Ainz-sama was sitting at his desk in deep thought. The people around were ready for his next order that would surely aw them with the repercussions that would have to the world. Then, there was a knock on the door. One of the maids opened and went outside the room to check who had knocked. After a brief moment, the door was open completely, and Albedo entered.
She was wearing her typical white dress. Her black wings were shiny and retracted, and her horns were as white and shiny as the lights reflected on them. The face was as beautiful, and her smell was always sweet. She would never let herself present to the supreme being with a bad image if she could help it.
"Ainz-sama, I have an urgent report from the human called Cristobal", said Albedo.
The great king nodded and gestured with his hand so she could give him the papers with the information and then gesture again so she could make a small recap. At the same time, he gave a fast lecture on the report.
Albedo nodded and proceeded, "The human was tasked to find alternative routes to arrive at the Kingdom of Soba. He failed to arrive but said he encountered beastmen not from the Beastmen country. They called themselves Faunus as if they were a different species. They talked about different countries and places."
The great king leaned back and caressed his chin. "Have they left the ship?"
"No. It seems they were frightened when they saw the Death Knights and are currently imprisoned."
"Have any of them died?"
"The report informed that all of them are alive and in good health."
The great king nodded and said, "Put all the crew and their guest under quarantine. Also, to anyone who has had any contact with them since their arrival. We don't know if they may have any new sickness that can affect us."
"Yes, your majesty", replied Albedo. The king nodded, and she left the room.
Ainz-sama read the papers with the information. 'What is this? I am already with many things around me. Even when Albedo and Demiurge are helping me, it seems that things always accumulate. What should I do? Bah, I will assign it to another NPC.'
He then used [Message] spell. "Come here as soon as you are available."
For the maid, in turn, it amazed her that the king already made a plan. Or maybe he already predicted this. No one thought of the idea of another country outside those already known on the continent. It was a small topic, even by the lower life like humans, that the idea of this Cristobal fellow was ridiculous, but the great Supreme being thought otherwise. Not only did he give his approval, but he also gave them suppliers and two Death Knights created by the king himself only for that mission.
Only a couple of minutes passed, and a portal appeared. Patting heavily as if she had been rushing herself was Shalltear Bloodfallen. "Reporting to service, Ainz-sama. I apologize for the waiting", said the vampire.
The great king grunted in approval and moved his hand to ask her to stand up. "I may have a new task for you, but first I want to ask you how it is going with your current task with the 'aerial force'".
"You honour me, Ainz-sama, for thinking of me for a task. I will gladly take it and work hard on it. Regarding my current post, the union with the undead and the Dragons may be lacking. But I am certain that the use of Lizard men as Dragon riders has exceeded our expectations. Elves are also exceptional riders, but they are small in numbers. The armour made for the Dragons and the riders made by the Dwarves are helping for close combat and elemental magic so far."
The king nodded, "Great. That is a splendid job, Shalltear".
"Thank you very much, Ainz-sama", said the vampire while making a courtesy gesture with her dress.
"The reason why I ask you to come is because we have stumbled upon with people from lands outside the continent. As an undead, you should be able to go and get the information from them without getting any kind of disease. But this also means that you will be under quarantine with them to minimize any possible unknown sickness coming from them that can affect the population."
"Yes!" replied the vampire.
"Do you have anyone that can replace you in your post and pass you the information via message?"
"I do. An elf who works as a secretary of sorts for me", said the silver-haired girl.
The king nodded, "good. A good boss should be able to trust their employees and delegate the jobs to the right person. Go tell her what will happen, and then report to Albedo. She is the one that is working on the quarantine."
"I Understand, Ainz-sama. I will put into action everything I have learned from you", said Shalltear. Then she said goodbye with another courtesy gesture, then she opened a portal and left the place. Ainz-sama was left with the question about when did he teach her something.
/
After that meeting, it passed three days. Albedo had helped the adventurers to have a good accommodation as part of their service to the king.
At first, Demiurge wanted to say something; he wanted to know more information. But Albedo remembered that Ainz-sama had already told her he wanted to put the Floor Guardians in different positions. Something that happened just before his 'paid vacations' in the Elf Kingdom. And with more jealousy, she also reminded that Ainz-sama had already taken Shalltear personally under his wing when he took her to the Dwarves Kingdom.
The accommodations made for Cristobal's crew were busy, with everybody having something to distract themselves. The crew understood and were grateful for the accommodations. So far, they have not felt any kind of sickness, but still, their health is monitored every day.
Unlike the adventures, the so-called Faunus were inside a cell. They reacted badly to the Death Knights, called them Grimm, and tried to fight them. Fortunately, the Death Knights did listen to the Capitan and did not kill them. But once they arrived at the port of the old Re-Estize, they again attacked when they saw the lynch scribers that welcomed them. The Capitan could intervene fast, so they were not killed for that, so they decided to send them to a cell.
The prison where the fauns were kept was dark but not dirty. Each person has a personal cell, including a bed and a private bathroom. The problem for the residents of Remnant was that the guards were walking skeletons with sword and shield in hand. And behind a desk was the figure of a man with a body that looked putrefied and the same as the one that appeared in the docks. It was a nightmare come true for them.
Suddenly, the main door opened, and the prisoners, with fear, turned to see who the newcomer was. To their surprise, it was a young girl, maybe fifteen years old. She had white skin that looked made of porcelain and beautiful facial features that made her look like an aristocrat. The silver hair made them remember the image of the Schnee family, a wealthy family that had done too much damage to the Faunus. The girl wore an evening dark dress and an enormous bow to tie her hair in a ponytail.
She looked at the prisoners, and next to her was a Lynch, the same that was behind the desk. When she turned to see the prisoners, they saw a pair of red eyes that screamed blood. 'Was she a faunus like them?'
The girl walked alongside the lynch and stopped in front of Leo's cell.
"Hello there. I was told that you are the leader of this group. Is that correct?" asked the girl.
"I am no leader. I am just another fisherman," said the dog faunus.
"I see", said the silver-haired girl, and then took a small notepad and started to take notes. "Oh, don't mind me if I write down some information".
The Dog faunus nodded slowly. The girl eyed him and then turned to the lynch, "You may leave us". The Lynch bowed respectfully and left her. Then she turned to the skeletons, "All of you, leave us."
She turned again to the faunus, who was scared. The monsters just bowed to her and obeyed without any problem.
"It seems that you feared them; don't worry. They are here to protect the citizens, so as long as you don't do anything stupid, you will be ok", said the vampire nonchalantly.
A Faunus from another cage then screamed, "What?! Ok?! We were imprisoned as soon as we arrived. When those monsters appeared…"
"You attacked them, which was a stupid thing to do", cut the vampire without taking her eyes for her notepad. She wondered how to explain to the prisoners and then continued, "Just like I just said. Imagine that someone arrived at your country and attacked the people that work for your protection. What do you think is going to happen?" said the girl dismissively.
Leo calmed himself. The logic matched, but he didn't know where they were now. 'Were those another kind of Grimm? Do these people were able to dominate the Grimm?' were his thoughts. He used this opportunity to get the most information about the place.
"I understand that we may have acted rather impulsive", said Leo. The girl only nodded.
"By the way, miss. Could you tell us your name? And if you know the one in charge?" asked Leo.
The girl turned to face everyone and smirked, "of course. My name is Shalltear Bloodfallen, and as of today, I am the one in charge of all of you."
One of the Faunus started to laugh loudly, mocking the vampire, "You in charge? Miss, could you call your parents please. It seems you should not be here".
Shalltear did not react, "Well, if that's what you want, I will leave you again. Next time I come back, let's see if you may want to talk". She then turned back and left the place, and while she exited the room, the skeletons entered again.
After that, it passed some days without Shalltear coming back. Their food was just a small pudding with no flavour, with only enough nutrients to survive.
A ram faunus was getting desperate and tried to break the bars of the cell. Not only did he fail to do so, but he also was attacked by the skeletons who attacked him mercilessly. The ram faunus did not have his aura unlocked, and everyone thought that he was going to die, but one of the monsters that looked like a walking corpse appeared and healed him. They did not know what happened. Did the monsters use any kind of semblance? But that would be impossible. Grimm can't have semblances.
The next day after the incident, Shalltear entered and reached the cell where the ram faunus was. She saw him nod and then left the place without saying anything.
After two more weeks, the room was opened again. Behind Shalltear were some skeletons with a table full of food. One of the Skeletons put a chair where the vampire used to sit.
"Hello, Faunus people. How have you been?" asked the girl. Almost all of them frowned at her, except the ram faunus, who was still afraid of the skeletons.
"Really? No answer? I am trying here to be a good person and give Your Majesty the best performance I can. But if you don't want to talk, I can try a different approach", said the girl with a smirk.
"Don't! Don't attack us. I will answer to everything, but don't attack us!" said the ram faunus.
The vampire smirked and got closer. A doe faunus girl, next to the ram faunus, screamed, "Do you feel strong attacking people that are not combatants?!"
The vampire rolled her eyes and asked the ram faunus, "Tell me what happens in your country when a prisoner tries to escape?"
The ram faunus flinched a little, "they are searched for to return them to prison."
"Well done", said Shalltear. "What is your name?"
"D-Dean", said the Faunus.
"Very well, Dean. I will tell you something spectacular, something close to a fairy tale," said Shalltear and then turned to see all the Faunus.
"You are not close to Menagerie, wherever that is. You are in the Sorcerer Kingdom, in particular in the port where the kingdom of Re-Estize used to be. The people that found you were trying to cross the world to arrive on the other side of the continent." explained Shalltear.
"Cross the world?!" asked incredulously Leo from his cell.
"But that's impossible. We all know that there are powerful Grimm in the ocean that don't allow that kind of trip", said a rat Faunus.
"I did say that you won't believe me", said the vampire with a smirk. Shalltear then walked to the plate of food and grabbed some fruit, "they did try, but they found you and that sea monster. The information of this sea monster is not in the records of any country, and just like you said, there is also a recommendation to not cross the world by sea."
The vampire then walked around the small hall in between the cells. "Dean, do you feel competent to answer some geographic questions? You don't need to give me details, just what you think is common knowledge."
The ram faunus nodded nervously. The vampire smiled, "good. Tell me, have you heard of the Sorcerer Kingdom, the Baharuth Empire or the Roble Holy Kingdom?"
Dean shook his head, "No. There are just the four kingdoms that are Vale, Atlas, Mistral and Vacuo."
Shalltear nodded, "Like I said, you are currently in the Sorcerer Kingdom". She then threw him the fruit she had in her hands.
"You may say that this is the first encounter between two worlds. Although, continents will be a better word," explained the vampire.
"Do you want us to believe that crap?!" said the same faunus that first complained.
"Shut it!" screamed the doe faunus. Shalltear turned to her and nodded, "Thank you". The vampire then took another fruit and gave it to the doe faunus.
"Now, there are some obvious questions that you may have about the politics and the geography. But I am more concerned about some terms you have been using."
/
Shalltear was sitting inside a room. It was an improvised office for her. She was rereading her notes, and to her side was a blackboard with some notes.
Her notepad was an enchanted item that never ended, so she could continue writing endlessly. She has many notes from when she went to the Dwarves' Kingdom and on other occasions when she was alone with Ainz-sama.
But all the notes from the Faunus were removed from the notepad and were scattered around the desk in front of her. The blackboard had the most essential information and, in big words, had the names of the kingdoms Vale, Atlas, Mistral and Vacuo. In bigger letters were the words Humans and Faunus, then the word 'Semblances', and the word below it was Huntsman.
Shalltear wanted to know what her next step should be. She wanted to return to the most beautiful being, Ainz-sama, tell him about her progress and get praised for it. But she knew that she needed to do more.
Albedo and Demiurge usually arrived at the supreme being with a plan already created. Going at that moment with no plan is like half-done homework.
"What would the supreme being do?" asked Shalltear to herself.
She was sure she could mimic him to a certain degree, but only in the graciousness. She will never be as beautiful and majestic as he is in his movements, but out of all the habitants of the Tomb of Nazarick, she is the closest. Except maybe for Pandora's Actor, but he is Ainz-sama's creation.
The problem was still in her head. It was challenging to answer or to proceed for her, as she was told that Ainz-sama already had a plan for the next ten thousand years. She was sure the Supreme Being had a backup plan in case she screwed it, but that doesn't mean she should work sloppy. She has already committed a mistake with the bandits of Re-Estize.
Shalltear remembered the moment Ainz-sama decided to attack the Theocracy because that country used a world-class item to control her. He was furious against them. Should she attack them the same way because they attacked the Death Knights?
The worst of the situation is that the information was too little. She did not know too much about their army, if they had any. What kind of powers really meant semblance. How big their population was, or the weaponry.
"What would Ainz-sama would do if he was in front of a new world?" asked Shalltear to herself. And just like that, her head started to work. "What did Ainz-sama do?" asked again Shalltear. She began to think deeply and then started to write in her notepad.
She wrote for about thirty minutes and then stopped. She then started to think about the information in front of her. She knew that the Supreme Being knew about the Carne village thanks to an item that let him see from afar.
Unfortunately, she did not have such an item. She could always ask the supreme being for it, but she needed to learn how it worked or its full capabilities, and she did not want to risk and break it. It was also impertinent for her to ask to teach her, although she would love that very much so she could have time alone with the Supreme Being.
The other thing she may do is skip that and become an adventurer or a huntsman, as they called them. It was an idea that she would hold, as she did not want to be under the sun. A thought crossed her mind, "Do they have any YGGDRASIL items?"
That made her have a headache. It was possible they had one, and she did not want to burden the Supreme Being… again.
She covered her face with her hands, with the imminent migraine she would have.
"Damm it all. I will go by myself. Ainz-sama knew the possibility, and he still showed himself in Carne Village and travelled as an Adventurer. I just need to be more cautious and stop being so impulsive; yes, that is it."
She just made up her mind when she stopped herself. "I should tell Ainz-sama about it, but… Should I be able to go? Is the quarantine already finished?"
Shalltear looked at the calendar she had inside her desk. "I need to wait another week!"
The vampire let herself fall on the chair again and thought for a moment. The idea of just using [Message] and telling the Supreme Being about the plan was in her head, but she wanted to see the great king.
She can always just say that she forgot and it was an emergency. But She knew that Albedo then would do something about it.
She resigned, sat and used [Message].
"Hi, Ainz-sama. May I interrupt you for a moment?"
"Oh, Shalltear. Do you have information for me?"
"Of course, your majesty. I have gathered information about the homeland of the so-called Faunus. I have created a document with everything. But they are a lower-class citizen from their homeland, so they don't have that many details".
"Low-class citizens, you said? Any indication that they would prefer to live with us?"
Shalltear was amazed at the Supreme Being. He was given too little information, and in an instant, he already made a plan.
"It-It may be possible, but the current people won't help. They are too scared of our undead."
"I see. But the first contact with the undead is always difficult."
"About contacts. Supreme Being, I want to ask for permission about a plan I made."
"I agree with whatever you think is necessary. I trust in you, Shalltear. I know you will do a good work… just remember to keep your calm".
"Yes!"
"Very well then. Anything else?"
"No. I will do my best. Thank you, Ainz-sama!"
The king grunted in approval and ended the contact. Shalltear was smiling and creating her new plan. She grabbed the papers about the prisoners and looked about who she could possibly use.
Out of all of the people, there was a man, the ram that was called Dean. He was the father of two and was the only one who knew how to operate a ship. She made up her mind. She will go to this Remnant, specifically to Margarine, in a small boat with that man.
She walked outside her office and straight to the prison cells. She stopped first with the Lynch in the front and talked to him. She asked him to make preparations for all the prisoners to be moved to a better accommodation, close to what the ship crew has, but they will be monitored. They would be outside cells but in a strictly guarded environment. The Lynch bowed and left.
After that, she walked out. The Faunus only saw her talking with the lynch and leaving. They were wondering what happened.
Shalltear returned after an hour, "Good evening. I came to give you good news."
All the Faunus turned to see her. "All of you, except for one, will be moving to another accommodation", said the vampire with a smirk.
It was a late night. A dolphin, Faunus, was the only woke in the lighthouse. The man was surprised when he saw in the sea a small boat. At that time of night, it was not normal for boats to appear. The dolphin faunus went to the closer table and took a pair of binoculars, and then he was able to see that the boat was moved by the waves of the sea, and on the boat was a man unconscious. The worst was that the boat was going directly to a rocky shore.
The dolphin faunus ran down, and before leaving, he went to his work partner. "Hey! Wake up! Someone needs help! Wake up!" screamed the dolphin faunus. A man with thick skin and spots got up from a bed, "What's emergency?"
"A man, unconscious, or that's what it appears, on a small boat, waves are taking him to the rocks".
The other man nodded. "I'll call for medical assistance and get a bed ready. You are faster; go and bring him here."
The dolphin faunus ran away, and he jumped to the beach without caring about what he was wearing. He swam as fast as he could and arrived at the boat, grabbed it from the edge and started to swim back to the safe shore.
Once he got there, the other faunus was already waiting. Both men carried the man inside the lighthouse and let him on a bed. They saw an injury with dried blood on the man's forehead. Unfortunately for the man, a horn was broken.
Both faunus wondered if the faunus in front of them was part of the missing ship. Before they could start to wonder, more white lights appeared from outside. The dolphin faunus opened the door, and a couple paramedics entered, "you call for an emergency?"
"Yes, it's in that direction. We found him alone in the sea".
The paramedics checked the man. One of the paramedics felt they were being watched, and suddenly, a window opened by the wind, and the sensation on the paramedic faded.
Outside the lighthouse, a shadow moved. It was fast, and most of the people awake at that moment did not notice, but some did feel something, especially the faunus with a talent to hunt and to look at night.
Suddenly, close to a desert, Shalltear appeared. "Tch. I should have known that there were individuals who could detect me." She looked at the desert and then back to the city, "Still, I guess the infiltration is a success."