Note: This story uses the same setting as my other story "Momon, Big Black Changeling". Essentially, Ainz Ooal Gown is the same type of creature as in that story, although this and that story happen in different worlds.

It had been a while since her father had taken her out hunting. The lands around the Holy Kingdom were infamously infested by the various beastmen tribes, which required a zealous commitment to the defense of its borders by the courageous humans who lived in that state. Neia Baraja, as daughter of one of those tasked with the defense of the homeland, had lived her whole life in anticipation of such a task, to perform her duty as a knight of the Kingdom in service to her homeland.

Neia, therefore, had learned to take up the bow and shoot at a tender age. She had not become some sort of adept, but was competent at the archery range and could rank among the more skilled squires. Regretfully, she could not attain the same superhuman feats as her father, a point which did give her no small amount of grief. Sensitive to her thoughts, her father had always tried to take her mind off of such gloomy thoughts of self-recrimination. Today's hunting excursion was one such attempt.

Neia cleared her throat and bit her lip. She smoothed down the bangs of her dirty blonde hair. She looked at the forest around her, smiling bitterly. She was just an archer, not an actual huntsman. Still, her father had taught her enough to recognize some of the signs. How prey could be tracked, how it could be sensed, how to distinguish between animal and demihuman, how to mask one's approach. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and briefly basked in the breeze that blew through the trees. She sighed and went on, all her senses on high alert for any trace of game.

Neia wondered how her father was doing. They had separated a few minutes back, when he had encouraged her to find the animal by herself. Somehow, she had a feeling he was still there, watching her from a place she could not detect, like the nosy parent he was. She wouldn't put it past him; he had done so many times before.

As she got further into the forest's depths, a high, keening noise pierced through the air. Neia staggered backward, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. Her eyes stared wildly around. That was no mere animal, Neia's mind told her. It was definitely some sort of beast, and it sounded really close. She placed her back against a tree, and hid within a hollow of its roots, nervously gripping her bow. She prayed for her father to get there soon. He would have definitely heard that sound, right?

A faint shuffling noise was the only warning she heard before the forest erupted around her in a flurry of bark and leaves blasting apart. Neia's body was pushed forward, as her ears started picking up the eerie, ear-splitting sound of a roar right behind her. She wasted no time running for cover, her sweaty hands firmly gripping her bow tight.

It was a manticore. An honest-to-goodness manticore. She had seen it in the flesh only a few times before, and they were usually accompanied by their demihuman beastmasters. That it was here, in an area supposed to have been cleansed of the demihumans, meant it was wild, or had traveled many leagues to escape to this forest. And that was not good news by any measure. The manticore regarded her with eyes that glinted with terrible promise, a burning, murderous hunger that could never be sated.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," she whispered, her whole body frozen from fear. She had heard stories of knights staring death full in the face. Now it was her turn to experience the story. What should she feel? Elated, defiant, despairing? She nocked her bow. At the least she was determined not to go out with a mere whimper. She whispered a prayer to the gods, and prepared to face her fate.

She took aim. The monster, sensing her intent, bounded forward. Yet before she could let fly with even one arrow, a dark shape dashed forward from the trees to collide with the manticore. There was a thudding sound, and then the creature made a most unferocious screech, like a dog being beaten.

Neia blinked in confusion, her stance still frozen in the act of shooting an arrow. As the dust cleared, she was able to see the monster—and the one other being right beside it. At first, she thought it was a kid, then she saw it was some sort of dark-skinned man. Then she saw its ears, and identified it as some sort of dark elf.

The short man stood above the fallen, twitching manticore, utterly unafraid of the danger its fangs could bring. The manticore stirred, clamping its jaws together with fearsome promise. The mysterious figure made some sort of snapping sound with its fingers, before literally boxing the manticore by the head, like it was a recalcitrant child. Again the manticore shrieked, then whined, very much cowed by the casual display of power. Neia could not believe what she was seeing—and indeed wondered if this was some fantasy she was just seeing before she was torn apart by manticore teeth.

"There, there, good boy, good boy," said the man, whose voice sounded young. "You're fine little specimen aren't you, aren't you… You'll serve the Master well, and we'll both be rewarded… Pat, pat, pat… If you do good, you'll get to eat all the meat you want in the arena, but only if you're good!"

The manticore grunted in reply, its fierce eyes dimmed in ferocity.

"You should get a name," the young man said. "But, oh, maybe later. I should be introducing you to the rest of the gang, first." The elf then looked around the forest, turning his head this way and that before his eyes fell on Neia. Then his mouth opened in shock.

An awkward silence followed as the two locked incredulous gazes.

"Y-y-you!" The elf said, his dark skin growing flushed. "Human! Here! Did you… Did you see?"

"Ehhh," Neia scratched her head. "Ummm…"

"Never mind that," the elf spat, now looking angry. "This is a blunder, a blunder, a big fat blunder! How could I have missed it?" He stomped the ground and kicked a cloud of dust, as if he was throwing some sort of tantrum. "Unbelievable! Stupid! Absolutely stupid! What should I do? Mare would—I could ask—but then Ainz-sama would know…" She stopped, then turned to look back at Neia. "Ainz-sama… shouldn't know…"

Neia felt a cold feeling wrap her body that she couldn't quite explain. It was as if the manticore had suddenly reared its murderous gaze to look at her, even if that gaze was now coming right from the elf. Just when she was about to open her mouth to talk to the elf, she heard her father's voice coming from behind.

"Neia! Neia!"

She turned. "I'm here!" she cried. "Over here!"

Her father burst through the undergrowth, his formidable expression tinted with worry and fear. When his eyes fell on her, he immediately crushed her into a big body hug.

"Oh, Neia, Neia, my dear, I was so, so worried!"

"Mrghhhh… Gurghhh…!"

"Oh, sorry," he said, letting her free from his embrace. He looked around. "What the hell happened here? Did you see anything, Neia?"

"Yeah there was a…" Neia pointed, then her voice faltered to nothing in her throat. For there, where the manticore and the elf should have been, was nothing but an empty clearing, ringed by ruined, bent trees. She looked around frantically, trying to see where they might have gone.

"Neia? What's wrong…"

Neia swallowed, trying not to let emotion grab hold of her. "Um… I…" The sudden disappearance had spooked her completely, and she felt goosebumps on her very skin. "We've got to leave."

"Yeah, definitely," her father said, casting a critical, hawk-like look all over the place. "There's definitely something 'off' here, and I shan't have you get in danger."

Father and daughter quickly left the area, heading straight back towards the nearest town.

Just a few meters over, hidden by a complex camouflage item gifted to her by Lord Ainz, Aura the dark elf Floor Guardian sagged against the manticore at her back.

"That was so close…!"

The young elf felt such relief wash through her.

The Master's command had been quite explicit. When operating outside Nazarick, they must always take care never to reveal themselves to the humans and other creatures living there, or risk his ultimate displeasure. Aura could already feel Ainz-sama's disapproving gaze on her back, making her stand stiffly to attention, despite Ainz never being there at all.

"Let's see, what was it again?" She ignored that manticore moaning beneath her feet. The once wild creature had been sufficiently cowed by Aura that she was no more concerned about its attitude than she would a docile hamster. "'Should you reveal yourself or your true abilities, then it is your duty to…" Aura's eyes shot open. "Oh right! I really have to kill them!"

She went out of cover with arms bared, ready to strike. Then she realized that the human was gone. She quickly set to tracking them through the forest by employing her skills. But they were fast. And before she could go even faster, she discovered that they were now somewhere in a human town. With lots of witnesses.

Aura sagged to the ground, trying not to tear out her hair in frustration. "Uh-oh. What am I supposed to do?"

The manticore groaned.

"Shut up, you. Let's get you back to Nazarick before you make things worse!"

Just then a figure came flying from above. It had the head of an owl and the body of a humanoid, and was carrying various scholarly implements that would not have looked out of place on a magic caster's office. Presently it flapped down on its wings in front of Aura, and saluted.

"The cartographic sketches of this area have been completed, Master Aura."

"R-right, very good," Aura said. She didn't really know how to deal with someone like the owlman, for he was one of those "mercenaries" that Ainz had brought with him to Nazarick. They were not like those like her who were born from Nazarick, and yet since they belonged to Ainz they were as much of a comrade as any. It was a difficult feeling. "That's all, right? That was everything?"

The owlheaded man cocked his head. "Yes. That is all in my present orders. Unless you have more?"

"No, no, not really," Aura said hurriedly. "Let's head back to Nazarick."

Ainz sat on a grand throne overlooking the colosseum on the sixth floor. It was a customary sight for deeds of battle, such as the time when he fought a fire elemental to test his abilities. Then Aura and Mare had been tasked with managing the "gladiatorial" games in the colosseum, which were intended to spark and observe the natural abilities of the native humans through pitting them against each other in life-or-death scenarios.

Today, the tests had been halted in favor of another test, as Ainz had requested. He looked down from his perch overlooking the arena below. Standing there were a few of the Pleiades—those who could be spared from their present duties. Then, standing across from them were five of the homunculi maids, wielding various low-level weapons.

Nazarick's fighting ability was ever a concern for Ainz, who was suspicious of other forces in this new world that might be a threat to him or the Tomb. That unknown threat in Solution's land was a very big example, as most of it would have overwhelmed a lowly Nazarick NPC without help.

Much of his ignorance on the leveling system of this world was thanks to mechanics he didn't know, such as the level cap of the NPCs within Nazarick, as well as the rate of gaining experience from killing monsters. Even he had been unable to gauge if he were locked to Level 100, or if he could somehow go further beyond. But since even in Yggdrasil it was harder for higher levels to gain experience, he would first have to test if the lower-level NPCs could gain even a semblance of those mysterious points—and then, somehow "gain a level", or even two.

He'd had Albedo set up the details, and then she had accompanied her here, where he was ready to address the assembly. Demiurge and Cocytus were also in attendance. The former had been pulled from his usual duties and stood behind Ainz looking down at the maids. The other was down below standing at the edge of the arena like a towering colossus of ice.

Ainz presently cleared his throat. Albedo cried, "Heed the words of Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, Ruler of All Nazarick!" Every one of the NPCs stood to attention, waiting for him to speak.

"Hello everyone. I thank you for accepting my request and coming to this gathering. I assume you have some questions for your presence here. I assure you that there is a very good reason for my summoning you here." He tapped the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown in his hand.

"As our time in this new world continues, it becomes ever more necessary for us—for all of us—to adapt as necessary. You have already heard my mandates regarding the need for Secrecy. Now we must address the fact that when Secrecy fails, as it surely might, given the circumstances; that we of Nazarick have the strength to still remain ever victorious.

"To that end, I have decided to enact a few tests, designed to see if we can strengthen ourselves even further than we are. And you shall be the first subjects. What say you?"

The maids all bowed in unison, and proclaimed, "We would be honored, Ainz-sama!"

He nodded. "Very good." He raised his staff, and from it he summoned one of the spells locked within: a Flamestone circle. It appeared on the ground behind the Pleiades, and bathed the area with the glow of a miniature sun. The circle was left simmering on the sands, red with ominous purpose. Its role was to keep summoning a Fire Elemental with power and strength that he could decide. The circle would continue to summon an Elemental—the only drawback was that it could only ever summon one at a time. However, said drawback was a boon for Ainz's current purposes.

"First, the Pleiades." He turned to regard each of them. "Demiurge shall be supervising your training sessions, and it will consist of combat against that. You will have to continue fighting fire elementals until you report a significant change in your bodies." For now the elementals were tuned for Level 60, which should be enough for the Pleiades, who were about the same level. He turned to the smiling devil at his side. "Demiurge, I leave it to you to schedule their training sessions—just make sure it does not interfere greatly with their other duties. Oh, but make sure it's actually frequent."

Demiurge bowed. "I shall certainly manage it, my lord."

Ainz looked back down and snapped his fingers. Immediately, the Fire Elemental charged with a hiss of anger, as the battle maids reacted and moved to battle. For a few moments, he watched them fighting together, coordinating their attacks to surround and fight the elemental. In his mind, he hoped that they would be able to accomplish something, even a slight glimmer of reaction.

Next, he turned to the homunculi maids. "As for you, all of you will take turns to be trained in rudimentary combat," he said. "I know it is not in your abilities, but please indulge me in this for now."

"Yes, Lord Ainz!"

"Cocytus will teach you all about handling weapons. I trust you can handle the technical affairs of instructing them, Cocytus?"

"I. Shall. Endeavor. To. Do. Well."

"Be sure not to overtax them, as they have other duties. On the other hand, it is your duty to inform Cocytus if your bodies are under some strain. Do you understand?" The maids nodded. Another concern with these maids was that their bodies might not be able to bear the same strain of fighting, since they had not been intended to be that way by his friends. Perhaps that manifested in some way when they had transported to this world. Still, he hoped they could manage. somehow.

"I shall set Nazarick to summon skeletons from Shalltear's floor to be their opponents," Ainz explained. He turned to Albedo. "Can I leave the homunculus maids' training schedules to you, then Albedo?"

The beautiful woman smiled. "I will be honored to, my lord."

Ainz cleared his throat, and tried not to be too affected by her perplexing beauty. It was awakening feelings in him this early in the day. While he could certainly indulge…

He shook his head. "That will be all for now," he announced to everyone. "Are there any more questions? Concerns? No? Then I shall leave you to it."

He departed along with Albedo, leaving the maids to begin their training in earnest.

"How was it?" Ainz asked, once they had returned to the upper floors. Inside, he was a little anxious about how his performance looked like. Thankfully, his newly-forged bond with Albedo had enabled him to be able to confide even more with her, especially with regards to his doubts and misgivings concerning various aspects of his job.

"Everything seemed fine, my lord," Albedo reported. Her arms were firmly interlinked with his, and it felt like he was a conquering groom with a lovely, blushing bride at his side. (Or the dour father escorting his beloved daughter to the aisle) At the thought of wedding bells, Ainz's mind returned to the ongoing preparations surrounding his and Lakyus' impending wedding. Though it was still intended to be small, there were many things to prepare on Nazarick's end to ensure that it would go off without a hitch.

"If there are any holes you can find in my reasoning, do make sure to point it out to me," he reminded her.

"My mind is yours, my love," Albedo proclaimed, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "And for now, there is nothing yet to be concerned about."

His mind a little relieved, Ainz continued on to his office. As they approached the door, he felt a great need to claim the woman clinging so tight to him once more, to take her on a wild ride inside the office for perhaps the rest of the day. And he was sure that Albedo wasn't going to say no—in fact, it was she who demanded the most sex from him on most days.

But when the door opened, it was clear that his libido would not be sated yet. In a way, it was a sort of relief. Aura was waiting within, standing stiffly at attention. Beside her was the owlman. It was another mercenary he had hired back in Yggdrasil, though this one was more intended to carry excess items. Still, upon further scrutiny here in the new world, he found that the owlman had certain skills that would prove very useful in this world instead.

This was the reason for sending it out to the lands, using its prodigious photographic memory to make a map of the surrounding lands, one that was hopefully a lot more accurate than the maps he had bought in this world. As it was a covert mission, he had also sent Aura as a sort of "escort" for it, using her skills at misdirection to hopefully keep the owlman's appearance and work secret.

"Welcome back," Ainz greeted.

"Thank you Ainz-sama!" Aura chirped.

"Ainz-sama, the maps as you requested," the mercenary said promptly, handing him a bag filled with various scrolls. As with all his mercenaries, the owlman was perfunctory and blunt, committed to performing its task like a well-made program.

"Hoh. You managed to complete all areas then?"

"Yes, my lord," said the owlman. Ainz took a scroll at random and unrolled it. His eyes widened, as he saw a professional-looking map of an area—somewhere in the Baharuth Empire it said—with many various details that honestly astounded him. He didn't even know how to fully interpret everything, and the awe he felt towards this production was as a collector seeing something precious for the first time.

"Indeed, indeed," Ainz said to himself, rubbing his chin. "You've done magnificent work. Well done." As a mark of its mercenary nature, the owlman said nothing and merely stood there, showing no emotion or reaction to his praise aside from the stated "thank you".

"What do you need the maps for, Ainz-sama?" Albedo asked.

"Well that's a secret," he said, winking.

Ainz rolled up the scroll and put it aside. He would definitely find a good use for the maps. "You've done great work," he said, addressing the owlman. "For this you will be rewarded with a permanent spot in the library, where you will use your extraordinary talent to help with the various duties there. And your first assignment, then, is to make copies of these maps. The head lich will show you the way. Albedo?"

"I shall inform the Master of their new workmate."

"Excellent. Have you any questions?"

"No, Ainz-sama," the owlman said, his face still betraying no expression. Ainz felt a little disappointed, but he let it go.

Next, he addressed Aura. He went to sit behind the desk. "Good work, Aura. I assume there were no difficulties during your mission?" When no answer came, he turned to rest his gaze on the diminutive dark elf. Both his and Albedo's inquisitive eyes were fixed on her. She looked apprehensive, as if she was holding some great secret she didn't want to divulge.

"There were no difficulties… except one."

"…Go on." Now he could see that Aura was visibly trembling. "Calm down, please, Aura. You're getting too worked up—"

"Recall your dignity as a Guardian," Albedo demanded.

"O-okay…" Aura sighed, then turned to him. She bowed low at the waist—the lowest one could go before actually prostrating on the ground. "I'm very, very sorry, Ainz-sama! I failed to protect Nazarick's secret!"

He glanced at Albedo, who shared his alarm. "Explain, Aura."

In halting words, the young dark elf shared her encounter in the vicinity of the Holy Kingdom, where she had tamed a powerful manticore, which had been completely witnessed by a normal human. And of how she had completely forgotten to take care of the matter. Even now, there might already be rumors circulating about the mystery dark elf who had bested a manticore, an anomaly that could greatly inconvenience Nazarick.

"How could you forget the contingencies?" Albedo demanded. "Because of you, Nazarick itself could be at risk!"

"Um… uhhh…" Aura blanched, weathering Albedo's recriminations and Ainz's own displeasure. She kept shooting him looks even with her head bowed, as if she was seeking some sort of relief. He sighed audibly and relaxed in his chair.

"Aura," he said, not hiding his displeased face. "Did you really not take any steps to correct your failure?"

"Um… no? No… Ainz-sama…"

Ainz shook his head. "That is… disappointing." He heard Albedo gasp. Aura's trembling seemed to redouble, as if her body was afflicted by a terrible seizure. He raised his hand, as Albedo had turned her venomous expression towards the smaller dark elf.

"But that is alright. It is… normal. To err. This was about as well as I expected."

Aura stuttered. "D-do you mean to say that you were able to foresee even this, Ainz-sama?"

Not really, he thought in his mind. But he couldn't say that out loud. "Who do you think I am?" he said, spreading his hands.

"I'm sorry…" Aura said, eyes brimming with tears, bowing her head again and again.

He waved his hand. "As I said, there's nothing to be done about it now. We can only try to mitigate the effects, for example, by investigating the Holy Kingdom even further. But for now, please be assured that I am not completely angry at you."

"Th-that's a relief…! Oh, Ainz-sama!" Behind Aura's crying face, Albedo could be seen smiling widely.

"However, there is to be a punishment. So you will remember this mistake, and reflect upon it." It was good to see that Aura was appropriately contrite. "Then, for a week, you shall be assigned to assist Kyouhukou-san in his lair."

"Ehh?" Aura's face paled, her expression twisting as she heard his verdict. He was well aware of the poor NPC's reputation among the rest, and of how even Shalltear or Demiurge considered keeping well out of their way, even despite treating them as comrades. Aura's reaction, therefore, was quite understandable, as Ainz had deliberately chosen this to be her punishment.

"Do you have concerns?" he asked innocently.

"N-no, Ainz-sama," Aura mumbled. She bowed. "I beg leave to start, then."

"Very good," he said, nodding approvingly. He reached out and patted her on the head. The dark elf brightened at this small contact, and left the room with a smile visible on her face.

As soon as they were alone, Ainz once more sighed as he rubbed his temples. In truth, he was just a little bit angry, as Aura's mistake could potentially mean the diversion of important resources to plug up the "leak". But he couldn't really afford to blow up at Aura, or any of them, because they relied on him.

Sighing again, he looked at Albedo. "What was next on the schedule?"

Without consulting the itinerary written on the paper, Albedo promptly answered, "There is a report from Carne Village—specifically from Nina the mercenary, regarding the efforts at potion-making. And another report, from Mare, concerning the crops he was commanded to oversee."

"Ah, of course." He summoned a screen of Remote Viewing and used it to take a peek at Carne Village. Under the auspices of Nazarick, many improvements had been made to the place. While on the outside it looked like any rural area, peeling back the surface would reveal the many potent defenses that had been erected within, each almost an equal to what usually protected the rooms of Nazarick itself.

This was, of course, necessary to protect the many projects that Ainz had ordered there, from the raising of Yggdrasil plants to the Bareare alchemical house, which worked hard to produce potions and mixes that could be of great use to Nazarick. No less than a Pleiades, Lupusregina, was put in charge here. (though she was currently training below at the Colosseum) Furthermore, a Floor Guardian had laid his protection on the whole place.

He heard Mare's report first. As Aura's twin had it, the efforts to nurture Yggdrasil-native seeds on the new world's soil had borne fruit. However, the dark elf had noted that compared to the samples that came directly from the Treasury, the newly sprouted crop had far less magical potency.

"Here is a sample of one of them, Lord Ainz," Albedo said, presenting him with a small vial containing a blade of grass, which presumably was one of the plants. Ainz took it and cast his Appraising spells on it.

"Hm." He raised his brow. "It is indeed rather weaker." In Yggdrasil terms, the old herbs were equivalent to level 90, while the new ones were only level 40. He was no alchemist in the game, but he knew enough of the mechanics from his team-mates to know that this was a massive gap in strength. It meant that, if he remembered correctly, the new herbs could only support creations such as potions up to a maximum of 60-70.

"But it's manageable," Ainz concluded. It was still a piece of good news, as the fact that the plants grew at all was something of a triumph in itself. It meant that Nazarick was free to create more, for their own use and for selling to the highest bidder. He was fairly sure that there were few comparable herbs on the market, based on intelligence gathered from Blue Rose, which meant they could potentially corner the market on the things, especially if they were enchanted to be immune to tampering.

Ainz steepled his fingers. "Continue with the report on the potions."

Albedo proceeded as instructed. The issue of the potions had indeed made great progress, in particular because the Bareares had been assisted by the lamia mercenary Nina. Mare's newly grown batch had also contributed to the many recipes that had been discovered, which had lead to numerous potions with various effects. Naturally, such discoveries were kept firmly under lock and key, as the Bareares had no correspondence with the outside world.

The villagers of Carne could not likewise spread word as well, as all cargo going in and out of the village was meticulously scanned by resident divination specialists, who would be counted on to detect if something was amiss. And that was not to count the fact that the Bareares were watched like hawks day in and day out, from dawn to dusk, no matter what they did. (That was how Ainz discovered Nfrea's newfound sexual relationship with Enri)

"As a side note, Lupusregina has forwarded a petition to join the wedding," Albedo said, sounding like she didn't really like what she was saying.

Ainz raised a brow. "You do not like it?"

Albedo's expression twisted. "They can join, if they remain hidden. But to add even more from Nazarick under any guise would, forgive me for saying my lord, strain the bounds of credulity. Lakyus already is perplexed that Eclipse Nebula's number has grown." He knew she was referring to the various "branches" of his adventurer's group which now operated in the Baharuth Empire, as well as various other places. Lakyus had been informed about it, when news had come to the local Guild about the adventurers who had named themselves Eclipse Nebula out in the Empire.

Ninya and the group escorting her had been assumed to be copycats or frauds, which had necessitated Ainz's personal intervention as "Momon".

"You may be right," Ainz conceded with a shrug. "She may join, but must not be seen." He tapped the surface of the table. "Speaking of the wedding, how goes the final preparations?"

"Everything is in readiness, my lord," Albedo said, a little more eager now. "The event itself has been prepared from top to bottom. And Lakyus herself has been adequately 'prepared'." Here the Overseer giggled, as if laughing at her own private joke. Ainz knew she was referring to her own constant "buttering up" of Lakyus, making her more and more receptive to the unusual situation she was marrying into—that Albedo and some others were to be equal sharers in his love, even if she would be publicly his wife. He didn't know what sort of debauched promises had been made, but he was certain they were of particular filthiness.

"With all of the things on your plate, Albedo," Ainz said, a thought coming to him. "Shouldn't it be time to accept my suggestion?"

"My lord?"

He gestured. "To delegate your functions."

"To delegate?" Albedo repeated, sounding quite dumbfounded. "I don't know what you mean, my lord."

"Come, let us head to the Treasury. There you may pick out whichever mercenary to use as your own personal subordinate. Or subordinates, if you want more."

Deep in the Treasury he had placed a lot of his mercenary NPCs in deep storage. He had been using them for the latter half of his playtime in Yggdrasil, buying them by the cheap for their unique qualities before storing them for later use. There were those four he'd used to aid him in clearing low-level dungeons, as well as that owlman he had bought just for one session's use of spying on a suspicious-looking party that had been heading for Nazarick (it had been a false alarm in the end, but it had been quite tense).

Eventually, he had stockpiled quite a lot of them, all with their own respective quirks that made Ainz hesitant to dispose of them. After all, like his items, they were still "his" in a sense, even if they still couldn't quite duplicate the feeling of playing with friends.

He hadn't quite expected to be transported to this new world, and with him had come the mercenary NPCs. Just recently he had completed his inspection of their capabilities, and he had recognized that some of them, including the owlman earlier, had skills that were far more useful here than in Yggdrasil. All of them displayed that same robotic loyalty to him, which meant it was easier to give them orders, at least relative to the NPCs.

As such, Ainz decided they would be perfect to distribute among his NPCs, particularly the Floor Guardians. Their competent natures would be a natural complement to the powerful NPCs, and would also be free from the constant human-like emotions that seemed to be happening to each of them. Aura's recent blunder was one such example—he found it hard to see how a mercenary could have allowed such a leak to happen.

"Um, but, Ainz-sama…"

"Hm?" He cocked his head at Albedo. She looked like she was pouting—or rather, trying not to pout. There was a look in her eyes that he recognized as her disliking something—the same look she had made when he'd suggested inviting Shalltear to the wedding. "What is it, Albedo?"

The Overseer seemed to hesitate, as if she was choosing her words carefully. "My lord… is it possible… Well, I do apologize for asking this, but… Do you see any problem in my capabilities? Have you spotted any flaws? If so, please tell me!" she wailed. "Please tell me, that I may correct them swiftly. And without fail! Please, Ainz-sama…!" She rushed him, pushing her voluptuous body right against his body, her face pleading and mournful.

"Whoa, whoa, what are you talking about?" Ainz said.

"Ainz-sama… Why do you insist in giving me 'subordinates'?"

"Ah, that is…" he fumbled for an explanation. "They'll be there to help you get through your tasks in a quick and efficient manner."

"And I can fully accomplish that myself, my lord," Albedo said, puffing out her considerably busty chest. "I have and will always accomplish everything that is set before me, no matter what. I would stake my life on it."

"Betting your life is sort of…" Ainz waved his hands awkwardly. Talking about this subject with Albedo was only reminding him of the times when he had to put down over-eager subordinates. Most of the time they were rookies who had just been assigned to his division. At the start these newbies would do everything in their power to prove to the veterans that they could get things done, and part of it was taking over the brunt of the workload, regardless of their abilities or their capacity for it. The usual result was their burning out regardless, the toil too much for their minds and bodies until they made a mistake.

He didn't want that to happen to Albedo. A careless mistake would be especially critical now in this world, where death was a very real consequence. He couldn't imagine losing someone like Albedo, or any of the dear NPCs to an enemy force akin to the one Ainz fought beneath those tunnels.

He took a deep breath, and sat Albedo down. "Listen Albedo. I am not doubting your capabilities at all. Do not take this as a challenge, or that I have something against your work. You do excellent work. I can guarantee it."

"Then… why..?"

He laid a hand on her shoulder. "I do this for your sake. With the help of these mercenaries, you will be able to delegate your less vital tasks to them, allowing you to focus on the more immediate, the more important affairs."

"I can still do that, my lord," Albedo said. "I can still manage it!"

"Then of course, time is an issue," Ainz said. He smiled at the Overseer, whom he now saw as someone precious, someone who was his. "With subordinates to take care of some matters, the time you would have to spend on those would be completely free for you to use. In other words, it gives you more free time."

Albedo cocked her head. "I don't see how that benefits me, my lord."

He chuckled. "You still don't get it Albedo? We can use your new free time for other things…" He reached out to caress her bare skin. He was pleased to hear her shudder and moan. "Other, pleasurable things."

"Ahhhh…" Albedo's eyes fluttered. "I see now…" A lust-filled light now glimmered in her eyes. "Yes, more time for us to be lovey-dovey… of course! You are indeed wise, my love. Far more brilliant than the stars in the sky."

He acknowledged her passion with a kiss. "Now then, why don't we head to the Treasury and pick out your new subordinate?"

"… Very well. I am deeply humbled by your concern, Ainz-sama."

Albedo's ready acquiescence made him realize he should've used the sex angle earlier.

In the end, he decided on a couple of dragonsires, humanoids with dragon-like features who exhibited a mind of great intelligence despite possessing burly bodies. They were said to possess the cunning of actual dragons, and were just as physically capable in a fight. They were a perfect fit for their new mistress, whose qualities were reflected in them.

They were therefore tasked to serve as Albedo's new secretaries, with their first order of business being to memorize the entire list of security passwords that the Overseer needed to communicate with Nazarick's entire intelligence network. The gathering of data from all over the network would now be collected and summarized by the two mercenary NPCs, saving Albedo a whole bunch of time.

Time which the couple used in more fruitful pursuits.

"Come in, come in everyone."

Ainz opened the door, leading the way for the rest of them to follow through. In attendance were virtually all of the Pleiades except the seventh sister, Sebas Tian, along with most of the Floor Guardians. Lastly, there was Albedo, in her position as the Overseer.

Sprawled on the center of the room before them was a large table. Upon its surface was the map created by the owl-man, meticulously melded and connected together to create one giant super-map of the regions surrounding Nazarick.

"Welcome, welcome," he said. He pointed to the seats arrayed around the table. "Please sit."

"Ainz-sama, if it may not be troublesome to ask," Demiurge said, peering around the room with naked curiosity. "What is this?"

Ainz smiled. "What, the chair? Or the room?"

The NPCs looked among themselves. They murmured many different things in chorus, though it was clear their curiosity was piqued about everything in here.

"Well, first of all, this room is a special sort of place. In here, I and my friends planned many of our excursions into the outside world. Here we 'plotted' and 'planned', using a map of the old world, which was supposed to be here." He pointed to the table.

"That we should be standing in such hallowed ground…" Shalltear whispered. "This is truly an honor, Ainz-sama…!"

"…Since our arrival here this table has lost its former purpose. It used to display the lands around us; now it does not. That is why I had my NPC personally draw a map for me, and here are the combined fruits of his labor. It is mere paper and ink, but it's a start."

"I see…" Demiurge said. The others made similar nods and sounds of assent or understanding.

"If what you say is true, Ainz-sama, then would it not be rude for us to be here?"

"Not at all. I have had those chairs specially made by the Chief Blacksmith. They have been marked with those little sigils and signs, each corresponding to every one of you."

As he watched them look at their chairs with wonder, Ainz was reminded of the round table, some sort of story from the internet about a king who treated his people as equals. This was the sort of ideal that he aspired to inculcate in his NPCs. While it might seem presumptuous of him, he could think of no better way to show that he cared about each and every one of them: to be able to sit at this table with them on equal terms. In this way he would reward their trust in him, and their continued service for the glory of Nazarick.

Chapter commissioned by anonymous, thank you. A reminder that the story is commissioned.

If you'd like a story commissioned, feel free to contact me here, or on archiveofourown under "RHoldhous".