdom, which was falling apart from the inside… well, it was obvious which Nation had the advantage.
Besides, the objective of this alliance was only to gain territory in a legitimate manner, so he was being empathetic by supporting the weaker nation.
"Originally the E-Rantel region was the domain of the King Ainz Ooal Gown. The Kingdom of Re-Estize is illegally occupying this territory and must now return it to its proper owner."
That was the message Harry was trying to portray, and it could be done regardless of which Nation became his ally. An alliance with the Kingdom would end up in a mutual beneficial union, and the land would be delivered willingly without much loss for the Kingdom. An alliance with the Empire on the other hand would end up with the Kingdom's sound defeat, even complete extermination was possible, and the land would be delivered simply because the losing side couldn't do anything but comply with the winner's demand.
The secondary objective was also quite promising: to perform a striking introduction for the Imperial Court Wizard of the Baharuth Empire, Fluder Paradyne.
The old man was considered to be the strongest wizard of the Empire, rumored to be comparable to the Thirteen Heroes. More than that however, Fluder had a personality that could be described as interesting.
Rakeesher had talked with 'James' about Fluder a couple of times, describing a man that cared very little about politics or social standing, and whose main passion (or obsession, depending on who described it) was to learn as much magic as he could. He had already surpassed the usual, human lifespan, with a rather incredible age of 268 years.
Fluder should not be very difficult to sway, if Harry displayed high-tiered magic… and this way Harry would have a nice source of information to learn how the magic of this world actually worked.
The spells were the same as those in Yggdrassil, but Harry wanted to understand how the people in this world learned of them, how did they use them, how did they administrate their mana in order to use it as efficiently as possible. Would it be similar to the way Harry had learned magic in Hogwarts?
If done correctly, that information would prove to be useful for strengthening Nazarik, as well as his future Nation. While those on Level 100 could probably not get much stronger than that, those that could still level up may be able to learn a thing or two.
He was brought out of his musings by the sound of a cane hitting the floor, as the King Rampossa III walked down the hallway and towards Harry. The King had injured his knee in the last war and sometimes lost his balance, but still managed to walk regally without any aid.
"... The strength of the nobles is necessary to repel the invasion of the Empire, if their advice were to be rejected abruptly, this country could split in two without needing the intervention of the Empire." the King said softly, seemingly speaking to no one in particular. Gazef, who was walking just behind Rampossa, simply bit his lip in response.
Had they taken a decision then?
Just as he thought this, the King suddenly halted in his walk, eyes focused on something behind Harry. Turning around, Harry could see as Renner walked towards him, accompanied by Climb.
"Father, Captain-warrior."
The King smiled at Renner, who ran towards him with light steps, and nodded at Climb who was bending down in a deep bow.
"It seems that the meeting has finally ended." Renner said softly, tilting her head lightly to the side.
"Yes, there were many issues to discuss."
"Then it was like that, Father… If you would like to share the source of your distress, I may be able to offer counsel." she said tenderly, smiling sweetly at her father.
Her ideas were not a trivial matter.
One of the reasons she was known as the 'Golden Princess' was because she had an agile mind and an admirable spirit. Not only had she established renowned institutions, she also proposed new laws, mostly focused on helping civilians in the lowest part of society. Moreover, it was not simply charity, but social welfare policies that gave civilians who were willing to help themselves the opportunity to be self-sufficient.
Although there were obstructions on the part of the nobles who did not want to reinforce the position of the civilians, and almost all the established institutions were dissolved, the wide range of people who knew about this and the people who were benefited, all held in high esteem the efforts made by the Princess. Harry personally considered she would have made a better leader than any of the Nobles and Royal family combined, if simply because she seemed to have a good head on her shoulders.
"Then I will listen carefully when we return to your room." the King nodded at her calmly.
"However, father, now is the time for your daughter to walk, Climb and I will walk around and then we will return."
Hearing that the Princess indicated that her walk was more important than an argument with the King, Climb's expression stiffened. Harry watched the interaction with keen interest, eyes focused on Renner.
There was something… about her. He couldn't really pinpoint it, but it was odd. She was smarter than she let on, sure, but it seemed to be combined with something else…
"Is that so? Then go, and once you get back, come and see me in my room to discuss this."
"I understand. Come on, Climb."
"Excuse me."
The King just stared silently as the two of them left, only advancing once they were gone. Harry looked at the men briefly before turning around to walk down the path Renner and Climb had used, still thoughtful.
He followed the pair closely, but the Princess' behavior was as sweet as it always seemed. Harry was tempted to stay, to hear Renner's opinion about the ultimatum he had given to the Kingdom, but in the end there was no more time left to spare.
Tearing his gaze away from Renner, who was picking flowers while humming, he shrugged uncaringly before apparating back to Nazarik.
He was probably not missing anything important either way.
The two weeks he had given passed in the blink of an eye, and no answer had arrived. He thought it odd, since a lack of answer could be passed as refusing an alliance with him, but just as the sun was about to hide on the last day, his wards were finally triggered by the Royal envoy.
Harry activated the Mirror of Remote View to check upon the new arrival, the Messenger was seemingly riding a horse that was beyond exhausted, and the man wore a panicked expression on his face as he got closer to the Village.
…Ah, he had forgotten it took about five days to arrive on conventional ways from the Royal Capital. Essentially, Harry had only given them a week to decide, while the rest of the time would be used to deliver the message. Harry had gotten so dependent on instantaneous, magical travel, he hadn't even considered it… Poor guy really.
The messenger muttered out loud the name of Ainz Ooal Gown the second he got close to the Village, out of breath as if he had been the one running instead of the horse, looking around agitatedly. Why was the man so scared? The day had not ended yet.
Fifth, one of the regular maids, walked towards the Royal herald calmly from seemingly nowhere, as she had been the one appointed to receive the message once the sensory wards were activated. The envoy visibly relaxed upon spotting her, so Harry assumed he had been worried about arriving too late.
After exchanging pleasantries, Fifth returned to Nazarik using the portkey Harry had given her, while the envoy gave the horse to a villager so the poor animal could rest, before the man went towards the Chief's house to request a bed for the night.
Harry stopped using the Mirror after that scene, reading a few more documents and approving most of them until Fifth finally arrived at his office. The portkeys brought all NPCs to the sixth floor after all, and there were no shortcuts if the NPC in question didn't know how to use [Gate].
Fifth came closer after he gave her permission, using both hands to deliver the Kingdom's message while bowing down. Harry took it and thanked her, before unrolling the high-quality parchment.
…Was this the result of Renner's intervention? If so, Harry could only recognize her efforts.
Letting out a satisfied smile, he left the parchment on the desk before standing up and striding out of his office.
He needed to prepare for the oncoming war after all.
AUTHOR NOTE:
Hi again! I'm not dead, just have been busy with Real life~ very, very busy!
Welp, for those that have read my other story, I guess you can now see the scene where Harry speaks with Pandora (Chapter 5) in another light right? My poor little egghead! This was based on canon actually, in one of the Pure Pure Pleiades! episodes, so… yeah. Poor little thing. I really want Maruyama to write from his POV!
Truth be told, I wanted to include the war on this chapter too, but it is already long, with 8.9K words = 21 pages in Word, and I'm also missing Fluder's POV and the backstory James is going to come up with!
So I ended up splitting it (I already have bits of the battle, so next chapter shouldn't take much time to finish… probably). Wish me luck please, maybe then I'll have it ready for next month haha.
On another note, regarding the romance request I received in a couple of reviews... oh dear readers, if only you knew how many times I've tried! But every time I see those parts in my drafts I'm like "That doesn't make any sense" or "What is that? Is it supposed to be romance? Because it is a terrible, awful attempt if it is" and end up deleting the whole thing. So no, sorry but my stand of no pairings remains.
Why write insinuations of it when I know I can't write romance? Easy to answer, I thought I could.
I wrote this story in such a way that would not allow me to change my mind and suddenly remove all traces of it, this because I wanted to "force myself" to write romance since I know I suck and wanted to be better at it… Needless to say, it backfired spectacularly. Another reason was that I wanted everyone to be in-character, and let's face it, Albedo is not the same without her love-induced craziness.
So now the result is this story! Sorry about that, really… but oh well, no use crying over spilt milk.
Thanks for reading and hope you liked it! Next chapter is going to be very interesting~
See ya' later, dEBB987.
P.D. Special thanks to Daruvael and Rosedraquia 'cause I really loved their reviews! Love ya buds, seriously. 3 You motivated me to keep writing~ May free-time and inspirations always be on your side dear fellow authors!