A Vulpine Spanner in the Works

Chapter 45: Royally Screwed

[Kashia]

Sitting at the table in the cabin after I heard all of Tuare's explanation, my eyes flickered between said girl and the gray kitsune that looked at me with a mixture of worry and fear. My claws tapped against the table rhythmically as I absorbed everything that was said. Was I slightly annoyed that the protector I had watching my daughter was now hooking up with her? A little bit.

Was I absolutely murderous about it? Not in the slightest. At least, not in a way that Saizo or Tuare could actually tell. If this was what Tuare wanted, I wasn't going to stop her. But I was going to have fun putting the fear of God into Saizo. Or, more specifically, the fear of me.

Ninya sat next to me, quietly looking between all of us as she didn't exactly know what to make of the situation. It was a few more, nerve-wracking moments of silence for everyone in the room before I finally spoke. "Saizo…"

"Y-Yes, your Highness?" He replied quickly.

"Do you like your genitals?" I questioned ominously, earning wide eyes and a slow nod from the kitsune. "Do anything that I find displeasing to my kit, and I will ensure that you end up losing them in as brutal a way possible that I can devise, do you understand?"

"A-Absolutely."

That earned a malicious grin aimed at the man before I focused on Tuare, "As for you," then I glanced over to Ninya, "and Ninya as well, I understand that both of you are around that age where you both are going to be active, and I do support whatever you choose to do, but I want you both to be safe while doing it." Both girls looked mortified as they understood where I was going with this, "With that said, I will buy or have made fertility inhibiting potions for either of you if you ask me because I really don't want to become a grandmother before I'm even in my 30's."

At that point, both girls were bright red, Tuare especially. At least I was getting the accursed parental talk over and done with. "With that out of the way, any further questions?"

"No." Tuare and Ninya replied together.

I sighed in relief at this, "Great! I can end the awkward parent talk. Now, Tuare, got any questions you want to get out of the way immediately for Ninya and I before I explain what happened the past few days?"

Tuare quickly nodded, "What happened to you, Ninya?" Tuare asked as she got out of her seat and went over to Ninya's side to examine her ears and tail, much to the younger girl's embarrassment.

"Well, I ended up turning into a kitsune due to a mixture of drinking mom's blood and her becoming a full goddess. I didn't even expect it to happen until it had." Ninya answered as Tuare rubbed my younger kit's ears, earning a happy moan alongside a wagging brunette tail.

Upon realizing what she just did, Ninya cutely tried to hide the growing blush she had with her hands. At the same time, an evil glint grew in Tuare's eyes. "That was adorable, Ninya!" Saying this my eldest kit began rubbing my younger kit's ears again, earning more moans and tail wags from Ninya until she finally pushed Tuare's hands away.

"O-Okay, enough already!" Ninya said while she tried to settle her ears and hair. I was doing my best to hold back my laughter as I watched this. "Just wait until you get a pair of ears and tails of your own. We'll see how you like it."

Tuare became confused upon hearing this, so I decided to explain, "Tuare, you're eventually going to turn into a kitsune as well. Likely in a few weeks. Maybe less."

"What?!"

"You're probably going to wish to sit down for this." I said before I explained much of the events that had transpired when we were gone. From me turning into a goddess, the battle against the undead that had occurred with the undead. Then, I explained Ninya's kidnapping, keeping any details about Momonga out of it. I watched Tuare go over to Ninya and give her a hug as we reached that part.

I then went on to Ninya's transformation and then to the fight I had with Albedo. I kept it brief enough, but mentioned Ratatoskr's assistance and that Albedo had been permanently cursed and locked away.

Tuare had been a little curious about the topic of transforming into an entirely different race. I explained it to her as best as I could how the process would be gradual, and shouldn't at all be painful. This helped to ease her thoughts about the matter. This finally led to the conclusion of explaining the events that had occurred for Ninya and I.

"And after resurrecting all of the fallen, we headed back here." I finished summarizing.

"Compared to you two, my past few days were downright mundane." Tuare jokingly remarked.

Giving Tuare a joking shrug and grin, I spoke, "Well, it's a little hard to top becoming a full goddess, changing to an entirely different race, fighting a demon or an army of the undead."

"Guess saying it like that puts it into perspective." Tuare said in agreement. "So, what is going to happen now after everything that's happened?"

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms under my chest, "We will all have a busy time for the foreseeable future, Tuare." I answered, earning a questioning look from the blonde.

"What do you mean by that, mom?"

One of my tails patted Tuare on the shoulder and I grinned, "For a couple of days, possibly a week or two, we'll first go to a place in the Great Forest of Tob to train you, Tuare, on a little bit of magic to start with. At the same time, Ninya, I'll be showing you the ropes on being a kitsune. After a little bit of practice, I'll take you to a village I know nearby that will help with adjusting to your sense of smell." I explained to the pair.

Both of my girls seemed agreeable to this, though Tuare did ask, "What about my job? I don't want to just leave my coworkers for a long period like that." I patted Tuare on the head and smiled.

"Way ahead of you. Lukrut's already explaining an edited form of the situation to his cousin. Besides, I have someone that will be a suitable temporary replacement while you're gone." I reassured my kit while thinking of the perfect kitsune that could take Tuare's place for a bit.

After all, I may not want to kill or permanently punish her for it, since what she did was for a good reason. But I'd still like to be informed ahead of time when one of my servants feeds one of my daughters my blood.

This would be a more than suitable 'punishment' for that. She'd be fine enough acting like a serving wench for a few days.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning, so get some shuteye because we'll have a long day ahead of us." Then, I glanced over to Saizo who had stayed quiet the entire time, "…And I guess that you can tag along." I added, internally smirking at the way Saizo and Tuare glanced at one another.

Guess I can understand a bit of the reason that mom considers things like this to be fun. I think I'll get used to it.

['Princess' Renner]

Day 38:

"Good morning, your Highness. It will please you to hear that Blue Roses has just finished eliminating the three Eight Fingers operations near Re-Estize. They will be arriving back at the capital in a few days' time." Tsunami informed me as I finished reading through the report I had received from my employees.

I found a real smile growing on my face as the beginning stages of my plan were taking off beautifully. My first stage of the plan had been the hiring of the multiple different adventuring groups, with Blue Roses being the crux to completing it. Four days ago, Tsunami used her magic to divine the location of the team as they we well on their way to the two separate bases of Eight Fingers after annihilating the black market.

Once that had been confirmed, I sent out messages to my employees in the city to spread the news that I was personally working on dismantling the operations of Eight Fingers by sending out strike teams with my own money. This was followed by Tsunami discreetly spreading this news among the other maids in the castle. It took less than three days after that for everyone in the castle, and especially the nobles, to know of my current operations.

Humorously enough, as I eventually expected it to happen, an assassination attempt was made against me on that third day. I didn't have a single reason to fear it as the assassin had been caught the moment he snuck into my room through the window by Tsunami. From what the kitsune was able to pull from the man, he had been hired by Duke Antonio of all people.

And, stupidly enough, the duke had either been too arrogant (a strong possibility) or too stupid (the most likely possibility) to not hire this assassin through a series of middle-men. Then again, the man was one of Barbro's close supporters. Now, as for Antonio's reasoning for trying to kill me? The assassin had no answer, but that didn't mean that I couldn't guess.

Either Antonio was afraid of my growing standing with both the nobles and commoners or he was one of the nobles that worked with Eight Fingers. Since I highly doubted that the oaf would ever find reason to fear me since I was just a simple princess in his eyes, he had to have panicked when he discovered that I was destroying Eight Fingers' operations. Some of his money was definitely tied up in one of those places.

By all rights, I should have more than enough evidence to have the moron executed for such a sloppy attempt on my life if I were to inform Father about it. But I held off on doing such a thing as it would immensely hinder my plans.

Were Father to learn of this assassination attempt, he would have Antonio executed immediately, regardless of the political consequences. As Antonio was the last of his line due to his father's 'tragic' death in the brothel fire, the titles for his house and lands would transfer over to the next closest in line: Marquis Blumrush.

I could not afford for that man to attain such a huge swath of lands and power in such a short amount of time. Were that to happen, the Great Nobles faction would have more than enough power to force Father to abdicate from the throne and be replaced with the more manipulable Barbro. It would likely happen after three months or so as they finally grew the spines for it, hastened only by the oncoming famine in the future.

While I wouldn't doubt that Father might agree to step down, the possibility of him refusing, which would plunge the realm into a civil war, was also an equal possibility. It was too chaotic a series of events to allow that to happen.

And political ramifications aside, there were personal issues that I would have to contend with. Father would have a team of guards on me at all times due to his understandable fear of another attempt on my life. Yet this fear would slow me down since I'd have to be more discreet about my actions than I already am. And then, there would be the many questions on how this assassin had been thwarted by a weak princess and her maid. Creating a convincing lie would be a waste of my time and effort that could be put to more useful things.

As for the assassin himself? Tsunami used [Control Amnesia] to turn the man into a loyal servant of mine. After all, it would be a waste to just kill a man with such useful skills that could be put to good use. As such, I now had a new butler in my employ under the name of Alfred Coppersmith who could be used to remove troublesome obstacles whenever Tsunami was preoccupied or spy on others.

I was very impressed with his repertoire of skills ranging from stealth-based assassinations, poisons, and skullduggery. A happy coincidence I found with his skill in poisoning is that he was able to make excellent cups of tea.

Currently, I had Alfred keeping an eye on my Climb since he was traversing the streets of the capital on an observation mission for me. Even though I knew my Climb was stronger than the average warrior, I didn't doubt that any remnants of Eight Fingers might attempt something against one of my people if they were alone. Additionally, it helped to build a rapport between the two which was useful as Alfred was still new.

"Excellent to hear. News about my efforts have spread well among the commoners of the capital. They have been highly receptive to what I have done, and I should be able to insert the thought of my potential rulership in a few days while the discussions about me are high." I replied and looked up to Tsunami's amused face.

I know that little would come of talks of me ascending the throne right now. It was simply meant to plant the seed of that idea into their minds. I would have to foster and grow this idea in the capital, with talk of it quickly spreading out to the rest of the kingdom within months.

"That is wonderful, my Lady." Tsunami said with a giggle, "Shall we work on the second phase of the plan or do you wish to wait for the first phase to fully complete itself before proceeding?"

Thinking about the question, I came to a quick conclusion, "Yes, it would be viable to enter the second phase of the plan now so that the groundwork for the third phase is laid out all the faster. The only question is on which method to take?"

Tsunami bent over my desk and rested her elbows upon it while smirking at me. Were it one of my brothers sitting where I was right now, they'd likely be unable to think with the head on their shoulders. But this was just another one of Tsunami's games that she played, which we both found amusement in.

She played her role of a demure maid and I played my role as a kind and innocent princess. And the joke was how much we could put our true personalities into our roles without anyone noticing. Sadly, she was winning our game.

"Oh, I think we already know which option is the best to attempt, alongside being, by far, the fastest." Tsunami replied, and I knew exactly what she was talking about. This would entail utilizing subtle changes to the High Priests in the city with [Control Amnesia].

It was one of the three options that Tsunami and I had discussed. We could uncover the hidden secrets of each High Priest and expose them to the public. The second option was to falsify the evidence, and then expose them. Finally, there was the usage of [Control Amnesia].

Instead of performing massive sweeping edits in the minds of each High Priest, something that those close to them would take quick notice of. We'd perform minor edits that might seem unnoticeable at first. Perhaps, one of them might find themselves with a slight fascination of wine. Then, a small glass before bed that might grow to a drink at breakfast and lunch as well.

That glass would change to two glasses. Then three, then an entire bottle. Those close to this High Priest would notice this worrying growth of addiction. How sad would it be if this High Priest ended up running out of drink due to his innocuous habit? How scandalous might it become if it was discovered that this High Priest was spending the donated money of their clergy to fuel their habit?

We could complete such a process within three weeks and let the process run by itself. After all, there was nothing innocuous of a man gaining a new vice. The vices that each of these High Priests could have would, individually, cause outrage among the public. But together, it would put to question the Church's legitimacy.

The public would be put into a state of uncertainty for a short period before another of the Church's officials tried to reassert their command upon the people. During this window of time, the position to lead the people in spiritual leadership would have to be filled.

And who better to fill it than an actual goddess?

But to do this, we needed to start somewhere. "You're correct. Begin implantation on each of the High Priests tonight. We'll perform weekly edits until they have changed to our satisfaction." I answered with a smirk, "For now, we'll pay a visit to my dear older brother."

Tsunami stood up from my desk and straightened out her dress as I got up from my chair. "Will this visit to Zanac entail some mystical persuasion?" Tsunami questioned as I walked to the door with her.

"Perhaps it might. If necessary, we may have to alter Zanac's memory of our visit." I replied. This visit I planned to have with my brother was more of a method to test the waters around him on my growing ambition alongside testing ongoing editing of a person mid-discussion. Hopefully, this would only take one discussion and not multiple to convince him.

Before I had Tsunami under my command, I'd have to poke and prod at people to get a measure of their opinions about only a few of my ideas that wouldn't seem as radical to the nobility. Even then, there was always an immense risk that something I suggested or said to another member of nobility would burn a bridge to that potential resource.

As such, I had to be cautious, something that was arduous and time-consuming. But now, with Tsunami and her ability to edit memories, I could cut through all the niceties and receive an instant response. And judging from what their reaction was, I'd have Tsunami make them forget that they even had that conversation with me.

And while I could just have these nobles become loyal to me in the same way that Alfred had been made, a grand change in personality would be too drastic and sudden to not be overlooked by others. It was why, just like the High Priests, these changes needed to be gradual and minute.

Performing such a process on Zanac would be useful. Even were I to not receive a satisfactory response from my brother, I would still make some minor progress in my overall plan.

[Prince Zanac]

I drank another glass of wine while reading through the numerous reports before me on my desk. One report was about the interrogation of Alecto, with five other nobles who had been named as members of Eight Fingers and had either been arrested or had warrants of arrest out for them. Another report was about the frenzy that the Magician's Guild had been going through because of the golden pillar of magic that had been seen from miles away, almost impossibly so. From what had been learned, the concentration of mana in that pillar was so high that, were it to be used for a destructive spell, it would easily wipe out the entire capital!

With such a threat within our very borders that was completely unknown, the strongest members of the Magician's Guild, alongside Gazef Stronoff himself, had been sent to investigate. Father had his strongest warrior sent to investigate due to a fear that all of us share. This could potentially be a new weapon that the Baharuth Empire was testing within our borders, both to see the effects and to intimidate us.

I've no doubt that Barbro was running his soldiers ragged to get to the source of that event so he could claim more glory for himself. This was frustrating to me as I could do nothing to improve my standing with Father since anyone that needed to be sent to investigate has already left.

At most, I could attempt to fix my standing by helping to suppress Eight Fingers, but there was an issue with that. It was what led to the report currently at my fingers. My sister, Renner, has already sent out numerous adventuring groups, which she had paid for personally, to shut down the many places that Eight Fingers was currently operating. That innately disturbed me for reasons that others would not notice if they didn't know my sister as I did.

Even if I didn't say it aloud, my sister frightened me. Renner plays the naïve and innocent princess, yet she is far more cunning than others would give her credit for. Every move she made was calculated and precise. Without any true political power, she has managed to outlaw the slave and drug trade of Eight Fingers. Renner has become known throughout the entire kingdom for her kind works and charity.

Every single citizen in the kingdom, from the lowliest wretch, to the richest nobles, knows her name and who she is. In every other country, a spare princess like her would be forgotten to time and unseen. But Renner? She's more well-known and liked than even Barbro and I by most of the populace!

Fostering a reputation like that, and causing kingdom-spanning reforms without any strong political power, even with Father's favor, is not possible unless you were smart enough to manipulate the entire kingdom. Dangerously so. I've no doubt that if she thought about it, she could potentially collapse the entire kingdom within a few years. Yet, no one else could see it besides me. No one else could tell that she was not a simple princess.

When she's done charitable things, it's usually been through a mixture of her funding alongside the kingdom's. That gave her some leeway to manage what I had assumed to be a small amount of her own wealth. It wasn't until we received news that Renner funded a multitude of teams to shut down and destroy Eight Fingers' operations that anyone even knew about it.

She had not gone to Father, nor would any of the other nobles currently in the court care to help her unless Father did so first. That meant Renner had funded all of this herself. Why would she fund everything by herself? What kind of play is she attempting to make?

It is never something this simple! Especially now with talks spreading among the people of just this city that Renner could perhaps make for a decent que-

A knock at my door pulled me from my thoughts as I looked up from my desk. "Come in." I invited, wondering who it might be that had come to speak with me? Potentially, it was one of my supporters since I've had numerous discussions with them in the last few days. We were all in agreement that Barbro could not be allowed to attain the throne.

He would run the kingdom into the ground with his incompetence. It was coming to a point that I didn't even care if I were to become king or not. As long as my brother isn't able to as well.

I was running out of time as Father likely isn't long for this world, and his vassals grow emboldened in their small rebellious acts that Father allows. Both gods and men might find it outright monstrous and unforgivable, but it was coming to the point where I may need to personally set up assassination attempts on both Barbro and Father. The needs of the kingdom are greater than the needs of them.

Even were I to successfully accomplish these assassinations and become king, I would have less than a year before the famines hit. While I could navigate courtly intrigue and I had an overall grasp of the situation, I was trapped on what I could even do to solve it.

We need farmers to grow our food, but we need soldiers to fend off the Baharuth's attacks. There wasn't any viable method to balance this equation as too little of either factor would doom both of them.

As my guard opened my door, I was utterly surprised as Renner and the newly hired maid of hers stepped in. My guard closed the door behind the two and they approached me.

"Good day, brother! I'm so happy that I can speak with you right now!" Renner said with a joyful tone, but my eyes narrowed at what Renner could possibly want to speak with me about?

"Yes, sister. I'm actually quite surprised to see you in my office today. What brings you here?" I replied with as cordial a tone as I could maintain. I watched as Renner took a seat in the chair before my desk as her pink-haired maid stood by her side with an odd smile on her face.

"Oh, that's simple,-

-brother. I wanted to speak to you about the ongoing events in the kingdom. I know that we might not see eye-to-eye on a few things, but I know that you care about this kingdom as I do. I had hoped that we could set aside any differences that we might have so that we could work together to help save and preserve the kingdom we both care about." Renner replied, making me consider her words.

Taking a sip from my cup, I found it strangely empty. Setting the cup aside, I nodded, "You are correct that I have the desire to see the Re-Estize survive. I'm sure that you're keenly aware of what the kingdom faces." I said while keeping a careful gaze on my sister.

"I am, brother." Renner replied before the innocent look in her eyes became one of cunning calculation, "The Re-Estize will enter into a famine within the year. Father will likely be vacated from the throne within the next five years, with or without his consent. Regardless of who Father names as a successor, if neither you or Barbro are dead by then, then the realm will break out into civil war.

As this goes on, the common people will soon turn on the nobility as they starve, and in turn, the nobility will distance themselves away from the commoners. Revolts will break out, and this kingdom will further divide as the nobles with enough sense will break away from the Re-Estize. Some will go on to try and form their own lesser kingdoms. But others will align themselves with the Baharuth Empire immediately as their forces sweep throughout the scattered Re-Estize and conquer it without any real resistance. The Re-Estize will fall within a decade, give or take."

Anxiety spread into my mind like a poison as Renner gave voice to the concerns I already had. Worse, she even gave me new worries to ponder upon. The Re-Estize was doomed, and anything I attempted would only lessen whatever destructive conclusion it would come to. Be it one year or ten, this kingdom was dead, poisoned by its failed leadership.

Father, for all the good of his character, was the worst kind of ruler that the Re-Estize has needed for the past 40 years. He allowed his vassals too much leniency and power, with it now being too late to try and do anything to fix it. He acted too light on Eight Fingers, letting them corrupt and weaken the kingdom from within. And finally, Father should never have been so indecisive on who his heir should be.

He couldn't make the hard choice on picking which of his sons was best for the kingdom's future at expense of the other. Father knows that Barbro's only strength is leading an army, not managing an entire kingdom. Instead, he has let this decision go on for too long, splitting up the kingdom in the process. Now, no matter who ends up on the throne, all of us lose.

"A grim summation of what we face." I replied.

Renner gave me a wry grin that didn't reflect at all in her eyes. "It's the truth, brother. You asked me what I knew, and I have given you a detailed account of what our future appears as." I nodded in agreement, since it was what I had asked for, even if that answer only filled my mind with more worries and fears, "My question for you, brother, is what plan did you have in mind to fix this?"

Taking a moment to think about it, I answered, "Were I to attain the throne, I would begin with pulling from the retinues of the nobles who have greatly withheld their soldiers from previous battles against the Baharuth. This would help to free up currently drafted farmers who shall be put back to work growing crops."

Renner shook her head. "That won't work. The nobles who have consolidated their soldiers and were given too much power will ignore your command, might send only a small fraction of what you actually need, may revolt with others that actually agree with them, or they could just join the Baharuth Empire. As for the farmers, you're too many crop-cycles behind to offset the deficit of this famine, and it's too close to winter to even start. But," Renner then motioned, "continue on."

"There is the Magician's Guild which has gone unused since it was established. That could be used to bulk up the forces of our armies." I remarked.

"The Magician's Guild is filled with mages that are untrained in warfare. The Empire's battle-mages would annihilate most of them if their regular soldiers didn't do so first. And that's in addition to none of the nobles or commanders of our armies taking magic in combat seriously. They are staunch traditionalists that would take the suggestion of a battalion of mages as a joke. Getting them accepted into the armies and trained would take more time than the kingdom has." Renner countered.

My fists curled in frustration, "We could hire adventurers and mercenaries to fill our ranks if the mages can't do so." Even that suggestion felt more like I was grasping at straws.

Renner's expression didn't change. I received neither a mocking smile or a nod of agreement, and it bothered me. "Attempting to involve the Adventurer's Guild would set a dangerous precedent, even if they were to somehow agree. They are a politically neutral organization, it's what has allowed them to operate freely in multiple countries as they do. The moment you begin hiring entire hosts of their members for the army, the Baharuth will do the same, and they have a greater number of guild branches than we do.

And this doesn't even take into count the funds it would take to convince adventurers to fight in an army for long periods of time where they would face a greater chance of dying than if they just were sent to hunt a pack of wolves. Even adamantite-plate adventurers would be hard to individually convince, and there's likely less than 30 of them in the entire kingdom. And, like the Magician's Guild, they are likely to be unfamiliar with military structure since they work in small teams or squads, not armies."

I couldn't control my fist slamming into my desk in a burst of frustration, "Then what?! Fully capitulate to the Baharuth Empire to avoid the bloodshed?!"

That got a short laugh from Renner, yet there was no humor or emotion in it, "That's on the assumption that the Baharuth Empire would peacefully annex our kingdom. There will always be bloodshed during an unwanted occupation. Either due to resistance fighters causing it or Imperials killing many to ensure cooperation from the rest. And that's just for the common people. He's known as the Bloody Emperor for a reason. None of the nobles will survive, I even doubt those in the kingdom that are already working for him would be allowed to live either since, if they betrayed our kingdom, then who's to say that they won't betray the Empire in the future?

Following our deaths, he will install his own loyal vassals and be done with it. We would have no future unless we were to flee before this annexation."

"I will not flee my home. This is my country, and I will not leave it to its fate! Death be damned, I will stay until the end." I stated resolutely, "If it's your prerogative to leave, then go and leave me out of it!"

With this declaration, I poured out wine from the bottle on my desk into my cup, noticing how much lighter the bottle strangely felt. Then, I took a sip and narrowed my eyes at my sister. She wanted to flee? Was that it? That seemed too simple for her.

"You assume too little of me, brother. None of my plans to save and fix the Re-Estize Kingdom involve leaving it." Renner said without hesitation and with complete confidence.

That made me pause drinking my wine before I sat the cup upon my desk. "What plan?" I questioned incredulously. What could Renner do that would prevent our kingdom from collapsing from within or being conquered from without?

"One that is utterly radical in the eyes of Re-Estize's nobles." Renner replied with an amused grin, one matched by her maid. "My only real question-

-I have for you is how much you're willing to accept and give up to save our kingdom?"

I froze for a moment and considered her words. What would this radical entail that would force me to give up so much? What did she want me to accept? And yet, the crux of the question was what I was willing to do to save the kingdom?

Truthfully, there was a great many things I would be willing to do and give up if it meant that the Re-Estize might survive. For gods' sake, I was contemplating the murder of Father and my brother Barbro before Renner arrived!

And for my answer… "Whatever it took to ensure that the kingdom our family has ruled over for generations would remain standing."

The smile on Renner's face slightly grew along with that of her maid's as she then asked, "Even if you had to give up your rights to the throne?"

It felt like my heart had skipped a beat for a moment. Could I truly give up on becoming king? Most others would outright deny such a question. I know that Barbro would. It was basically giving up my birthright and power on the chance that the Re-Estize would live.

Yet, I was not Barbro. I could see past any current glory and power for what lay ahead. Were I to become king, there would only be a moment of initial satisfaction at my new position before the troubles began. My position would be measured like sand in an hourglass.

There would be little time to even enjoy or rule in the position before the crumbling foundations broke at my feet and I fell onto the bladed trap at the bottom. But beyond this foresight, I was patriotic for my country, even if I didn't display it that obviously. If there was a chance that I could save my country, I had to take it.

"Yes." I finally admitted to my sister, "If it was necessary to give up my claim to kingship so that the Re-Estize Kingdom could live, then I would take it. We are doomed, otherwise."

Terrifyingly enough, Renner's eyes changed from the calculating edge they had before to…a true emotion that wasn't hidden behind a mask of innocence. One might assume that this was joy or excitement because of the smile on her face, but for me, it felt dark and all-consuming. This was what I sometimes caught hints of over the years.

It's what always made me fear my youngest sister. Not even Barbro could elicit this almost primal response. With Barbro, even if they were few, the man had a limit of what he would or wouldn't do in life. With Renner, there was no limit.

These were the eyes of someone who would do anything without hesitation or guilt if it meant accomplishing an objective. If she needed to, Renner would personally slit my throat without a second thought, family or not.

"To save the Re-Estize, part of my plan requires me to become queen." Renner stated without hint of a lie in her eyes. I now understood. It explained her actions in the past few days, why she had independently begun tackling Eight Fingers as the Father and the other nobles deliberated.

Renner was making her bid for the throne!

Were she to get enough of the common people on her side, Renner could likely leverage her popularity to legitimately accomplish this! It wouldn't matter if the nobles took issue were all of their subjects to suddenly rise up against them in support of Renner.

And she could accomplish this without a doubt. That dangerous intelligence would ensure it. And no moral qualms would hinder it. At the back of my mind, I couldn't help but wonder what the kingdom might be like if Father had this mentality early in his reign?

He would have broken the power that the nobles had now in one form or another for start. Perhaps that may have allowed the kingdom to repel the Baharuth without being on the cusp of losing as we are now?

"Even were you to become queen, how would you fix the issues we face? You said it yourself, we'll either have too little farmers or too few soldiers to hold out. And we wouldn't be able to farm anything substantial regardless because winter is almost upon us. And aside from that, how would you deal with Barbro who will not stand aside and let this happen?" I questioned.

Renner interlaced her fingers together as she rested her elbows on the surface of my desk, "I have recently made some extremely beneficial connections for the kingdom quite recently. Because of this, in a month's time, a large shipment of food will be arriving to each one of my charities across the kingdom. There will be more than enough to tide the people over until the next shipment."

My eyes widened at attempting to contemplate the amount of food needed to do this. Where did Renner even get this amount of food? How was she even doing this without being noticed? The amount of food she seemed to be claiming would be highly noticeable as it was moved about the kingdom, and this was supposed to be within a month?

The other point to note about this deliverance of food was with the way Renner would ingratiate herself amongst all the peasants and some of the nobles! She'd attain instant loyalty and enhanced adoration almost instantly! It was brilliant because of how it would completely undermine the entire government that had been unable to feed its people.

"Where are you getting this food?! Who could have enough to fit the demand of an entire kingdom?!" I almost demanded. Was it another country? Some unknown, but rich, benefactor within the kingdom or without?

Renner fingered the ring on her hand and answered, "From-

-someone that wishes for the Re-Estize's prosperity just as you and I do."

"But that tells me nothing! I have to know! Who would have that much food to spare for you?" I argued.

"How about I tell you after I finish explaining this stage of the plan?" I found myself silently nodding in agreement before Renner continued, "For our dear brother, Barbro, I have no worry about him ever becoming king or trying to challenge my claim. After all, he will be away from the capital for at least two months."

My eyebrows rose in question, "Why would his absence matter?"

Renner giggled in amusement, sending chills down my spine, "Because our dear brother has been working with Eight Fingers for years. Namely, with one of the leaders named Hilma Cygnaeus. I have more than enough evidence to confirm this, and it will be released to the entire court while he is gallivanting off to the Great Forest of Tob. He'll be unable to refute these claims while away and be unable to try and perform any necessary damage control."

I quickly caught on to the rest of the reason for doing this that she hadn't explained. Even if Barbro were to somehow become acquitted of these charges, his reputation would be ruined. Even were Father to try and make Barbro king, the backlash he would receive from such a decision might be too much for the kingdom to handle.

"The final part of this stage for my plan involves the eventual discovery of corruption with all of the High Priests of the Church. Once I have the evidence, it will be released to the public, throwing the entire Church into chaos."

Without much thought, I blurted out, "But why target the Church? How would doing so make you queen?"

"Now, this leads us to the answer of who is helping me. She is the goddess known as the Fox Princess." Renner said, causing my jaw to drop. What game has she been playing at?

"Y-You are working with her? The person that cursed Alecto and merged him into a throne?" I questioned.

"A radical decision, as I told you before. The Fox Princess has the exact same goal that you and I do. She wants to save this kingdom, and she has given me the methods to do so. The only requirement necessary for this help is the faith of our people. Destabilizing the Church gives an opening for her religion to be accepted by the people, which will be quite easy considering the miracles she can perform compared to the Church." Renner explained without missing a beat.

"This is just…" I could even fully put the thoughts into words. She planned to upend an entire religion and get it replaced for one worshipping the woman who horrifically punished Alecto? It was almost insane!

"Insane? Extreme? Heretical?" Renner said, filling in the words for me. Then, she nodded in agreement, "We live in unprecedented times, brother. There are no other options available at this point as the time to have done so has long since passed."

And as terrifying as she was at the moment, Renner was right. There are no other options where the Re-Estize comes out on top or whole. With all these thoughts of destruction, a new question came to mind.

"…Why tell me all of this? What is it that you want from me that your goddess can't give you?" I asked with a growing fear.

Renner and her maid both looked at one another and-

-smiled, before turning back to me, "Zanac, I will be honest when I say that I don't exactly need you. With or without your help, I will achieve my goal. I'm here because you may be of more use to me as an ally and could help hasten my time-table. Otherwise," I felt the full weight of her eyes upon me as they conjured up that primal fear, "you will be my enemy, and I will remove you as I will Barbro. Your single life cannot compare to the lives of everyone else in this kingdom who I plan to save."

That's what this truly was. A way to get a feel on my opinions before giving me an ultimatum. Were I to decline, I suspect that I wouldn't leave this room alive, and somehow, Renner would make it look like an accident or that she wasn't responsible. She would still get what she wants, but I would be out of the picture. But then, there was what would happen were I to accept. I would still be alive.

Renner would know if I were to lie. Yet, I didn't feel the urge to do so. There was only a single reason that actually made sense for me. She was the only person, among anyone in the kingdom, alongside myself, that actually had a viable plan to save it.

Drinking the rest of the wine from my cup, my mind felt slightly, as if I had drunk more cups of wine than I currently had. Waving this small bout of inebriation aside, I answered, "I understand, Renner." A satisfied smirk came over her face.

"Good. With that being the case, I have a few tasks that I'll need you to do…"

[Ainz Ooal Gown]

I watched as another pair of summoned imps went through the gate to the Un-Realm that I had summoned. This was the 21st set of scouting imps that had gone through. Each pair was equipped with a [Message] scroll and a tracking ring. The moment that Albedo was found, they would send out a [Message] to alert me, and I would arrive to retrieve them.

The reason for sending just imps is because more could always be summoned in addition to their one inherent advantage over most of my undead summons. They could fly by their own power. As it was, the Un-Realm was one of the worst places that anyone could be lost in.

Back in YGGDRASIL, there were Players known for using this spell to send other Players to the realm so that they would get lost. If you lacked any form of teleportation, Players would either be stuck wandering until they lucked into an exit or another benevolent Player that could take them out, or they would just get their characters killed.

It became a running joke in the playerbase that if another Player got teleported against their will, then they were 'getting Un'd'. I never expected that a joke in the community would cause me actual grief like this until now. Albedo had been thrown in there, and as an NPC like her, she probably has no experience with how that realm works.

And on top of that, there was this curse that Kashia had placed upon Albedo. I don't know what it is or how she could even do that, but that mattered very little at this point. All it meant was that Albedo was almost impossible to find at the moment. There was little else that I could do but wait for news of her being found.

Even if the imps were not the greatest trackers, I didn't dare to send Aura to look. She didn't know the spells to get back, and I couldn't afford to lose her in the Un-Realm for whatever reason due to her having very little knowledge on how the realm even worked.

This brought me back to the conversation I ended up having with all of the Floor Guardians a few days ago…

"Everyone, I have assembled all of the Floor Guardians together for an urgent matter." I told them while considering the way that each of them would react to the news of Albedo's recent fate. In addition to this, what might they want to do in retribution? I've already lost one NPC to Kashia; I couldn't afford to lose more.

Sitting at the table of the meeting room was Demiurge, Cocytus, Aura and Mare, Shalltear, and Victim. They all looked to me with a measure of curiosity, concern, and confusion. Demiurge was the first to speak up of these worries, "My Lord, you say that you have assembled all of the Floor Guardians, but what of Albedo? She hasn't arrived yet?"

"She is who this urgent matter concerns." I answered, earning multiple looks of worry from my subordinates. "Earlier today, Albedo got into a fight with Kashia Blanc and lost. Due to this, Albedo was cursed before being imprisoned in a place known as the Un-Realm."

"What?!" Aura and Shalltear shouted aloud in complete shock.

"My Lord, why did this happen? Should we prepare measures of counterattack-"

I put my hand up to silence Demiurge and the others before continuing, "From what I understand currently, Albedo kidnapped Kashia's daughter until Kashia rescued her and fought against Albedo." Saying this, I pulled out Albedo's horn from my inventory and set it down onto the table, enhancing my answer.

"That can't just be it! There has to be something more behind this, Lord Ainz! You gave us orders to leave Blanc alone, so why would Albedo disobey them?" Cocytus asked in confusion.

Demiurge pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before adding, "I, too, share concerns with Cocytus about this. Albedo is extremely loyal to you, which makes any disobedience to you highly irregular."

"I understand your concerns, but this is all the information we have right now." I responded to the pair.

"But, Lord Ainz," Shalltear spoke up, "Shouldn't we try to capture Kashia Blanc and fully interrogate her to get a detailed explanation for everything that occurred? We can't just fully trust what an outsider says, especially with how dangerous she is." I could understand the thought process behind the suggestion.

At the same time, this couldn't be allowed to happen as I've already lost enough resources to my NPCs fighting Kashia. How many more resources would be lost if they tried to capture or kill her? And besides just the waste of resources, I was confused as to how to even feel about the woman. There was muted anger and frustration, but that was mixed with minute traces of affection which my curse was trying to suppress.

It was annoyingly vexing to contemplate, and I hated that I couldn't come to a straight answer for it. For now, I would simply wait, build up my forces as necessary, and wait until Albedo was finally retrieved so that I could hear out the full story. "No, we will leave her alone for now as I cannot allow any further loss of resources on what could be a waste. Until Albedo is retrieved from the Un-Realm, we shall only build up our forces in potential preparation, and wait."

"Uh…L-Lord Ainz," Mare began, "w-what is the Un-Realm?" Yes, they likely wouldn't know much about the Un-Realm, so it was best to explain it to them.

"The Un-Realm is a twisted labyrinth made up of dead worlds. Because of this, it is easy to get lost in it, and the laws of reality shift constantly. One could take a single step forward, and end up in a location in the realm that is miles away." I said, bringing concern to all of my subordinates.

Mare then asked, "H-How does o-one even get to th-this place?"

"Through a specific spell that I'm likely the only one in the entirety of Nazarick that currently knows." I answered.

"Lord Ainz, since this realm is so large, can I elect myself to be sent to try and track Albedo down since I am one of the best trackers in Nazarick?" Aura requested soon after. While I appreciated her urge to take initiative on such an endeavor, I couldn't allow it.

"I'm sorry, Aura. Your initiative is commendable, but you are currently too valuable to be sent to do this as the Un-Realm is highly dangerous to those who lack any information about the realm. In addition, with Albedo missing, Nazarick's strength has been drastically reduced, so I cannot, in good conscience, reduce it further by sending another of its guardians away." I explained.

Aura looked disappointed, but nodded in acceptance, "As you wish, Lord Ainz."

"Were it to become necessary, I will send you to search for Albedo. Right now, we will send expendable scouts to scour the realm for Albedo." I said to reassure the small dark elf.

"Lord Ainz, what will you send to scout out the realm?" Demiurge requested with interest. Likely, the demon was considering options for suitable candidates.

"I plan to send teams of imps into the realm to search. Normally, I would prefer to send undead, but certain sections of the Un-Realm can disable undead summons. Additionally, races with the ability to fly tend to have an easier ability to traverse the Un-Realm as they can ignore certain sections of the realm, such as the shifts of gravity."

Demiurge nodded in agreement, "A wise choice, my Lord. If you wish, I can retrieve some imps that I believe would be most suitable candidates for this mission."

"That would be helpful, Demiurge. Thank you."

For now, I tried distracting myself with the reports that Demiurge had given me about his progress with the Wyvern Rider Tribes. Currently, he has slowly been using spells to control the leadership of these tribes to make them more oppressive to their people. Raising the tithes of food and wealth bit by bit. At the same time, he has sent disguised members of Nazarick that have been providing aid to these oppressed people through gifts of food and healing.

These disguised members of Nazarick have been slowly spreading the idea among the people that Nazarick is there to help and aid them. From what Demiurge has told me, it will be less than two months before the people revolt against their oppressive leaders, and Nazarick will be there to aid the common people the entire time, enough to be seen as allies, or more.

When the people finally decided to fully revolt, Nazarick would send a few of our members to aid them in overthrowing their leadership. Demiurge planned to have a coup occur with very little bloodshed as the controlled leaders would quickly give up, allowing for new tribe leaders would be put into place by the people, and that was when the next stage of the plan would take place.

These leaders would be put under magical control before they would announce that they wished to join their tribes under the leadership of Nazarick. Because of how our people had helped and aided them through these difficult times, the people would be more than willing to accept my rulership. From there, we could begin plans to improve the lives of the people by increasing their quality of life and move on from there.

This would be a good stepping stone as it could lead to us moving onto the Draconic Kingdom. Perhaps, we wouldn't do the exact same as we did with the Wyvern Rider Tribes, but with the way that the Draconic Kingdom would see how much the lives of the Tribes had improved under my rule, they'd be more than open to the idea of joining with me. Demiurge had said to me that it would likely take much longer than if we tried a more direct strategy, but I had made the decision to try and attempt this as nonviolently as possible.

Aside from domination of these countries, there was another thought that came to mind. "Demiurge, we will need to cease our plan for the false-flag operation of the Re-Estize capital." I said, looking up to the archdevil who stood to the side, letting me read through the reports he gave.

"Of course, Lord Ainz. With the extreme hostility from Kashia Blanc, she will likely not believe that anyone else performed the attack besides Nazarick. If needed, we could still perform the attack on the capital, but any attack would essentially be Nazarick's declaration of war against the kitsune." Demiurge said, which did well to explain my thought process.

I gave Demiurge a nod, "Yes, just what I was thinking. In addition to this, with what has been recently learned about Kashia and her breaking of the level-cap, it means that the longer she is left alone, the stronger she will grow. By how much, I have no true idea?"

"A question that is ominous to consider, Lord Ainz. Since, as you've said, Kashia seems to be attaining more power through receiving worship, it would become a massive issue if this religion that has grown around her spreads any further. Under such a circumstance, we either leave her to grow stronger, attack her now before she grows stronger than is possible to deal with, or we curb this religion of hers which would hinder her growth." Demiurge recommended as I could see that he was already working out numerous ideas on how to accomplish these ideas.

My fingers tapped on the armrests of my throne as I thought about this. One option would be peaceful, but also lead to Kashia growing stronger. The other two options would lead to immediate retaliation. I needed more information on this before we could fully come to a decision. "Demiurge, is there any method for us to sneak a spy into the Magician's Guild of E-Rantel?"

"An interesting question, my Lord. I'm uncertain as to how powerful the senses of Kashia Blanc and her people could be. We can't be sure that they wouldn't be able to tell a doppelgänger from a regular human." Demiurge reasoned before a smile grew on his face, "But there is another possibility. Recently today, a group of bandits was captured after they came too close to the entrance of Nazarick. It was originally believed that they were planning to either raid the tomb or use it for a base of operations.

Of this group of 11, two of them were mages. Originally, we planned to interrogate them and potentially deal with them, with your permission of course," Demiurge quickly added, which I nodded to. Since these were bandits that intruded on Nazarick, I had less inclination of letting them go free.

"Is there anything about these bandits that we would need to be concerned about?" I questioned.

Demiurge shook his head with a grin, "No, they were already on the run from the authorities of the Baharuth Empire and had planned to move to the Re-Estize to continue their banditry there. They had no idea about Nazarick until they accidentally discovered it. As such, no one will miss them if they disappeared."

"Good to hear. Since they are already unwanted by the world, and made it worse with their presence, Nazarick will make them useful. Utilize them as necessary." I answered, earning a chuckle from the archdevil.

"Thank you, my Lord. Now, as I was saying, two of these bandits were mages. I believe that, were we to use [Control Amnesia] on them, we could turn them into loyal human servants of Nazarick that could be sent to the E-Rantel Magician's Guild to infiltrate Blanc's religion." Demiurge explained, which I found myself approving.

As humans, they wouldn't be under any suspicion were they to join the religion. From there, we could receive reports that would be especially valuable. "I will allow this. Have them sent to E-Rantel to infiltrate the religion. I'm confident that you can create any suitable backstory for each of these mages." I ordered.

"As you wish, my Lord. A strong backstory that I've already devised for them was as a husband and wife who lived as traveling mages. We'll perform some adjustments of their memories to enhance this along with editing their bodies to prevent any from possibly recognizing them by accident. I can have them sent out by tomorrow at the latest." Demiurge answered.

"Then, you are free to go and complete this task. Make sure to give me detailed reports about what occurs." I said with a final command, receiving a bow from Demiurge as he quickly left my throne room to fulfill this command.

[Albedo]

Day #0=?!3?!3#:

I don't know how long I've been here. Has it been hours, days, weeks, months, years? How long have I truly been away from my Love? How long has the whore been left alone to poison his mind?

No, my Love wouldn't allow her to do that, right? He was so much smarter. He had to be looking for me so that he could save me, he had to be! My Love would spend an eternity to find me, but this maze…

It's endless and ever-changing. I haven't been able to heal myself since I arrived in this place. I can't access my inventory where I had left a few potions. I know it's there, but it just won't respond! Worse than that, my injuries haven't healed on their own.

Just like the day that the whore amputated and cauterized my limbs before she immolated my mouth, the pain has remained the same. Every moment is agonizing, every time I push myself forwards through this maze, I am reminded of my failure.

Failure. Weak. Broken.

My Love would still care for me. He would still love me in this horrid state. Even though I was broken. Permanently broken. All because of this curse that the fucking rodent put on me.

It burned on my skull as a permanent reminder, and that enraged me. The rat said it was because of that tree above me. If it ended up destroyed, then I would be free from it. I think I would. But I had no idea on how to currently do that.

Ahead of me was a set of broken cobblestone stairs of some former castle that was embedded in one of the many massive branches of this place. With my left arm, which had slightly more of the limb remaining than the right, I used it to push myself forwards. My right wing helped to pull me.

After the whore first threw me in here, I had been dragged around this maze without any method of control. I'd go through physical walls, gravity would shift, time would speed up or slow down. I only managed to escape this uncontrolled movement by chance when my wing managed to catch on a branch. After that, I remained in that spot for some time to recover before I began moving again.

That had been utter agony until I eventually grew somewhat accustomed to it. My mind had been so utterly focused on survival and returning back to my Love, that when I passed a reflective surface by chance and received a good look at the damage the whore had done to me, I found myself screaming and crying in utter rage.

It was this rage that had been my secondary motivation beneath getting back to my Love. I didn't care how long it took. Eventually, I would escape this place and return to get fixed. Then, I would make her pay! I would attain my Love's aid to defeat and capture her.

We would capture her family! I would make her watch in detail as I ripped off each of her brats' limbs before sending them to Neuronist to be mentally broken until they were no better than animals!

I would take my sweet time dealing with her personally. By the time I was done, she'd be begging for death!

I'D MUTILATE HER! MAKE HER UNDERSTAND JUST A FRACTION OF WHAT SHE'S INFLICTED UPON M-

Then, I heard a skittering noise and was immediately put on guard. Being in this wretched place long enough, I've learned well enough that I'm not the only one here. There are other creatures that I couldn't put a name to. Because of how badly damaged my body is, trying to combat them would be ill-advised.

Instead, like a fucking rat, I was forced to slink away into hiding. I'm the Overseer of Nazarick! I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO HIDE FROM WORTHLESS INSECTS LIKE THIS!

Painfully pulling myself against the ground, I continued moving until I found a small crevice to place myself into. My only hope is that this one wasn't another chaotic pathway that would transport me across this maze again. It's happened multiple different times, and I could never predict where I would end up because of it.

With trepidation, I pulled myself into the crevice and was pleased to not feel the tugging sensation of being transported. Then, I looked out from my hiding spot and watched as an insectoid being skittered into sight. It had five legs it moved around on that ended in pointed tips that all connected towards a spherical body. On top of this spherical body was a pincer-like arm that continually made a clicking noise while the bottom of this body opened to a jaw of fangs.

Its entire body was covered in a mottled gray and black carapace, and every few moments, parts of its body would blur and distort before returning to normal. From what I could tell, these creatures were the equivalent of scavengers that would move around and eat anything they believed was edible. While they were cowardly and fled from anything stronger than them, they were more than willing to attack weakened creatures and eat them.

I waited as this worthless mongrel explored the area for food. After a few minutes, it finally gave up and moved on, the softening clicks of its legs let me know it was leaving until it had finally disappeared. Then, I crawled out of the crevice.

This was my routine. Move and hide, because I didn't need to eat or rest. And yet, it should be the opposite! Everything here should be HIDING FROM ME!

All because I failed! It was all her fault! Her fault! HER FAULT!

"HUR FALT!" I found myself shout in frustration!

[Yes, it was her fault, Albedo.]

"Hoo wash zat?!" I demanded while looking around the area. Since I had arrived here, the only living things that I have encountered here have been little more than mindless beasts. I'm not crazy, as I know I heard that voice. I don't hear voices.

I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy! I'M NOT CRAZY! I can't be broken like that! So that means that my mind isn't broken!

This can all be fixed with a simple healing spell. It'll be fine. My Love will get his loving Albedo back. I'll be whole!

And that means that this thing had to be real. But what else lived here besides the creatures I've seen so far?

Pulling myself forwards in a direction away from the route that the insectoid creature had taken, I was fully on my guard as I was definitely not alone anymore. The only problem is where this insolent being was hiding.

[Only a friend, Albedo. One that wishes for you to achieve the revenge you seek.]

There are no friends here. This is a cursed place, and I could never find myself seeking friendship with some creature that didn't belong to Nazarick. None mattered more than my Love!

[And yet, your enemy, the fox, is allowed to continue poisoning the mind of the one you love. The fox has him all to herself, while you are left here to rot as a broken version of the powerful succubus that you once were.]

"Whare arr yu hidhing? Wat du yu whant?" I demanded again while pulling myself over a blackened root. What it said has confirmed that it has some method of being able to read thoughts.

[I will tell you everything you wish in due time. All I wish is to help you in your revenge. But to do that, you must make your way to a specific place in this realm.]

"Wy shud Ei?" I retorted back. What does this thing want from me? I'm no fool to consider that this was out of the good of this thing's heart.

[You are correct. I was hoping that you may help me in the future. As for why you should do this?]

The creature's voice chuckled in my mind with amused laughter. Then, it finally decided to speak once again.

[What choice do you have, Albedo? What plan do you have to escape this place? By the time that you find one of the few exits to the Un-Realm, countless years will have passed, and the fox will have become so much stronger than you could contend with. And even were you to get to an exit, you would simply enter into another of the ten realms, not the one you came from. Being found by your allies is even less likely.

And that's if your allies' minds haven't been poisoned against you by the fox by then. Your loved one will hate you, want you dead. We both know that she's likely talking with him right now, poisoning him against you.]

I could already see the manipulation that this thing was trying, yet it wasn't wrong. The whore was being left alone to explain everything to my Love. He was powerful and wise, but what if the whore somehow managed to steer him to some terrible conclusion? It was unlikely, but the chance still remained and was not negligible.

[You are certainly free to do whatever you wish. Take my offer of aid or ignore me. But you must know that the longer you remain here, broken and lost, the longer the fox is left to her own devices.]

It was intentionally putting a pseudo time limit to my decision. The whore grew stronger while I remained stagnant. I have to leave this place as I have no idea on how much time has truly passed since I've been here. This thing would possibly be the fastest method to do so, and as Nazarick's loyal Overseer, and my Love's loving bride-to-be, I was required to get back to him as soon as possible.

"Whare du yu whant mi tu go?" I would hear this thing out for now. If it turned out to be some form of trick, I would ensure that it suffered, broken as I currently was.

[I am pleased to hear your choice, Albedo. Continue going forwards. You have some ground that you'll need to cover.]

Alright, everyone. I'm going to be going on vacation for a week, so the next chapter will come out in two weeks or so. See you all then.