Author's Note:
As always, I wish you good health. Let the world-building continue. Adieu!
-Zirmeister
Disclaimer:
This fanfiction is a crossover that directly takes characters and other source material from the two preexisting light novel series Overlord and Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken. Please go support the authors, artists and the other people who have worked on each of the respective works.
As relieving as it was for the dragonoid to suddenly favor a peaceful outcome, Ainz was not the first one to take immediate advantage of the peace.
In order to alleviate tensions, Rimuru suggested out loud that everyone here should get out and get some fresh air, to which everyone was in mutual agreement. Ignoring the hefty amounts of damage done to the cave's ceiling, the group plus Milim had left the magical-rich cave in unceremonious fashion, only to find that they were in an even greater magical-rich environment that was the Great Forest of Jura.
To put it short: The ambience of the Great Forest of Jura was nothing short of enamoring for the group. Ainz felt like tearing up at the complete and utter lack of pollution in the air. Obviously he could not perform this action, but the feeling of wanting to do so was still there.
The undead who could not help but think about his friend Blue Planet who would have surely cried upon seeing Mother Nature in its rawest form — a dream that the nature loving druid had once tirelessly pursued, which became most evident in his gradual creation of Nazarick's Sixth Floor.
But as far as the druid could push his imagination to the limit in Yggdrasil, it was incomparable to the real thing.
This opinion was also shared for Staff, but she later found herself being busy, looking for prospective locations that were most suitable for a future headquarters. Milim, who had seen the Jura Forest several times throughout the generations she lived through, was content to leave the eager trio from another world to talk about the peaceful atmosphere and beauty of the forest.
Still, the group was surprised to hear from the dragonoid herself that she would not mind being their newly acquainted guide, so long as the promise of a battle between herself and the undead was kept in the end. Naturally Ainz and Staff continued to stay on guard, but Rimuru committed himself to try to build up as much trust with the girl.
But seeing that Milim was not wanting to fight, the trio from the cave decided to exchange brief introductions with each other while keeping a steady eye on the Demon Lord.
It was truly unfortunate for Ainz that he could not properly introduce himself back then. But out of the unexpected members, he had to divert all of his attention to Milim, and he was mentally exhausted from conjuring up plans that mostly favored retreat over confrontation.
Ainz disliked the fact that the situation had been entirely levied onto him all of a sudden by the other two. But he was surprised to hear that it was the same people who took it upon themselves to watch over him while he was still within the Voice-exclusive subspace.
While the undead fondly appreciated this action, he still had to learn more about just who he was being accompanied with.
The conversations between him and Rimuru had led to a mutual understanding over their Japanese ties, making Ainz lessen his wariness of the slime. At first, he was honestly relieved to meet someone who could have understood his circumstances. That was until he learned that he came from an entirely different Japan, which did not make any sort of sense to the undead.
Putting that aside, Ainz there was not much the undead was able to say on his end since he was still reserved about revealing too much of his depressing past as a wage slave. They did however get extremely invested into the topic of Dragon Quest, a game that Ainz learned through Touch-Me.
The World Champion, who always had this serious demeanor, was someone who also proudly embodied the word of "justice." He yearned to play the old games of Japan as some of them were developed during an age of heroic protagonists. Ainz and some other unlucky guild members had to bear through Touch-Me's long-winded speeches about how cool Dragon Quest was before they were able to escape his spiel.
Meanwhile, an eavesdropping Milim had made her blurt out the question about the existence of those "vee-dee-yo games." Seeing no harm in telling her about them, both the undead and the slime gave their two cents to the excited girl about how video games fundamentally worked.
Apart from the cheery moods of everyone that Ainz himself did not expect to get into so quickly, there was just one problem that surfaced in the undead's mind during their small talks. This alone pushed his emotional suppressor to activate especially when he now knew that Staff was actually the Guild Weapon of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.
To his horror, he discovered Staff's actions, though she swore to herself that it was not deliberate, had led to a huge information leak about Yggdrasil which Rimuru was now privy to.
A threatening aura had emerged out of Ainz which had only happened in his tense encounter with Loki, but it was quickly diffused seeing that Milim misinterpreted it as a challenge to her authority. The girl who called herself a dragonoid had such a frightening switch-up in her personality that it reminded Ainz when he talked to Bukubukuchagama during her so-called "iffy days."
In order to not let this slip by in the future, Ainz had to give a scolding lecture to Staff. Even if she had declared herself as the Guild Weapon, which was supplemented with actual evidence that it was so, Ainz wholeheartedly believed that the infamous "Report, Communicate, Discuss" stratagem that was always present in modern working society had been utterly shattered by Staff's reckless behavior.
It only worsened Ainz's assumptions of what would happen if Staff, who was essentially equivalent to the representative of a CEO, had gone further to expose the truth of World Items.
Ainz's own World Item — his red orb, to be exact — had a degree of influence when it came to dealing with draconic entities. He felt that the same rule was still applicable in this world's magic system, but like all of his skills, the World Item had further strengthened his pre-existing abilities. Keeping this valuable knowledge away from the public eye was a lesson that Ainz needed to instill into Staff before she ends up becoming more of a threat to his safety.
Not long after, Staff informed Ainz via [ Message ], saying she did not reveal anything of the sort as she too knew about the power of World Items.
Despite this reassurance, a deep sense of paranoia had settled within the undead's mental state. He had to be more wary about Milim and other powerhouses that might take interest in World Items in the future.
At least I was able to drill the facts into Staff that she should not carelessly say things like that especially if Nazarick is now here to stay. As to how I could further mitigate the fallout of her actions…other than just telling her not to do this in the future, maybe I could seek help from Nazarick's own NPCs or even from Hades himself if he has any advice.
Meanwhile all of the scolding was done in front of Milim and Rimuru, both of whom felt that they were sorely out of place in that situation.
To Milim, it reminded her of vague and foggy memories that she could not bring herself to remember. But the scathing tone that Ainz took towards the frightened Staff admittedly made her a little nervous, though she did her best not to show it on the outside.
It reminded her a little of a certain harpy whenever she calls me out for doing something supposedly bad. Milim did not have to listen to her all the time, but she could not shake off this uncomfortable feeling whenever she thought about Ainz directing that fury at him. The undead was considered a "newbie Demon Lord," but he possessed the same vocal authority as the harpy woman that sometimes unnerved the dragonoid.
To Rimuru, he could understand Ainz's frustrations as Staff had accidentally turned herself into a whistleblower for the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. If the slime thought of the Guild Weapon's stories as private project leaks, then it would have angered him too if he were placed in the undead's shoes.
Now that he learned of Ainz being a former worker in Japanese society, the slime felt the undead was completely justified in his anger. But Rimuru could not help but feel a semblance of guilt when he saw that Staff was just taking the verbal riposte head-on. The look on her face back then made even Milim saddened, which must have been saying a lot about how devastating of an impact the lecture had on the woman.
Considering that Staff was still walking baby steps in the field of proper emotional handling, it would not be surprising if she reacted immaturely towards verbal punishment that was ruthlessly hurled at her. But both the slime and the dragonoid silently agreed that Ainz was a man who could not afford to let this situation be taken lightly.
Ainz himself felt a little bad when he saw the woman at an emotional breaking point, but he still thought that Staff was someone who could at least understand just how detrimental the situation would be for the both of them. There would have to be a great need of understanding in information handling and security details if Staff would hold her pre-existing authority as the Guild Weapon of Ainz Ooal Gown.
And then, Ainz focused his attention on the walking catastrophe that was not the childish dragonoid, but rather the funny looking slime.
To begin with, Ainz found the slime to be of huge interest after violating the personal space of the former Japanese man's skill set. It did leave a foul taste in his mouth, and he did not tell the slime about this suspicious action for obvious reasons. Now there was no way Ainz could leave a walking catastrophe such as Rimuru Tempest out of his jurisdiction.
If I just kept the same skills as I did in Yggdrasil, I wouldn't have to know all of this. Of course I can't complain about immediately gaining efficient methods to gather information, but I'm starting to see why Punitto Moe greatly emphasized the fear of the known being worse than the fear of the unknown.
Ainz could only hope that the absurd standards of this world's magic did not go any further than what Rimuru and Milim had in store. In the end though, he managed to align his goals with Rimuru, who also greatly feared for his own existence when he felt the dragonoid's terrible aura.
Unfortunately for Ainz, the slime also delegated the role of deterring Milim. The undead had taken complete control of the situation, and not only that, but had even convinced the terrifying dragonoid to stand down with just a few words. Whether or not Milim was intending to fight, it made quite the impression on Rimuru who believed that Ainz's cool headed attitude allowed everyone to be spared destruction.
In a mysterious turn of events, Ainz's role as an effective deterrent towards Milim's rambunctious behavior had now turned into a babysitter role of some sorts. The undead greatly cursed to himself at how Rimuru seamlessly batted this role to him, with even Staff throwing her full support behind the slime.
"—Ainz! I have a question! Where did you get this delicacy?!"
On the top of Ainz's shoulder bony pauldrons was the feared dragonoid whom both Demon Lords and Heroes would have to act extra vigilant towards. The undead fought the urge to furrow his eyebrows every time Milim fell off his back, only for the dragonoid to re-attempt her mountain climbing expenditure.
"—Hm? Ahh…it's from my homeland, Milim-sama."
"Ah, er—shoot, I don't know why I asked that…should have expected that response. But—you don't need to be so fancy around me! Not after you gave me the greatest gift that anyone could have ever received!"
"Is that so…"
Ainz felt like he was not having the best day right now.
I want to go home…well, not that there is a home for me, unless I can just go to that bedroom of mine in Nazarick. But I didn't go out of my way to style it compared to some of the guildmates' own rooms which are far more impressive than mine.
It had not been long after his departure with the two friendly Gods and Nazarick, specifically the heart-touching reunion with Shalltear. But now the undead was facing up against a foe who Ainz Ooal Gown, as a guild, would do their best to entirely avoid for their own safety. Because of this, Ainz felt that it was within his role as guildmaster to carry this burden. It would be for the sake of protecting not only the legacy of their guild, but the current residents who were most likely well and alive within the Great Tomb.
That was why Ainz mustered up whatever was left of his crippled dignity as he continued to hold Milim's legs to support her. No one had decided it in the beginning as it was one of Milim's "on-a-whim" actions.
Naturally, there was no way Ainz was confident enough to tell her to stop with this childish act. Right now the undead was only worried about one thing. Should he let her fall as a result of his inability to keep her "safe," there was no doubt in Ainz's mind he would no longer be in this world.
"Tsk…Ainz-sama should not have to deal with this girl so casually treating my master like that…"
"Shhhh! What if she hears you from there? And by the way, I would have done the same thing of giving her sweets if it meant keeping my neck."
Speaking in hushed tones, the Guild Weapon and the eccentric blue slime nervously walked alongside the undead, who was carrying Milim on piggyback.
There was a smell that wafted in their general direction, and Rimuru could only identify it as the succulent aroma of sweets.
Ainz must have been reading the situation from more perspectives than me and concluded that sweets would be the winner. It would have certainly been a wholesome moment were it not for the fact that those two are omnipotent.
"—But still, for Ainz-sama to carry this burden, it is unspeakable!"
"Maybe for you it is, but right now he's the best deterrent we have against someone this freakishly powerful. Also didn't Ainz tell us that we don't have to be formal with him anymore?"
The reminder of this action made Staff's face warm up. Her pacing slowed down marginally as she became thoughtful for a moment.
"I-I'm not sure about that. Isn't that a little too soon? I feel as though that would be overstepping my boundaries."
Rimuru smiled a little at seeing the woman shying away. For someone who was mildly unhinged in fighting monsters, seeing the awkward reaction from Staff made the slime extremely grateful.
"Of course not, Staff-san. He just wants a more casual atmosphere between all of us, which is something that I really appreciate from the guy. Plus, look at what it's done for Milim over there. She asked the same thing of us too, and even though she still wants to fight Ainz, she says that she'll just do it once before giving her response to the rest of the Demon Lords on what they should do with Ainz. Let's just trust the two of them and see how things go on from here."
It was not in Rimuru's jurisdiction to get himself involved with foreign affairs, but it was not as though he could completely ignore it. The words of a Demon Lord may carry more weight than he would initially guess, and it was better to err on the side of caution and go with the current flow with his current circumstances.
It looked as though Staff had completed whatever thoughts were swirling in her head as she resumed back to a normal pace. It was Rimuru who had to catch up with her, both of their paces having sped up even further as they were a little too far from the two Demon Lords for their own liking.
"I…admit that I don't know how to properly give off a casual air. After all, I only did what I could to be of service to Ainz-sa—Ainz through a limited view. And even though I technically hold high authority within Nazarick, there was no doubt that Ainz was the one doing all of the heavy duty work."
"Well, maybe there is a way for you to be a good friend of Ainz while making it clear that you still want to help him in any way possible. But it sounds like he still wants you to learn from your past mistakes, so I think you should try to remedy that by listening to this request of his."
"Okay…thank you for your help, Rimuru. I will take those words into consideration."
"It's no problem! Consider this as a token of my own appreciation for everything that you've done in the cave. I felt reassured knowing that you were here by my side, and now that Ainz is here and is currently, erm, dealing with Milim, maybe I could just end up traveling with you guys!"
"I believe you should ask Ainz for further details on joining our party. But I would not mind if someone like you came with us on our journey."
"I appreciate that, but what do you mean by 'someone like me,' Staff?"
"Hmm…I'm still not sure how to adequately explain it. I think it was due to your inputs from earlier that allowed Ainz to solidify on his decision when it came to ways of dealing with Milim."
"Really? Because I'm pretty sure all I told Ainz back then was to give him sweets. I think he had the same idea too when he was talking in more layman's terms while he was trying to appease Milim."
"Yes, but you gave him that needed push despite the enormous gap in power between you and the two. Perhaps that is an admirable trait of yours."
"W-well, I was trying to find an easy way out. It's nothing to make a big deal out of, really!"
A light blush washed over Rimuru's face after receiving Staff's genuine compliment.
At first, there had been a lot of back-and-forth talking between Ainz and Milim, with one engaging in psychological warfare while the other was batting it away with ease. No one was getting anywhere at this point, and it looked like it could have dragged on for much longer than necessary.
On Ainz's side, he was well aware that words could not win this battle by a landslide. Milim had most likely dealt with situations with her own fists rather than negotiating her way out of things, which was something that Yamaiko liked doing in Yggdrasil. Ironically, Ainz had slowly incorporated Yamaiko's teachings into his words, but not in the way the Nephlim would have handled it in the game.
In the past, the elementary teacher had given great pointers to the guild leader on ways to defuse a tense situation with a child. Appeasement or any form of rewards would be the first step to calming the child down, though Ainz would need to watch out on creating a spoiled relationship. In addition, hushed whispers from Rimuru helped Ainz decide that appeasement was the best option, especially since Milim could most likely wallop the entire party in front of her.
Ainz felt truly grateful for both Yamaiko and Rimuru as giving some sweets somehow managed to quell down Milim's belligerent attitude. But despite his [ Create Greater Item ] being able to manifest untold delicacies out of thin air, Milim was still interested in testing the new True Demon Lord's mettle through a legitimate battle. It was just that she dropped most, if not all her guard after declaring the fight, which had not even begun yet, to be a close draw.
Not long afterwards, the group was surprised when they heard Milim stating that she would be temporarily traveling with the group, treating Ainz Ooal Gown as a special tourist who came from another world of magic.
She felt that it was within her own rights to oversee someone who could bring a huge calamity to this world, or at least that was the excuse she went with. She now treated Ainz as someone who could act so indifferently around her, which no one else was able to perform due to her infamous reputation and unparalleled strength.
"—You know Ainz, you're really tall, you know that? I think you're just as tall as Carrion!"
"—Is that so? Who is this Carrion you speak so highly of? Is he another one of the Demon Lords?"
"Yeah! It'd be great if you met with the ones that I'm talking to a lot, but we'll leave that for later. So…is this as tall as you can get?"
"…What an odd question, Milim. Why ask this?"
"I don't think it's odd since one of my friends can go big, only for her to be small again, then the whole thing repeats."
"Hm…it sounds like a cycle of some sorts. Do they have multiple lives?"
"No, it's the same life, but I think it's a reincarnation-based cycle since she still keeps her memories."
Milim nodded with this habitual look on her face as she promptly ended the conversation there. Ainz was waiting to hear yet another name being spilled from her mouth, but there was nothing but light humming coming from the dragonoid.
Maybe reincarnation is a more plausible thing to happen in this world...
Ainz went into a thoughtful pose of his own, which almost caused the dragonoid to fall off from the undead's sudden movements.
She tried flinging her arms over the undead's neck in order to get a better grip, but his shoulder pauldrons were hampering the dragonoid's efforts. They were making it difficult for her to be clingy. She gave up in the end and just walked side by side with the undead, attempting to copy the Overlord's regal gait.
"...From the very beginning, I did not expect to get growth spurts throughout my years. I did undergo what was basically an evolutionary stage, about once or twice in my life, but it did little to no justice in making me taller. As of now, this is about as tall as I can get...unless…"
"Hmm? Whaddaya mean by unless? Do you have something that can make you taller?"
"Possibly…umu. How about this, Milim? Since you're so curious, I won't mind showing you one of my friends' forms that far exceeds my height. It's one of my abilities, though frankly I haven't used it a lot."
That's because it's completely new to me, but I'd like to try out this [ Doppelganger ]-esque ability as soon as possible.
While this was already done with other skills, Ainz felt that knowing the boundaries for this particular one should be done as soon as possible.
Specifically, finding out its potential benefits, flaws, additions, deductions — it sounded like a lot to deal with on paper for the undead, but he did not mind putting in the extra labor. He had always liked the idea of covering multiple weak spots even though it comes at the expense of being a jack-of-all-trades. This fondness was what gave way to the creation of Pandora's Actor, a Greater Doppelganger with this pretense in mind.
"—Is that true?! Well then you have to show it to me right now, Ainz!"
It seemed that Milim was curious with what Ainz had in store.
She was now standing in front of the towering undead with her hands behind her back, her face shifting into an expression that screamed "puppy eyes." Again, Ainz was unable to peg her for an actual child since she was still wearing highly revealing clothing.
Shaking off the thoughts of a certain birdman in his guild, Ainz decided to be straightforward with his answer.
"Of course, but I have to add a condition if that is fine with you."
"—Urk! That, that depends on your request…"
"I assure you it's nothing too great. I would like for you to promise me that you postpone the time of our fight, so to speak. Would next week be considered a satisfactory time?"
"Whaaa?!"
Ainz wasn't too sure if Milim's currently shocked expression was genuine, but it was somewhat entertaining to the undead, nonetheless.
"N-next week...? That's so long! What are you even planning to do between now and then, huh?!"
"For your information, I have just arrived in this world with my colleagues. I would like to see more of this beautiful world. I am speaking out of the kindness of my heart."
"Eh? But you don't have a heart, Ainz."
"That was a metaphor," the undead drawled, causing the dragonoid to widen her eyes. A dawn of understanding reached her face, it seemed.
"You really like seeing your surroundings, huh? Well…I guess it's alright. But you have to promise me!"
"Is that all? Very well—would this serve as a way of promising?"
Without skipping a beat, Ainz held out his right skeletal hand below his waist, around to the elevation where Milim could see it with a straight ahead look.
Gradually, layers upon layers of various ingredients were stacking neatly onto each other in the air, which were finally closed with two circular buns. Small, peculiar looking white dots were spreading on top of the outer bun, but the salivating dragonoid did not care about those measly details and was instead focused on the appetizing—
"—Burger? You made a burger, Ainz?! That's just unfair! Now I want one…"
Rimuru started to sound whiny about this undead's ridiculous feat, which only made Milim think that the food she was receiving was one of a kind.
The dragonoid puffed her chest out with pride, or at least whatever constituted for one. The slime was grimly reminded of this unfortunate loss in her physique.
"—If I recall correctly, slimes do not possess the ability to taste. Unless you have something within your skills that can change this?"
"I…I do, but I would rather want to be a human…"
"A human? Why?" Ainz and Milim said at the same time, both having the same reason behind their questions. They both looked at each other quizzically before turning their attention back to the slime.
Shoot, did I just dig myself into a hole—Rimuru thought, sweat dropping. —No, wait, Ainz already knows about me, so it's just Milim who's confused. Alright then, if that's the case, I'll just make up a small excuse based on what Ainz warned me about about heteromorphic views towards humans.
"W-well you see, I heard that in Ainz's old world, humans were largely responsible for experimenting, creating and finally, refining super delicious food for their own race. I'm just interested in what the humans of this world, if there are any, have to produce, you know?"
Milim gave a resounding approval, evidently by the salivation of her mouth. Ainz winced as he felt droplets on the front of his untainted robes, though he sighed after seeing that his clothes were not affected in any way whatsoever by the dragonoid's saliva.
"You do have a point, Rimuru! The sweets that Ainz gave me were really similar to the ones I tasted. If I recall correctly, they came from a faraway place, but I'm not interested in the humans and whatever things they got going on over there."
"—Oh, I had forgotten to ask this from the beginning. Would it not hurt to ask for a map, Milim?"
Ainz's demeanor lightened up after hearing the question coming from Staff, who the dragonoid looked at for a few seconds before disappointing the two with the shaking of her head.
"A-ha-ha, sorry, but I kinda came here in a hurry. I really wanted to see what you guys were doing since this sort of stuff usually doesn't happen around here."
*ping!* ( Should we bring out summons, Ainz? )
( Not yet, Staff. Even high-tier summons may pose a liability as we currently do not know much about the Great Forest of Jura or this world in general. )
( I see. Then, we could use the creatures in this world and have them become our temporary eyes until we have ascertained enough of the situation that high-tier summons are plausible for future investigations. )
( That might be the route we'll be taking. I'll let you know soon after I get some more information out of Milim. )
( Understood. )
"—I see. You are referring to the 'Voice of the World' by any chance, Milim?"
"Yep!" Milim cheerfully replied, knocking Ainz's bony forehead. The undead tried not to stumble backwards from her action, but had found it to be immensely difficult due to her ridiculous strength.
Was she even holding back with that little knock? This world is insane the more I learn about its inhabitants—Ainz internally screamed as his understanding of power scaling considerably lessened by the second.
Sooner or later, the undead's flaming eyes of crimson began to lose its intensity. They were now akin to the luminosity of glowing candles, something that Staff found to be a pretty sight to look at.
Right now his emotional suppression was being activated at full force. It gave way to a calmer mind—something that the undead greatly appreciated in this situation. He then started to give further thought to Rimuru's answer.
Back when they were having a small chat, both of them agreed that Milim was an unquestionably unpredictable foe, and in Rimuru's case, the dragonoid was a much more severe case compared to the enigmatic undead. Therefore, it stood to merit that they should increase the information exchange between the two of them now that the slime was aware of what Yggdrasil was.
However, since the slime himself had gone through reincarnation and was already aware of the concept beforehand, he was led to believe that both of the Yggdrasil people were too in a similar predicament. Staff had laid out her stories in such a way that someone who was completely in the dark regarding virtual technology would continue to believe that this was just another absurd reincarnation scenario.
And while it was already difficult for Ainz to accept the concept of a reincarnation cycle, he knew would be a hypocrite saying this as he firmly believed that the Gods from several Pantheons in Yggdrasil will be coming over to Nazarick akin to space tourists.
Either way, this interesting misunderstanding was able to give Ainz the needed push to intentionally restrict the knowledge of virtual reality from leaking. This was done to both mitigate further fallout and suspicion with Rimuru while ensuring that Ainz's reputation as a feared undead continued to place pressure on the slime.
Plus, if Rimuru ever brought up his confusion on the true origins of the game, Ainz now had his newly established "past" to backpedal towards in case that ever happens. The slime was also keen on not being intrusive in sensitive topics like this, allowing for the undead to have more breathing space in his social affairs.
While I feel a little bad about lying straight in Rimuru's face, I can't have him look down on me. His skills have too much potential for it to slide past my discretion, and I fear that it will get to his head since he hasn't been in many battle-related scenarios. I'll see if I can keep our relations somewhat friendly, but I might need to force my hand in the situation if needed.
At the very least, Ainz saw Rimuru to be someone he can hang out with. There was just the small issue that continued to make the talks between them seem terribly awkward.
This was not the case for the one who called herself Staff, as Ainz began to like the woman's personality. In his own words, and from what he himself could garner from Staff, the undead saw the now living Guild Weapon as someone who oddly reflected his friends in a way. The only thing that prevented them from becoming hearty comrades as Ainz would put it was how Staff addressed him.
While the undead was beginning to become used to being addressed as a superior after meeting the two Pantheon Gods, it still made him a little uncomfortable. Still, he tried to make sure not to react too much to Staff's zealous attitude that would occasionally arise in their chats.
In the end, he was hitting it off with the woman — Ainz made sure to block out the mocking voices of two certain guild members who were siblings — but at the same time, he thought that the relations between him and Rimuru were not progressing as far as he would hope.
But what else could I say that doesn't immediately give off the vibes of me being a gamer? It doesn't help that Rimuru can easily ring off several game terms that he recognized, either. Maybe Staff was on the right path? While there were a lot of things she said that should have been kept between us, at least Rimuru isn't going to look down on us and possibly other Players who may be in this world.
The sound of footsteps became ever so closer, causing Ainz to suddenly turn around in confusion.
Staff and Rimuru immediately stopped moving, tilting their heads at the intently staring undead. The two people who were behind the undead started to nervously shift themselves, causing the other person to hurriedly exclaim their throats. Milim seemed perturbed by this impossible action, but refrained from saying anything.
"…If I may be so bold, you do know that turning into a human amidst a group of heteromorphs is not the wisest idea? I believe turning into something similar to a homunculus would be possible. Or perhaps someone like an angel?"
"An angel, huh?" Rimuru mused out loud. "That sounds interesting and all, does that mean I'll at least get to have a human-ish form? Ah, wait—maybe I shouldn't ask so recklessly."
"No, I understand your concerns," Ainz remarked, raising his hand in somewhat of due deference. "There is a way for you to gain a human form through specific means, and I do not mind lending my support in assisting you should you be lacking the necessary abilities or reagents. I had only offered one of the options, but I believe this racial change item will give you a humanoid appearance based on my current experience."
Staff pursed her lips for a bit while Rimuru nodded several times in acknowledgment. Before the slime's interest could be pushed further towards an area of acceptance, the woman spoke up.
"There is the possibility where the racial change item may no longer work under the same set of rules we were used to, Ainz. It might be a better option to seek out the solutions with our new magic so as to not cause Rimuru any potential trouble."
"—It's fine, Staff! And anyway, you guys have been nice to me since I met you two in the cave. Freakishly nice, even. But I don't want to be on the receiving end of favors all the time. I can always just get a human form of my own, I guess."
"Wouldn't that mean having to absorb a human on your part?" Ainz said, frowning. He was visibly disappointed that he was unable to see the results of [ Wings of Ascension ], which he was now holding in his right hand.
"Yeah, that's the thing…"
Ainz nodded in understanding at Rimuru's hesitation.
Both of them had been humans after all, and it was unlikely that their morals would erode, if not completely change into ones that would casually accept the absorption of a human without thinking of it as an abhorrent thing to do in the first place. In fact, it would have creeped Ainz out if Rimuru, with his gung-ho attitude at approaching things, acted the same when being asked about absorbing a human.
Rimuru really wants a human body which I can definitely understand. But I want to wrap up the critical issue of gathering information before I can try to answer Rimuru's plea. Still, I won't force him to use this racial change item, but it would be really nice to see the results in this world...
"—An angel? Does that mean you already know of Dino?"
Ainz tried his best not to swing his head at the new information.
How many names had Milim said that were completely new to him? The amount of new things being given to him for absolutely free was both relieving and traumatizing.
When Ainz thought about it, this situation would have probably given Punitto Moe justification to give Milim a whack with a bundled up newspaper. This devious tool was preferably used by the sadistic Death Vine whenever he saw the slightest bit of incompetence in the guild members. As a result of this negative reinforcement that Ainz casually let slide, the guild's information network was built up to a remarkable degree, giving them quicker access to valuable areas that were hitherto unrecognized by everyone else.
Sighing, Ainz stored the racial change item in his inventory before focusing back to the wildcard of the group.
"—No, I do not know who this Dino is. I assume that he is an 'Angel' too?"
While Milim casually said out loud what Dino's race was, Ainz repeated the same word, but his tone was laced with more wariness and caution than usual. Staff's eyes turned into slits as she also caught on to the undead's suspicions.
Surprisingly, it was the dragonoid who quelled both of their worries.
"Don't worry about it, Ainz! They're not out for blood against the undead, as far as I know. Though, I wouldn't exactly try to start up trouble. You'll end up getting too much attention…I think you're trying to avoid that, right?"
"That's unfortunately correct, Milim. I was not intending to come here as well, and now that my presence has been announced to virtually everyone, I don't think I'm going to get a break anytime soon."
"Well, if that's the case…I'll make sure you're under my protection until we can get this sorted out with a few of my friends! How's that?"
Ainz looked mildly concerned at the tempting offer. Thankfully he knew better than to fall for it right away without bringing up questions first.
"—How would the other Demon Lords, including Dino, react to news of you bestowing protection on me? Based on my current knowledge, I may have just disturbed whatever powerbase existed here."
"I wouldn't worry too much about it! As for Dino, he's actually someone who fell from grace. Nowadays he just wanders around and goes to peoples' nations and stays there of his own leisure."
"Then, if it doesn't hurt you, I will gladly accept your offer of protection."
"Hee-hee! No one's going to lay a finger on you while I'm around!"
"—Wait, so let me get this straight. Is Dino just someone who leeches off other people? Can't say I blame him if he was originally a heavenly figure. I can hardly imagine 'falling from grace' is not a nice way to put it. He got dropped from a high position down to the lowest of the low. Kinda sounds depressing, now that I think about it."
Rimuru pointed that out, connecting an analogy of his own that both he and Ainz would understand to a tee. Still, his words were accredited with some truth to them as everyone else including Milim nodded in agreement.
"I think those are the right words for it, as that is something that Ramiris would say whenever someone loses something that they originally identified themselves with. In this case, Dino would be a 'Fallen Angel.' He's also a Demon Lord—I almost forgot to mention that important detail!"
Yes, thank you Milim. Alright, well, that's an interesting development if I ever heard of one. I mean it still makes little less sense that he is both an angel and Demon Lord, but seriously—I might as well ask the whole cast if she's that willing to give these names out.
Ainz shook his head in disappointment, but he suddenly lifted it up upon recognizing one of the names that Milim had just mentioned.
While Dino was still an unknown anomaly, Ainz had distinctly remembered the name of the girl — she had been the one who originally owned [ Small World ] to begin with.
He had found this out when he felt several signals being bounced back and forth to his mind and to an unknown recipient during the usage of [ Conjured Realm ]. Of course, Ainz was not going to let this go, so he forced himself to breach this signaling process by committing to the "feeling a tug in his mind" method. He felt he had jumped several steps ahead without properly going through the needed stages, but nevertheless, the undead had arrived at an interesting conclusion when unraveling one of the signaling data points.
Like an email who has a receiver and sender, the names were clearly listed within the stolen data point, which had been using the Voice of the World as a transportation medium the entire time.
The sender, in this case, was Ainz who had been given temporary control over [ Small World ]. What would be considered a stroke of good luck to the undead was now a worst case scenario for the receiver who had been identified as Ramiris. She was most likely informed by now that Ainz Ooal Gown would be given complete jurisdiction over [ Small World ].
I have to give props to the Voice and its ferocious attitude. Almost reminds me of how mega-corporations would act to put up a business front for some nepotism cases.
It was pretty much as ruthless as company heads who, in a hypothetically equivalent action to this event, would have completed a non-consensual transfer of job positions from a veteran employee to someone who was barely getting the ropes of their new career. But since the latter was related to a higher-up, they had more priority in the company.
Ainz hoped this kind of situation would not happen to him in the future. Not knowing how to properly handle this, he settled with sending an apologetic prayer out to Ramiris in his head.
"—Ainz? Hellooo? You're spacing out again!"
Milim was waving over the eyes of Ainz, who now looked at the girl's waving hands in mild surprise.
"—Ainz likes to do that a lot, so don't blame him. I can only imagine what wicked thoughts he comes up with every time he goes into a thoughtful pose like that."
As he said that, Rimuru tried imitating an evil look, which only made Milim giggle at the scrunched up expressions of the slime. Ainz, on the other hand, was less than impressed.
"I'd appreciate it if you reworded that a little better, Rimuru."
"—It is as Rimuru says! My master is kind, but he is capable of enacting the most cruel scenes imaginable, comparable to that of the great Ulbert-sama!"
The Guild Weapon continued to flaunt Ainz's achievements that gradually became more nonsensical than actual truth.
Staff, you're making it worse…
What should have been a concerned or disgusted reaction from Milim, there were only starry eyes that spoke of the curiosity to know more about Ainz's supposedly wicked deeds that were being made out of left-field theories.
"—Hahh…there are some times when some things should be kept to themselves, especially if you are going to be spouting ridiculous things like that. Moving on — I was actually thinking about the name that Milim mentioned earlier. Indeed, I had remembered about this 'Ramiris' individual that you spoke of."
"Hoo…now that you remind me—"
The dragonoid gave a devilish smirk which made Ainz almost gulp. The sudden tone shift did not do her current expression justice as well, and the two behind the shifting undead audibly gulped, fearing what was going to happen next.
Ainz prepared for the worst, but he was surprised to hear the dragonoid's next response.
"—Wa-ha-ha-ha! You really threw her into a tantrum with that stunt of yours!" Milim said out loud, bellowing into another hearty laughter. The undead lowered his shoulders with mixed confusion and fear in his head.
"You…are not angry?"
"Why would I be angry? Since the Voice said so, the only thing that irked me was the thought of [ Small World ] going into the hands of someone who did not truly deserve that skill. Now that I met you and measured you up, I can see I was at least somewhat mistaken."
"An approval from someone like you must be an extremely rare thing, I suppose?"
"You got that right! But I do feel bad for my friend who had to go through that whole debacle. That's why you'll clear it up with her, right?"
Being reminded about Bukubukuchagama's ice-cold voice in similar situations to what was happening right now, Ainz sent out a response faster than he would cast [ Greater Teleportation ].
"—Naturally, I will meet up with her in due time. I too was confused by the state of things. [ Small World ] was supposed to be a temporary use, but even then I was not the one who requested it."
"Is that so? Alright…I'll believe you for now, but Ramiris was not happy with having one of her precious skills be taken away. Just make sure you do it as soon as possible, but I'll leave you to do whatever you want to do for now. It's the first time I get to meet someone as interesting as you, after all."
"Well I'm glad you find someone like me as someone of interest, Milim."
"Yeah! You seem to be alright, Ainz…"
Milim's face turned into a gentle and understanding one, causing Staff and Rimuru to do a double-take as they had never seen an expression on the rambunctious dragonoid before. That expression was quickly dropped as Milim remembered what the undead had told her earlier.
"—Ah, right! I'll take this deal of yours up for grabs! Now if you excuse me—"
"Ah, just wait a moment."
"—Eeeeh?!"
Before Milim could exclaim her displeasure for being interrupted from eating the juicy hamburger, Ainz nimbly turned around and began to apply an unknown magic spell on the food. For the first time in her life, Milim had a primal sense of fear in her heart, thinking for a moment that the food would somehow disappear in front of her eyes without her knowing.
Her attention was immediately captured by the sounds of creaking bones, followed by metallic clanging. A completely different aura was felt where Ainz had been standing, and everyone else slowly stepped back out of the overwhelming magicules hitting them in full force.
"Wha…WHAAAT?!"
Only Milim, whose mouth was gaping in surprise and eyes as starry as the night sky, was left standing to witness a completely different person standing in front of them.
