Hello Scrolls and Followers of Justice, I'm Mr. Bones bringing you this week's chapter of my fanfic Overlord.
Entoma goes shopping and gets to know the Night Manager better.
In this part we will have the introduction of a character from another Fanfic, "Masks Shadows" which is a sequel to "What Masks Are Made Of", both written by AtheistBasementDragon, which are part of one of the best and longest Overlord fanfics ever I read "God Rising", I want to thank him for giving permission to use his original character in this fanfic.
Thanks for reading this far, I hope you're enjoying it, comment and help me improve my writing.
With you
The One Who Came Back
Chapter 19: Teamwork
"So, what did you think?" asked the maid after using an anti-divination scroll and another one of silence.
"I was amazed how the treatment of heteromorphs seems to be spreading well within the Empire", said Kyouhukou, "but this may just be the first impression, we will spend weeks assessing the environment."
"Yes, apparently the Empire was already more open to other races, vassalage seems to have accelerated a natural process in the place, but let's continue with the analysis tomorrow morning. Since it's already night, we can start the searches as soon as possible… Is everything ready with your familiars?", asked Entoma salivating a little.
"They are always ready. This is a good opportunity for us to test the efficiency of the new search system, 'Lady Shalltear, we are ready for delivery'."
'R-Right,' replied a shaky voice.
Then a swirling portal appeared in the middle of the ceiling, from which countless numbers of cockroaches began to rain. Apparently, such a portal was directly connected to the floor of the black chamber, and soon the floor of the apartment itself was full until it almost began to cover the bed, and the flow did not seem to stop anytime soon.
'I think that's enough for the first wave, Lady Shalltear. You can close the gate, thank you'.
'Okay', quickly replied the vampire, cutting off the communication.
Kyouhukou looked at his familiars and then ordered.
"Family! Today presents us with an opportunity to demonstrate that we are not just instruments of torture. We will show our worth to the Supreme Being who stayed with us and offered us the chance to grow in the eyes of the Great Tomb, so go to every nook and cranny of this city , observe, listen, locate and if possible identify the individual previously shown in the workshop. I await your reports. Now family, go."
The window then opened and Kyouhukou's family members launched themselves into the night, some flying, others crawling along the walls, a certain amount descending directly through the building's plumbing to the sewers.
"How is everything going to work out, Kyouhukou?"
"The process will be simple, Lady Entoma. Two 'watchers', thus named, will infiltrate the residences and start to check the environment, as well as exchange information with the residents, and if the place does not show interest, one of the watchers will stay ready and the other will proceed to the next observation point with the greatest information potential, so we will establish the key points that we will keep close watch on. Your reports will be sent to me by couriers who will collect and retransmit the most important data, and with such a large amount of 'watchers', we'll be able to keep at least one of them in every house in the capital… and stop eating my relatives!"
"Nhom! Nhom! But they are delicious! Nhom! Nhom! Nhom!", said the maid chewing.
Oof! – sighed Kyouhukou – 'Lady Shalltear, we are ready for the second wave'.
Again the portal opened spilling out thousands of cockroaches and then closed, with no response from Shalltear.
Kyouhukou looked at his familiars and then started the same speech.
"Family! Today presents us with an opportunity…", this was going to be a long night.
The next morning.
"Good morning, Kyouhukou."
"Good morning Lady Entoma, how was your night?"
"Well, reviewing information about the Empire and separating possible sensitive points for deeper investigation, as well as establishing a possible route to efficiently maximize visits to the most significant places and minimize wasted time."
"So you've been creating a travel guide, am I right? Would you like some cookies?"
"Yes to both, thank you. And you, how were the preliminary evaluations?"
"The system is still spreading, the first batch of intel started to arrive in the morning, mostly criminal activity, conspiracies are still undetected and nothing related to the traveler has emerged. All reports are being compiled in my room which I am using as HQ, after that they are sent for archiving and future reference at Lord Demiurge's request."
"And breakfast, how was it ordered? Did you have to go down to the lobby?"
"Not at all. There's a rather clever but simple system for communicating with reception, just a tube that goes down there with a mouthpiece at the front. It seems to be exclusive to the top floors, the hotel owner must be expecting to receive VIP guests and provide privileged service to them, but I can't see humans going up that many floors without a teleport."
"I realized that too, maybe we should talk to the manager more."
"'Talk', eh?! Apparently the manager has been quite solicitous of you, Lady Entoma".
"I don't know what you mean by that, we haven't even been properly introduced."
"Yes, indeed, with all that commotion we failed to follow proper protocol. By the way, we were unable to locate your tormentor from yesterday, perhaps she is still outside our web of information, but soon we will cover the whole city. Unfortunately, during the day our watchers are restricted to using the sewers, hence the delay. I apologize, Lady Entoma."
"Delays are expected according to Yuri nee-chan. In that case, I'll be leaving for the first clothing reviews soon."
"Then you will go shopping, I'll be happy to accompany you. Give me just a few minutes to dress myself as Edgar."
"Edgar?! Is that what you call him?"
"Edgar was his name, I thought it would be discourteous for him to be named differently. It's not because he became a Flesh Golem that he lost his identity, the dead deserve proper respect, especially those who are being useful to the Great Tomb."
"I'm sorry for the unkind words. So how exactly does 'Edgar' work?"
"Well, well, I just know the basics: he's part of Lord Ainz's necromancy experiment, apparently all of his viscera were removed beforehand, so he was turned into a zombie of a different class, the Flesh Golem, a type that does not decay and its structure is kept 'healthy' through magic."
"It doesn't have simple thinking ability like other common zombies, if you give a zombie an order to guard a door and only let specific people through, it understands, whereas a Flesh Golem would only understand an order like 'kill anyone who enters'. Even the spellcaster would run the risk of being attacked if they are not prepared to call a stop, so he's unable to move or manipulate things without constant direct orders. When I'm inside him I take control, the orders go through my antennae that are in contact directly in his brain, so I just think he obeys".
"But, does he eat?"
"Figuratively speaking, through simple muscle contractions, this way I get him to open and close his mouth, chew and swallow. Everything goes down the esophageal tube to me, so I can also eat. Furthermore, using these contractions I make it look like he is talking, but unfortunately the facial expression needs further fine-tuning, for now he just keeps that smile."
"I think that will be enough. From what I could see, humans often let their guard down when they see a smile."
"Strange, isn't it, miss? They just look like monkeys baring their teeth to me."
"That seems to be one of the reasons that make integrations difficult. Other races don't recognize these gestures, in the same way that humans don't notice the difference between this and that", said Entoma, showing a small variation in the position of her pedipalps.
"I think that could be considered a nice smile, don't you?! So, are you ready?"
"Yes!" was Entoma's excited reply, but I don't intend to stay too long".
12 hours later
A very lively maid arrived at the hotel, wearing a yellow dress with sleeves and a flowered hat, followed by an Edgar overloaded with several bags.
Although Entoma felt that the quality of the fabrics were not up to par with her usual clothes, the variety of colors and shapes excited her a lot, as unlike ordinary arachnids, she was able to see patterns of colors impossible for humans.
"Good evening, Miss Entoma."
"Hah! If you're not our Night Manager, how are you, sir? I'm sorry, but we haven't been formally introduced."
"My mistake, please accept my sincere apologies. It seems that I was a little bewildered by yesterday's altercation and completely lost my composure, Ahan! Barintacha Hierophants VI, Inta to the intimate, at your service. May I accompany you?"
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Inta, and of course you can accompany me, I'm going to my room and your company there would be a delight."
Edgar rolled his eyes behind the pile of bags. "Get a room" he would say, if they weren't already going to one.
They all made their way down the hall to the stairwell area past a series of paintings, all showing men with the same family make-up, very similar if it weren't for the clothes from different eras, haircuts or beards.
"So, you are the manager and owner of the hotel?"
"Yes, the hotel has been in my family for generations. Here, this is my great-grandfather, he built the first inn in Arwintar, before it became the capital of the Empire, at the time it was just the Baharuth Kingdom. With my great-great-grandfather, the inn became a hotel. My great-grandfather, at the time when the city was already the capital, decided to buy the side buildings, demolish the old hotel and start a new and more modern one, its structure should support the continuous growth and increase of floors. My grandfather gave continuity of the project and with my father the hotel reached its peak, eight floors, only the palace towers are higher."
"But why so high? The other buildings are four stories tall at most."
"To house other species! Humans hate climbing stairs, they get tired very easily. My great-grandfather realized that the Empire would be more open to other races, so he decided to invest in that possible future, as demand increased, more floors were built. Today, Upper floors are in high demand."
"But that would require a huge investment and risk, most of the other species seem to be adventurous, some barely making a living."
"Absolutely. You see, we are a quality hotel, even in the old days the cost of accommodation was high, but my great-grandfather noticed something, that sometimes we might get someone like a minotaur who might seem to have come out of a labyrinth and you'd think he would be better at an adventurer's inn, but then he opens a bag the size of a troll's head, full of rubies to pay for his stay, taken from some mine known only to him, and after a week, he's dressed in silk, with ornate horns of gold and riding a chariot driven by a human. The next year, he's back with more rubies and wanting our best facilities, and then the next year, he's the greatest ruby merchant in the Empire and always stays with us".
"I see. Humans, demihumans, heteromorphs, beastmen, they all have one thing in common: money."
"Exactly! But don't get me wrong, that sounded kind of profiteering, it's not just for the money, I think this is a good opportunity to try to equalize the way people are treated. Why would a lizardman trader need to stay in an inn if he can enjoy better accommodation, be treated with dignity and respect?"
"Sometimes we just want to be treated equally", sighed the maid.
"Yes, sometimes that's all we want", agreed Inta.