On a tranquil night, the only source of light within the High Priestess' bedroom was a lit fireplace whose irregular cracking felt almost like a lullaby. It illuminated Neia wonderfully, her smile radiant with joy. Satoru inhaled, savouring the fragrance of blueberries, before slowly reaching forward to hold his beloved's hand. Neia's simple dress was the colour of ripe peaches, and highlighted her figure wonderfully. She took his hand with an innocent giggle, one that did not go unnoticed by a second angel. A tiny Ayame stepped in from behind to also hold her father's hand, and the two smiled at Satoru with peace in their eyes.
Satoru was truly happy in life. How could he not be, with such a wonderful family?
And then, he heard a strange noise. It was something unpleasant, so he tried to block it out. But that only got harder and harder with time. Suddenly, the king realised what it was.
A ringtone.
Suzuki Satoru woke up in his dark apartment, still connected to one of those VR chairs. The ringing came from his wrist, from a smart watch. The confused salaryman picked up an incoming call, mind stuck in a haze.
"Oi, Suzuki? Where the hell are you? You're late to work."
"Late?... Work?"
"Huh? Did you just wake up? Get here in half an hour or you're fired!"
"Wake up? Was... was that a dream?"
"What? Don't waste my time, you're already on thin ice. You're lucky it's just going to be a pay cut!"
As the call ended, Satoru noticed the tears flowing down his cheeks. He looked around again. It was his room back on earth.
"N-Neia? W-where are you? Honey? P-please..."
His hands felt numb and turned damp with sweat. He was sick to his stomach. His chest was so tight it was hard to breathe. His chin and lower lip were quivering. His mind was stuck yet racing. He started looking around the dimly lit room aimlessly.
"Neia… Neia… Ayame…"
There was no response, so Satoru continued crying.
"Please… Please come back…"
...
And then, it was dark. Very dark.
Satoru opened his eyes and tried to look around. He was lying down somewhere.
With his mind racing and his heart beating as if it was about to burst, Satoru wiped the tears from his eyes and sat up, trying to process where he was.
The smell, the outlines of the furniture he could make out... the bed... the sheets...
Satoru looked down next to him. Neia was lying there, asleep.
It was a dream. Everything was alright.
Struggling to breathe in, Satoru clenched his fists.
It was just a dream. Neia was still right there. He was still in the New World. He was still home.
The undead king did his best to muffle his own sobbing. Luckily, Neia was a heavy sleeper.
... ...
Rubbing his eyes, Satoru wondered for how long he had been staring at the ceiling.
'I'm not going to fall asleep again anytime soon, am I?'
With a quiet sigh, the skeleton considered his options.
"Mh..."
Apparently the sigh was enough to earn him a reaction from Neia, who produced some sort of cute noise. With a smile, Satoru turned to look at her. And she was, of course, absolutely stunning when sleeping peacefully like this. Not that she wasn't ever stunningly gorgeous. With a kiss on her cheek, the father began slowly getting up. Once off the bed, he noticed that the kiss caused Neia's wings to begin moving ever so slightly under the blanket.
...
Now sporting a skeletal form and appropriate attire, Satoru stepped out of Neia's bedroom, and into a hallway that was almost as quiet. Right across was Ayame's room, so that's where the king decided to head next. After taking a few steps, he quietly opened the door to his daughter's room. In the darkness awaiting him, however, was an unexpected guest. Someone who had just tensed up in surprise, sitting on a cushioned chair next to Ayame's bed.
'Huh? Emma?'
The head maid was not in uniform, and looked rather surprised as they made eye contact, but only for a moment. Satoru paused while raising a non-existent eyebrow, but continued normally after the initial surprise wore off. Once close to the visitor, the king whispered.
"Miss Valeria? How come you're here at this hour?"
"Greetings, Your Majesty. I could not sleep, so I thought to check up on Her Highness. To make sure she had everything she needed, or just in case she woke up..."
Satoru paused for a moment, looking at his lightly snoring daughter. The head maid had other reasons, didn't she?
"Can't blame you... She's really cute like this..."
With an internal smile, the father turned to the maid again before continuing.
"Hm, is it really alright if the head maid has trouble sleeping? Are you on duty today?"
"I am."
"I see. In that case, would you accept being put to sleep with a spell of mine?"
"That would be exceedingly kind of you. I would certainly accept the honour of such a gracious gift."
"Hm. Let's go, then."
Watching Neia's good friend quietly get up, Satoru made a mental note to ask Nfirea or another skilled herbalist for something to help with insomnia. He was a bit worried.
... ...
It was four hours past midnight, a time when almost none were awake. It was far too late for any standard shift to last until such an hour, and far too early for any standard shift to start. And so, it was only city guards, those suffering from sleeplessness, and those affected by unexpected circumstance who were currently awake. The Dwarf Kingdom's Director of Food Production belonged to both the second and third groups simultaneously, staring at the dimly lit surface of a table no less pristine than the rest of the room. He could not even bring himself to drink his current troubles away. Silence and solitude were his only company now.
... And then, finally, now that it has been hours of waiting, the double door opened. But the expression the Master of Caves and Mines was wearing meant nothing good. Not that anything else was at all likely.
"... Hey."
"Hey."
His fellow member of the Regency Council came closer, but not too far into the room. A bitter, melancholy silence enveloped the two men, until...
"... We found nothing."
The Director of Food Production sighed from the bottom of his heart, even though this result was entirely expected. For so long now, the dwarves were able to do nothing but dig into their own abandoned mineshafts. With so many records being lost with the catastrophes befalling their people, it was only inevitable. First the frost dragons, then the quagoa... Still, the total lack of ore they were able to find was nothing short of staggering. As if fate itself was mocking their nation. As if the Gods had abandoned them completely.
"Nothing... Nothing... Then it's time."
"Aye."
A decree had already been pre-written long ago. All the tariffs and restrictions on imports would be lifted, allowing the Sorcerer King to once again extend his hand in charity towards the dwarven people. If he still had it in him to do so after it was previously slapped away, that is. The dwarf looked up at the dark ceiling, recalling how it was by a difference of one single vote that the council agreed to put those tariffs in place. Recalling how it was him who assured the others it would be very much temporary, only a matter of weeks, three months at most. How complacent and lazy he had gotten when it came to ensuring his own people's well-being.
"Doyim?"
The Director of Food Production turned to his colleague, surprised at the informal address.
"Yeah?"
"It's just dreadful luck is what it is. Don't beat yourself up over it too much."
"... Aye. Thanks, Tonda."
Internally, he disagreed.
... ...
Two chairs stood on the other side of the large desk in Suzuki Satoru's office. With a deep bow, a fearsome demon took his place on the vacant one, next to the succubus who had arrived some time earlier. Satoru himself took a deep breath as his gaze shifted from his messy notes, to the portrait of his beautiful wife, to the eager Demiurge. The king spoke in a manner practised over countless nights, regal and authoritative but in a benevolent, warm way. Well, it was far more casual these days than it used to be…
"Then, Demiurge, you compiled those results with the wall experiments?"
Satoru recalled that Demiurge was, for whatever reason, rather intrigued by the Holy Kingdom's great wall. The enormous one that the Sorcerer Kingdom had built on the border between the Dragon Kingdom and Beastman Nation served multiple purposes aside from what was obvious at first. Although the beastmen had, by most accounts, built for themselves a rather savage civilisation, they would not be so foolish as to attack once news of the Dragon Kingdom's vassalisation had reached them. The massive wall existed for several reasons, but the safety of the Dragon Kingdom's people was not at all one of them.
More than anything, it was to impress them.
None could deny that its construction was a herculean task, incredibly more so considering the speed at which it was accomplished, something made possible by the tireless and hungerless undead labourers. It was far more preferable to having the people's safety be guaranteed by stationing those same undead as guards of villages and cities full of people who still feared and despised the creatures, seeing them as natural enemies to all that lives. Instead, Satoru could appear as genuinely caring for those people's safety and showing them a great deal of good will by building something tremendously majestic and would help protect them even if he were to recall all troops.
Other than helping make advantageous first impressions, Demiurge also apparently wanted to use it to gather some data. More specifically, it had something to do with working out how workable certain less conventional materials were for large-scale construction. Additionally, it was more experience for a few apprentice architects who helped manage minor aspects of the project as assistants. And then, ever since the wall has been finished, the demon could also experiment with how to most efficiently patrol such a unique structure.
And there was one more major reason for the wall's existence, in the original, very bloody plan to gain control of the Beastman Nation, though Satoru was no longer intending for it to come to that.
Demiurge adjusted his glasses with a faint smile before speaking.
"Yes, Lord Ainz. I believe I'd investigated all the points to an acceptable degree."
"I have high trust in you, so I'm sure you've done a good job. I'll take a look at it when we're done here and see if there's anything else I want to know. If there's nothing, you can proceed to the first phase of that sabotage plan. Is that all regarding this topic?"
"Yes, Lord Ainz. Understood!"
"Then, Albedo...? You mentioned there was an update on the Dwarven Kingdom situation?"
"Yes. The Regency Council privately informed our ambassadors of the lifting of all tariffs and other restrictions on all imports, effective immediately."
The king nodded.
"Privately? So they're waiting for our move. Let's go with the most direct route we discussed. Just go back to giving handouts and ensure the people know the Regency Council is the reason this hasn't happened earlier."
"Yes, Lord Ainz."
Next to the responding succubus, Demiurge shifted before asking a question in an uneasy tone.
"Lord Ainz? May I ask why we have not sabotaged more of the Dwarves' crops? I believed it would have been far more efficient with no risk of detection. Were my estimations wrong?"
"Ah, that..."
While preparing his explanation, Albedo chimed in.
"I believe I might know the answer to that...?"
Satoru raised a non-existent eyebrow before answering.
"Hm? Albedo? What do you mean? What do you think is my reasoning for that?"
"It might just be a hunch, but... Well, since you have many times now declared Lady Neia your equal, I thought it was likely you wished for her to share your place at the top of this world, to share ownership of it. And in that case, perhaps you wish to present conquered nations to her as something of a gift? If that idea is correct, then such a gift might not be dissimilar to any other material thing in that one should strive to present it in a pristine state. For example, the same way one would not present their beloved a wilted rose, you, Lord Ainz, might wish to present a subjugated nation to Lady Neia in the best possible state."
Demiurge gasped audibly, gaze snapping from Albedo to his master, who now wondered what kind of answer he should give. It was actually quite close to the truth, wasn't it? Satoru had changed his approach massively ever since falling in love with Neia... With a sigh, the proud father remembered his commitment, remembered that lies always seemed to come back to bite him in the ass.
"Yes, Albedo... That's quite right... Good catch."
The demon gasped for a second time before vigorously leaning forward, his subsequent words brimming with zeal.
"Ah! That's... That's so impressive! To move forward with your conquest of this world while sporting such a handicap... To conquer lands without destabilising them too much, to only ever cause discontent that could be easily fixed with our specific resources, to walk such a fine line, to maintain such a delicate balance! I am most impressed, Lord Ainz!"
"Hm. Thank you, but don't undersell Nazarick's contributions, or your very own, Demiurge."
"I am unworthy of such praise! To think so many things I found strange might've been a result of such a lack of understanding on my part... I feel equal part ashamed of my inability to realise this as I am impressed by your genius, Lord Ainz."
"Is that really impressive?... Well, no matter. Is that all for this topic?"
... ...
In her private, luxurious room that would have been far more disorderly without the maids' help, Nemu Emmot tapped on the tip of her chin with a finger, the tip of her quill frozen still by hesitation and uncertainty. The young woman has for a while now had the privilege of staying at the divine High Priestess' mansion, receiving guidance and theological education from the Prophetess herself.
Over the course of Nemu's training as a Purity Inspector, she noticed three main categories of forms troublesome ideas could appear in.
First was the most obvious, something upfront and clear in its offensiveness. Statements like "the undead are all evil". As part of her apprenticeship, she was expected to be able to point out any such unacceptable statements, provide an explanation for why it was unacceptable, correct the troublesome contents with something that matched with the faith's values, and point to something from the faith's canon to justify her reasoning in all previous decisions.
The second category was less explicit, something that instead came together to give the wrong message when in context. An example of this could be a whole play where the heroic and virtuous character would repeatedly slay evil undead characters without an emphasis on good undead characters.
Or perhaps it would be a larger set of statements or actions. It is not outright illegal to circulate recent happenings, certainly not if they are truthful, but if an independent news-distributing organisation just so happened to only ever report on crimes committed by demi-humans and never on those committed by humans, it should certainly bring their true intentions into question.
The Sorcerer Kingdom was a place where everyone was given a chance on an individual basis, a place where one's species should have no bearing on one's treatment, and so attempts at maliciously maligning a specific group were not to be treated lightly.
The final and third category Nemu noticed was ideological statements dressed up in a great deal of allegory, indirectness, or evasiveness. A novel about a fictional evil king might seem just fine, until one notices the king has red eyes, is very tall and slim, is a powerful mage, marries a blonde commoner woman, and his nation is named the "Mage Kingdom", or something like that. Or maybe it could be like that one time Nemu thought something was just a cute children's tale with animal characters, only for Her Holiness to point out just how illegal certain actions the character committed were.
Currently, the young woman was struggling with something that fit firmly into the third category.
Looking at the magical clock again, Nemu realised it was probably time to stop for the day and present her work to the Goddess. With a sigh, she put away the quill, hoping everything she'd managed to get done over these past few days would not disappoint.
...
Although she'd knocked on this very door many times before, Nemu could still not help but be nervous when it came to entering such a personal space of the High Priestess. But after idling at the bedroom's door for what felt like an eternity, the girl finally mustered the courage to make her presence known with a knock, and swallowed before identifying herself.
"Your Holiness?"
"Ah, come in, Nemu!"
The village girl exhaled forcefully as she reached for the door handle. Upon entering, three people came into view. There was of course the High Priestess, sitting at her desk and writing something that was probably more important than anything Nemu would ever write or say or do in her life. Also just as expected was the presence of little Ayame, who was sitting and playing with some toys on the bed under the supervision of the head maid, who also sat on the beautiful sheets. Nemu was quite nervous around that woman, but apparently the princess was not so shy.
"Hello!"
In response to the angel's upbeat tone, Nemu bowed, but only slightly.
"Greetings, Your Holiness, Your Highness, Madam Valeria..."
"Ah, I see you're here about your training? Give me just a bit and make yourself comfortable on the sofa, ok?"
"Yes."
As the Prophetess turned back to her desk, Nemu closed the door behind her and stiffly obeyed, setting the folder of pages she was holding on the large table before sitting down on the edge of the most comfortable thing her butt ever touched. It didn't take long for the High Priestess to finish up and come over, seating herself on an armchair at the head of the table. As always, her friendly smile and warm tone seemed to have no business being on the same face as that glare. Well, it looked like a glare, but wasn't.
"Hmm, maybe we should just catch up, make some small talk and see if that goes anywhere? We haven't really spoken since last time, have we?"
"As you wish, Your Holiness."
"Oh, well, but would you like that?"
"Well, I, uhm, wouldn't want to keep you for any longer than necessary, since it seems I interrupted something."
The holy woman chuckled playfully.
"You always say that. It's okay, I know ahead of time, so unless I cancel these completely, I'm counting on giving you plenty of time."
"Uhm, okay!"
"How have you been, then? Got up to anything interesting?"
"Not really. Just studying and doing the provided exercises, mostly."
"Hmm... You also always seem to say that... Are you sure you're happy here? Maybe there needs to be more to do in the mansion..."
"That's- well, I think it's super nice and wonderful here, I'm just making the best of having the privilege of being mentored by you!"
"Alright. Just make sure not to overwork yourself, okay? That'll slow you down more than any amount of relaxation and breaks could."
"Yes!"
"Good. Now, what about-"
"Where daddy?"
The women were interrupted by the unease of a certain question from Ayame. Emma was the one to respond, with the two others turning in the direction of the scene.
"Daddy will come soon."
"Daddy..."
The tiny Ayame's response was noticeably distraught, and a moment later, the princess hugged the maid, face buried in the stylish uniform. The High Priestess leaned towards Nemu while getting up, speaking in a hushed, pained voice.
"Ah, sorry, give me a bit... "