A Vulpine Spanner in the Works

Chapter 32: Ever Play the Game Telephone?

[Momonga/Ainz Ooal Gown]

"As you wish, my Lord." Demiurge answered me with enthusiasm, "To begin; there was once a village called Elwuld within the Baharuth Empire that I felt would be a prime location for an outpost and staging ground for Nazarick. It was both far enough away from the main cities of the Empire that it wouldn't receive many visitors, yet close enough gather an army around in order to launch a rapid invasion of the two cities nearby.

Additionally, the forest to the west of the village could be used to hide our build-up of forces while the lumber gathered from the forest could be used to expand the outpost if needed."

As Demiurge said this, I felt immensely confused. What invasion? I only wanted Demiurge to gather information about the Baharuth so that I could know if there were any potential threats to Nazarick along with understanding of the area. At best, the scouts might even discover information about more Players in the world, with a few of my friends possibly being among them.

Was Demiurge assuming that I wanted to take over this world?

"But the build-up was only Phase Two for the village. Phase One began with your permission of my plan to acquire materials to restock Nazarick's own limited supplies for production." Thinking back on this, I recalled that initial discussion I had with Demiurge.

Following that, he informed me that he had been making good headway into his project with the…animals he acquired. When he said animals, did he actually mean humans? Why didn't he just say humans in the first place?

"Utilizing the humans that were already residents within the village as a resource, I enacted an efficient system where the humans would be skinned of their flesh for the creation of scrolls along with limbs and such for sustenance of our laborers and to feed our humans. Following this, various healing spells were used to undo any damage and allow for multiple harvests of their bodies. With our efficient method, we were able to, on average, harvest 12 times a day from a single human.

Another positive effect that the multiple flayings had is that it reduced our livestock's resistance." Demiurge explained with satisfaction.

"But why specifically humans? Wouldn't cows and such be slightly more efficient considering that they have a greater amount of mass in comparison to the average person?" I questioned my subordinate while ruminating on the thought that it would be much simpler and draw less attention to acquire cows compared to humans.

Demiurge smiled, and I couldn't help but wonder if he already assumed that I had another master plan in place. I tried working up the courage once to explain to the archdevil that I didn't have any plan in place, but he immediately assumed that it was another one of my master plans to try and test his loyalty. After that, I ended the attempt and gave up on trying to convince him otherwise.

And that was the last time I tried that. This decision was reinforced by the thought that I'd likely disappoint all of my NPCs if I didn't act like the powerful 'genius' that they believed I was. That 'genius' which I faked also made it so that they couldn't predict any of my actions without assuming that it fell into said master plan.

Thank God that I was decent enough at going with the flow and bullshitting my way through their assumptions.

"Of course, cows and such were initially considered until I realized that the only creature more prevalent and easily replaceable than others were humans. They also came with the added bonus of being more adaptable to other uses than normal livestock. For instance, having an array of human test subjects to study curses would deepen your understanding on the method to possibly cure the curse that you have been debilitated by.

After all, it was one of the reasons that you've associated so much with Kashia Blanc since she has a potential method to dispel it." That assumption raised my nonexistent eyebrows.

"Demiurge, my time spent with Kashia wasn't because I expected that she had anything to fix my issue. It's because she's a kindred spirit that I've come to see as a friend. And even if that were the case, I doubt that she can do anything to fix my situation as much as I have tried." And try I did.

When Kashia first told me that I was afflicted by a curse, something I didn't initially consider since I assumed my problem was just a feature of my race. But looking into it, for the lore of YGGDRASIL, it made sense. From there, I had been trying a few small attempts to fix the issue.

I've used [Maximize Magic: Dispel Magic], [Maximize Magic: Dispel Curse], both the normal and greater versions of the spells, and a few powerful items in Nazarick's treasury to remove curses, but I'd been met with dead ends every time. There was always my Shooting Star ring, but that was an unrecoverable resource that, if a failure, meant that I'd have wasted it for nothing.

The only other treasure in Nazarick's possession that was a possibility is one of the Twenty in our possession, Mourning of the Mystic Goddess. It had the ability to remove any status effect and undo any debilitation on a single user. It took the form of a painting on a large golden leaf with a bestial woman in white looking at a burning tree.

With it being a Twenty, Mourning of the Mystic Goddess had only one use. I hadn't even utilized it on Shalltear because of that since she had the possibility of being fixed through her death and resurrection. Even if that hadn't worked…I'm not sure if I would've used it on her. A large part of me says that I would've, but another part says that the Twenty needs to be saved for myself or something even more dire.

Either way, my slow loss of emotions is not enough to justify using it on myself.

"Regardless, please continue." I said, urging my subordinate to continue his report.

"Of course, my Lord." Demiurge said with a bow, "Through my study of curses, I came to the fascinating realization that creating chimeras would both add new methods of research and be useful to utilize as troops for Nazarick's conquest." I saw Demiurge perform that ominous habit of pushing his glasses up his nose before grinning.

"Yet, outright assault was not our only means of conquest. Your study of the kitsune's method of disguising herself among the local populace was enlightening. I realized that we can take over an entire city without shedding a single drop of blood by capturing and replacing the highest officials of the city of Faelwuld. As it was a trial phase that you no doubt had wanted to see take root, I made certain that it all went without issue or discovery, at least until Kashia found out."

"And you came to this conclusion just from my interacting with Kashia?" I asked while wondering what logic it took for Demiurge to reach that conclusion? At this point, I couldn't help but wonder what he would think if I were to just conjure a spoon into my hand and toss it to his feet without a word? Would he think that I wanted to dig a massive quarry with slaves?

"Not just from that, my Lord, but also through Albedo's initial idea of capturing and replacing the Veyron sisters with doppelgängers." I glanced over to said succubus who beamed a smile to me with pride.

While this train of logic was a little ridiculous, I had to admit that it was certainly a clever idea. If I was planning a conquest of the Baharuth Empire, it would both delay any thoughts of the country being under assault while also weakening their defenses from within.

'This isn't better. This is fucking worse! At least back home, the people in charge made things shittier because they were greedy. Here, your people are making things worse out of pure malice and sadism, all the while, you do nothing because you're either too chicken-shit or too apathetic to care!'

As I thought on what Kashia had said to me before, I wondered if I would've even bothered trying to stop Demiurge from enacting this conquest fantasy of his if I didn't have Kashia hounding me about it? Truthfully, I don't think I'd have cared to act.

When I had saved Carne Village, I did so with nostalgia over Touch Me saving me when I most needed help. But now? None of the people living in the Baharuth meant anything to me. At least with Carne, I saw the villagers being slaughtered through scrying them. With the Baharuth Empire, I wouldn't see them, which also gave me less inclination to do anything about it. And even if I did personally get involved, they'd likely be nameless faces at that point who I might only spare a passing glance to.

Perhaps Kashia was right. Humorously, both Nazarick and I might just be worse than the CEOs and presidents in charge of Earth. Before, I might have even felt upset and angry at the insult. Now?

It was mild irritation at best.

Yet, I took hold of that tiny, almost insignificant emotion, and tried to let it mean something slightly more. To allow those small embers of my former humanity to try and make me care about the random citizens more than the wishes of my subordinates. But I couldn't do it. When weighed against Nazarick, those random people meant nothing.

The next option was to see it through a more logical mindset.

Conquering the city of an entire empire would only bring unneeded attention down upon Nazarick. I was still in the dark about most of this world, with only the bits of information collected by my spies about the Baharuth and the mixture of information given to me by both Kashia and my spies about the Re-Estize. That still left the Slane Theocracy as an unknown, plus the few other countries that I've seen on the maps that had been acquired.

Even if most of this New World was relatively weak in comparison to us, that didn't mean that there weren't those to be worried about. For instance, there were people who held a World Item that had been used against Shalltear. That was instantly a great threat which could spell doom for Nazarick if ignored. I also felt some minute bits of anger at how they forced me to kill her. At least that was one emotion I could slightly keep ahold of.

Another thing to be wary of was that Kashia would intervene if she discovered something like this. While the forces of Nazarick could subdue or even kill her if they were all sent at once to overwhelm her, I would lose too much. Many NPCs would be killed…and I would lose a friend.

So, with those logical reasons set in my mind, they gave me reason to care and act. I had to protect Nazarick and everything that my friends had entrusted to me.

"From there, we had made decent headway into replacing the authority figures within Faelwuld, and likely would've been finished within the month until Kashia discovered it." Demiurge gave a bow, "I apologize for letting such an event happen."

I waved his apology away with my hand, "You have no reason to apologize, Demiurge. You are as you were made. But now that you know, I would hope to not have any further repeats."

"I understand, my Lord."

"And to begin with, while the initial idea for acquiring materials for Nazarick was admirable, I will request that you report to me what livestock you wish to use in the future so that I may give my approval on it. For now, start with actual livestock, like cows, or non-sapient animals for material acquisition." I ordered.

"Very good. I can formulate a list for livestock of your choosing within the hour." Demiurge answered obediently.

"Following that, you will need to inform me of when you leave Nazarick and where you might possibly go for both my approval and your protection. Kashia will kill you if she ever were to encounter you outside of Nazarick. I wish to ensure that has as little chance of happening as possible." In a way, I felt like this was the equivalent to grounding a child. If said child was an archdevil that could eviscerate an entire village without guilt or hesitation.

"Of course. I will not throw away my life after everything you had to endure to protect it. I will keep you aware of my comings and goings." The archdevil promised, filling me with relief.

"That is good to hear." I told him which earned me a nod before I went into thought for a moment over how much extra work I now would need to do. Yet, I guess it my ponderings seemed too obvious as I heard Albedo's voice.

"My Lord, is something troubling you?" She asked, bringing me back to reality where my gaze fell upon the white-clad succubus as she came closer to my throne.

It appears that she was concerned, "Not exactly. Just considering how complicated things seem to be becoming." I gave a terse chuckle, "It's slightly ironic that between my personas of Momon and Ainz Ooal Gown, I originally wished that being Momon was more exciting since there wasn't anything interesting to fight as an adventurer, like a demon lord, only simple monsters. Now, as Ainz Ooal Gown, my life has become 'interesting' in the most annoying way possible." I mused to both Albedo and Demiurge.

"I see. Is there anything that I could do to possibly aid in relieving your burdens, my Lord?" Albedo asked as she approached my throne and took my free hand into both of her own. A caring expression filled her face and I felt a slight mixture of appreciation and amusement at her care, only marred with some guilt by the fact that much of her extreme devotion to me was due to the changing of her backstory I did as a joke.

"I appreciate your concern, but any burdens that I, as Ainz Ooal Gown, have can only be handled by myself. The best help that you can do for me now is to see my orders through and continue your duties as Overseer." I gently told her, making Albedo nod in turn.

"Of course. I will ensure your will shall be enacted, Lord Ainz." She promised with great conviction.

"Thank you." I said in gratitude. "Now, the both of you know your orders. I hope to have detailed reports of Nazarick's current endeavors very soon. You are both dismissed."

They both gave me a bow followed by, "Of course, Lord Ainz." Then, they left me, with Albedo giving me one final glance before exiting the throne room, leaving me to my thoughts once more.

What did I want? If I ended up finding my friends in this world, what would I do next? Compared to Kashia who wanted to altruistically make this world a better place, I couldn't hazard a guess as to my next move.

My NPCs were under the belief that I wanted to conquer the world and were willing to help ensure that in any way possible. But that was what they wanted for me. It wasn't truly my own aspiration, just one foisted upon me.

With little prompting, my mind went to Narberal taking up the hobby of painting. Perhaps, a minor future goal would be to see the NPCs of Nazarick grow beyond more than just their programming. To see them have some thoughts beyond only Nazarick. Even if my friends would be mostly horrified or embarrassed by their creations, I feel that they would appreciate the NPCs finding their own path in life.

Future growth is an admirable goal to look towards. Perhaps, more goals would spread from that. But if I wanted to see that happen, I had to make certain that my subordinates didn't go out of control beforehand.

[Lukrut]

I found myself waiting by campfire for a while after everyone had gone off to sleep. What started as a normal day for training quickly changed when Kashia suddenly had to leave in the afternoon. We spent some time training among ourselves as we wondered what she could possibly be doing. I found myself becoming very worried when we received a magical transmission from her through the spell [Message] that she would be busy for the rest of the day.

The four of us had wondered if something like the attack by the church in E-Rantel was happening again, but we couldn't be sure. Instead, we tried to busy ourselves with training to keep our minds off those lurking worries.

None of them were relieved when the sun began setting and Kashia still hadn't returned. My fears only grew as the sun disappeared upon the horizon and the moon began rising in the night sky. Even after dinner, the others waited an hour or so before finally going off to sleep.

Ninya, like myself, was the only other holdout, but even she eventually succumbed to exhaustion. That just left me alone by the crackling fire as I maintained my vigil.

Idly, I let a root grow from my hand until it was the size of a regular dagger of seven inches. Then, I broke it off and spun the sharpened stake of a root in my hand before letting it get reabsorbed back into my hand.

I did this a few more times as it was just something to do to pass the time while doubling as a training method in my control over the roots.

But, midway through my sixth cycle of doing this, a golden flash appeared from the corner of my eyes and I looked to see Kashia. Yet, she lacked any of the playfulness she had earlier today. In its place was a woman who looked like all the joy had been sucked out of her.

Quickly reabsorbing the root into my hand, I shot up from the log I'd been sitting on and quickly rushed over to my beautiful fox. And growing closer, I examined how 'off' she looked.

Her eyes were a dull orange instead of the setting suns they normally were or the glowing golden that she took on from time to time. In addition, her blonde hair wasn't held up in her usual ponytail and now fell loose on her shoulders and down her back while her golden-furred ear fell low on her head instead of pointing up to the sky.

Then there were her tails which were all low enough to almost touch the ground, opposite of the way they'd usually flow behind her high in the air. One could say that she was almost like a dog or wolf in the way that her mood could be determined easily by her tails.

"Kashia, are you okay?" I asked softly. Her eyes met mine before she pulled me into a hug and buried her head into the crook of my shoulder. I quickly wrapped my arms around Kashia and held her. As we stood like this, I felt her form shaking as the area Kashia had buried her face into began to feel wet.

She was crying…

I stroked the back of her head and continued to hold her. My mind had a million questions going through it, but there was one that stood out. What happened to cause her this much grief?

This question didn't leave my lips because I wasn't going to rush her for answers when she was in this state. So, I continued to stand where I was holding Kashia while letting her release whatever she had been bottling up. We stood this way for a while and I really couldn't tell for how long since all my focus was on my lover.

Eventually, the shuddering stopped and Kashia pulled her face from my neck and I got to see her tear-streaked face. I rested my forehead against hers and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm right here for you." I promised.

"Can we go someplace private?" Kashia asked softly.

"Wherever you want." I replied. My consent was all that she needed as we now stood in our usual spot in the copse. Gently, I moved us over to a tree and pulled Kashia down so that I rested with my back against the tree with her resting against my chest. Kashia didn't resist me as we did this.

"Would you like to tell me what happened?" I gently prodded.

"I had to see and fix so much horror." My beautiful fox whispered, making my eyes widen. What could Kashia have seen to give a demigoddess like her such a reaction?

"What did you have to see and fix?"

"At a minimum? A whole village of men, women, and children who had their flesh repeatedly flayed off and healed. Worse than that, I witnessed a little girl and her grandfather that had been grafted together while cancerous growths grew and rotted off their merged form repeatedly. I had to kill them both and rip their forcibly conjoined bodies apart piece by piece before I could fix them. And that was only a few examples of the horrors that happened." My jaw dropped as I heard this.

That was nightmarish! What could have possibly done something like that to those people?

"I have seen a lot of terrible things in my life. Unwanted children dying on the streets as they choked on their own blood, their ruined lungs gulping down air, causing further pain and damage while their suffering was prolonged for one more breath. Destitute men, women, and children banging on doors, begging to be let in from the cold that would freeze them to death in minutes. All the while, no one would offer them shelter, content with merely watching as they succumbed to the elements. Only one single moment in my life has been worse than everything I saw today."

As Kashia said this, she began hugging herself with her arms and tails. All the while, I had to wonder exactly what kind of life that Kashia had led even though she was royalty? Since, from just those descriptions alone, she had gone through what seemed like a hellish time long before coming to the Re-Estize.

And considering what she saw for the past few hours that brought her to this state, what could be even worse than that?

"Do you really want to know?" She replied, startling me as I realized, with some shame, that I had thought that question aloud. Yet, the possibility of knowing more about Kashia's past was tempting to hear. I just didn't want to satisfy my curiosity if it was at the cost of hurting her.

"Only if you feel comfortable with sharing it." I answered as I pulled her closer to me.

For a few moments, there was only silence. Then, Kashia softly spoke with a guilty tone, "The worst moment of my life was when I killed my dad."

That admittance shocked me. From everything that she had said, and all the emotions of love she showed when recalling memories of her parents, I could never have expected her to say something like that. There had to be more behind it then just that.

It seemed like the blonde demigoddess was taking a few moments to collect herself, then she continued, "I was 13. At the time, I didn't have power like I do now, and dad and I weren't with mom or in the Realm of Foxes when it happened, we were too far away. The land we found ourselves in was a polluted hellscape, with its people only barely surviving under the rule of powerful and greedy tyrants. One needed special masks to breathe outdoors as the air was a toxic miasma thick enough to permanently blot out the sun and sky.

Any water was a horrific poison that needed to be processed and purified before being drinkable, the only distributors of which were sold by those same tyrants. The cheap and affordable method was to utilize filters which only partially made the water drinkable enough to not kill you immediately if they weren't quality filters. The more expensive way was to buy fully purified water directly from the tyrants.

My dad was my hero. There was never anything he wouldn't do to keep his little girl safe. Our funds were tight, yet he made just enough that he could either buy average filters for both of us or he could buy the purified water for one of us and the cheapest filters for the other. Guess which option he took?"

With how charitable Kashia had said he was when explaining how her parents met, it was easy to deduce the answer, "He gave you all the purified water." I answered. Kashia curled up closer to me as I said this, and I could see her nails, even covered by gloves, cut into the revealed skin of her arms and draw golden blood before the scratches healed.

"I watched him waste away bit by bit, unable to do anything to help. He slowly grew a cough that led to him hacking out a mixture of blood and sometimes bits of shriveled flesh from his lungs or stomach. His body got weaker before eventually becoming permanently bedridden and wracked with horrific pain that on certain days would leave him screaming until he was hoarse. Any method of healing him was impossibly expensive.

And yet, he would tell me that everything was fine, that I needed the good water more than he did. This was in combination with watching his mind slip away as he hallucinated or mixed up past and present events. After enough days of watching him waste away in agony, I made up my mind and stole some sleeping drugs from a nearby pharmacy. Then, I mixed a lethal dose into a cup of my own purified water and gave it to him.

After that, I held his hand and sat with him. I listened to him tell me how big I was getting. Then he told me my favorite bedtime story." I saw Kashia give a remorseful smile as tears filled her eyes, "He may have stumbled, coughed, and forgotten a few pieces of the story, but he made it through his last retelling.

I will always recall his last words to me, 'Daddy's getting tired, kiddo. I love you, I'll see you in the morning.' He never woke up after that." As Kashia said this, she looked back into my eyes, and I saw the immense amounts of guilt of a woman who tried helping her father in the only way she could. "Why couldn't that stupid, stubborn, selfless man have just been selfish for once in his life?!"

Capturing her lips with my own to halt anything further she might say, I broke the kiss and rested my forehead against her, "Enough of that. Everything you've told me says that you loved your father and did the best you could with what you had. And it's obvious to tell that you meant the world to your father, just as he meant it to you. Enough so that he saw your life as that much more precious than his."

Yet, even with my words, Kashia didn't look reassured or convinced, so I decided to change up the tactic. "Kashia, if you had to choose between your life and Ninya's, who would y-"

I didn't even get to finished as Kashia interrupted, "Ninya." Then, her eyes widened in surprise as her brain processed what she said.

While Kashia and Ninya kept it as quiet as possible at the moment from the others, I've overheard Ninya call Kashia 'mom' a few times when they thought no one could hear. And from the way that Kashia didn't refute it, I found it obvious that Kashia had adopted Ninya and Tuare as her daughters.

"Point proven. You'd instantly lay down your life to protect your daughter. It gives you a little more perspective on what your father was thinking." When I said this, Kashia quickly gained an expression of surprise and cocked her head in question.

"How did you know?" She asked, making me smile.

"I tend to notice things, my beautiful fox. And I've overheard Ninya call you 'mom' once or twice. And for being a recent parent, you are doing an amazing job at it. And that makes me confident that whenever we get married and have some more kids, that you'll be a natural there as well." As I said this, I easily pictured the pair of us sharing the rest our lives together.

Well, technically it would just be my life. I'm completely positive at this point that Kashia is likely immortal. Compared to my mortal life, she's going to be around long after my body becomes little more than dust in the wind. But until that day, I'd do everything right now to keep her happy.

Thankfully, that last statement got a small smile from my beautiful fox. "Technically, for foxes at least, we'd already be married since we did the deed. As my instinctual side fully considers you to be my mate, and since foxes usually mate for life while kitsune always do, well…"

Wow. That was eye-opening to say the least. It did slightly explain why that one kitsune…threatened me after Kashia and I had sex for the first time. But it did make me happy to know that our feelings for one another were never going to change. At the same time…

"That is good to hear, but I can't help feel a little disappointed." I admitted, earning a questioning look from Kashia, a likely a kitsune or two that was probably hiding in the area the urge to murder me.

"And why might that be?" Kashia asked with a neutral tone.

"Because if the most beautiful woman in the world is to get married, then she deserves an amazing ceremony that truly shows off how beautiful she is, not just some simple lovemaking in the bushes. Following that, she'll need a feast in her honor. I can't let my princess have anything less than that." My answer elicited a blush followed by smile from Kashia as her eyes gained a familiar shine to them.

"And would this be your proposal to me right now?" She asked with a slowly returning playful tone and a sniffling of her nose as she wiped her eyes.

"Not yet. If I were to propose to you, it needs to be the proper moment. Besides, I'm fairly certain that the others would see it as too soon." I explained, earning a giggle.

"Logically, I see your point and agree with it. But instinctually," She then unexpectedly cupped my crotch with her hand, "your dick is my permanent property." Kashia warned with a straight face until she couldn't maintain the seriousness anymore as a grin quickly marred it, followed by her breaking out into laughter. By the time she let go, both of us were filling the copse with our laughter and I felt happy to see that Kashia's mood was rising.

Gently fondling her ears, I gave her a grin, "If a goddess lays down her divine commandment like that, then who am I to disagree?" I teased back.

That earned me a kiss from the foxy demigoddess. "Thanks for helping to cheer me up." Kashia said in gratitude before she gained a slightly somber look, "But even so, I've still never fully gotten over the guilt of what I did. Maybe, if I had tried harder in finding a solution, he wouldn't have died?"

I shook my head and brushed some of Kashia's golden hair from her eyes. "One thing I learned early in my career as an adventurer is this; you can't always save everyone. You've gotta move past what you could've done and focus on what you can do now. For instance, you stopped whatever it was that tortured those villagers and helped them. How did you find out about this happening, anyway?"

"Some of my people found a survivor of the initial attack after he managed to run away into the Great Forest of Tob. From there, I was informed about it and learned that it was the work of a bunch of former demons, emphasis on former."

That was not good at all. The only places I've ever heard about demons is the stories told of dark practitioners of magic who summoned them to do their bidding. That was the most common of stories. Others were of how they could come into being all on their own. Regardless of the methods, one constant connection between all these stories was that demons were evil and cruelty incarnate. To hear that a bunch of demons assaulted a village like that was a bad omen.

"But they're all gone now, right?" I asked with worry evident in my tone. Kashia noticed this gently took my hand in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"It should all be taken care of after everything I did today." She assured me with a serious tone, filling me with a needed relief.

[Albedo]

Sitting in front of Demiurge with a neutral expression, I considered how the archdevil had forced my Love to beg the whore to spare his life. At first, I was immensely angry at the absolute travesty that Demiurge caused, but then, I considered everything I knew about the Floor Guardian as his Overseer. And what I knew is that Demiurge didn't make stupid mistakes. Aside from my Love and myself, he's probably the most intelligent being within Nazarick.

And as he and I were sent off by my Love to fulfill his orders, I was given time to think. He was competent, and even with my continued disappointment in how my Love had to protect him, there was only a single factor that was hard to fit into any plan both he and I might make.

The fox whore.

Everything just led back to her. And that was beyond unacceptable. My Love called her a 'friend', but I knew that couldn't be true! She is just trying to trick my Love by manipulating his misplaced feelings for the Supreme Beings that abandoned both him and Nazarick. But my Love knows better, I know he does!

The whore has to be put in line, especially because she was forcing my Love to delay his plans for conquest with her threats and mere presence. My Love deserves the world, and everything else within it. Any who stood in the way of that had to be punished for standing in my Love's way. But that would have to wait until Nazarick had the means to accomplish this. Thankfully, my Love has confirmed that the whore has adopted the Veyron sisters fully as her daughters.

My Love has said to end all attempts to kidnap the sisters which told me that he was already aware of the ongoing attempts, but understood that they wouldn't work due to the forces being utilized in them. Obviously, he wanted us to perform any plan with agents that were stronger than simple demons and doppelgängers. But assembling a team for that would take some time. They had to be perfect, since we'd only get one chance.

"Albedo, after our talk with Lord Ainz, I've ruminated on what we were told. And through that rumination, I've come to a few conclusions, one of which is that we must move our initial plans of conquest further away from the Re-Estize Kingdom and Baharuth Empire. This is due to both being monitored by Kashia Blanc." As Demiurge said this, my eyes narrowed in displeasure.

"How can one single woman give pause to and delay Lord Ainz's plans of conquest?! With the entirety of Nazarick at his beck and call, Lord Ainz should be able to crush any resistance she might give. I'm aware that we may lose some of our forces in the process, but it is a risk that should be taken to remove the potential threat to Nazarick before she can establish herself!" I questioned with frustration evident in my tone.

"I'm absolutely certain that Lord Ainz is aware of something that would make such an assault be to our detriment. Because of that, we must build up our forces until suitable enough to outweigh such a risk." Demiurge answered, doing little to improve my feelings on the matter, "This is in addition to retooling the plan for Ninya Veyron."

Now that interested me, "And what idea might you possibly have? I have had my spies watching the girl day and night and they have discovered that quite a few suspicious animals in the area. Animals, mind you, that never leave the area and are always watching Ninya Veyron and the three other humans she's part of a group with. Of current count, there are 12 of these animals in total that stay around the group." I explained.

"That is extremely useful in helping to formulate a plan. I have also considered that we should utilize the combined might of the Pleiades instead of the agents that we've been using prior."

I gave a nod of approval to this. "All that leaves us is for the right opportunity to enact the plan. I actually have a few supplements that can be used to aid the Pleiades. I'll need some time to arrange for something suitable. Your aid would be helpful in this, and it would help to make up for the embarrassment that you put Lord Ainz through."

"Of course." Then, Demiurge pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose while grinning, "On that note, I would be appreciative if you would be willing to aid me in a new plan of mine to support Lord Ainz?"

"I wish to hear this plan before I give any answer." I replied. While I was immediately interested in any way of supporting my Love, I was dubious of what Demiurge would want my assistance with.

"With how Lord Ainz spoke of his Momon persona earlier, I understood immediately his main issue. When he initially established the adventurer identity, it was to cultivate a reputation that would aid him in his Great Plan. Not for lack of trying, any enemies that he's fought besides Shalltear have barely aided that reputation growth. But what if he was given a great enemy, like a demon lord, to fight and defeat?"

I smiled at the plan being formulated. "And where is it that I come into this?" I asked.

"We need someone to play the role of a demon lord for this plan to come to fruition. As it would be an unwise choice for me to leave Nazarick due to current events, I feel the next best member of Nazarick who can competently play the part is you." As he told me this, I considered the request.

There was some other reason that Demiurge wanted me specifically to do this compared to his other subordinates beyond just my competence. The only question is what that reason must be? Because it certainly wasn't to my benefit.

One obvious reason would be due to Demiurge's original failed operation. He'd likely use me as a scapegoat in case the plan fails, lessening the burden of blame on himself. But that shouldn't be the only reason, it's too simple for him.

While I had half a mind to refuse the request, I deliberated over how I could maneuver whatever hidden plan being schemed to my benefit. An obvious positive to my participation would be the direct benefit it would give to my Love. A greater positive than that would be the appreciation and gratitude my Love would give me! I can already imagine the compliments he would say to me!

But that was the bait now, wasn't it? My love for…Momonga versus whatever potential risk I might face with Demiurge's machinations. And I was willing to take the bait, since he wasn't the only demonic being in Nazarick that could come up with a plan.

I gave him a simple smile before putting on an act for him, "Absolutely, Demiurge. If it's something that would aid my Love, then I'd do anything to make sure it succeeds." I answered.

This earned a grin from Demiurge. "Excellent. With you onboard, my plan should take three to four weeks to perfectly set up for the adventurer Momon to take centerstage…"

[Kashia]

I found myself having another dream again. I was back home in the apartment that dad and I shared together after mom was taken back to her realm. And I remember this moment very well.

It was just after I had stolen sleeping pills from the pharmacy. Opening the door to the apartment, I stepped through the threshold and into the decontamination spray, waiting for the beep to tell me it had finished. Then, receiving the industrial-sounding beep, I pulled off the rebreather from my face that had done little to block the stench of the toxic smog that had filled the streets outside for the past few days.

Putting it onto one of the hooks on the wall next to the doorway, I unbuttoned my mom's former chemcloak and hung it onto the wall next to the rebreather. Following this, I let my golden tail unwrap from around my waist and felt relief as I was able to finally stretch it out after keeping it tightly in that position for so long. At the same time, I took the dull-red beanie off of my head and allowed my ears to stand up straight like they were naturally predisposed to.

With a shake, I pulled off my boots and inspected my body for any possible contamination. This humorously reminded me that I had been quite developed for my age. Had to blame mom's genes on that one.

Yet, that was the only funny thing I could take note of in this memory. I still had the bag of pills in hand, and I could hear dad wetly coughing as it was soon followed by groans of pain. The coughing had been growing worse, and it was getting so hard for dad to keep anything solid down.

And then there was the growing stench rolling off of him, a stench that I could smell the moment I entered the door. Lead, something like a mixture of chlorine and rotten eggs, and multiple scatterings of other heavy metals.

Looking from the bag in my hand, to the doorway leading to my small room that dad now rested in instead of me. He had been argumentative over taking the mattress in my room, but as he grew sicker, it had been easier to get him to finally agree to my requests.

So fucking selfless, even as he was dying. Why couldn't life have been kinder to one of the few people that wasn't a selfish piece of shit in this world? But that was neither here nor there. It was too late for that now.

Walking over to the small kitchen built into the wall, I pulled out a cup from one of the cabinets, and a knife with a flat end from another. Two ingredients down, two more to go…

Walking to the fridge, I pulled out one of the unopened bottles of water. If there was any small gift I could give him, then dad would get water that I hadn't drank from just yet. I closed the fridge and went back to the counter before setting the water down. Three ingredients down, one to go…

Opening the bag in my hand, I pulled out the blue bottle of sleeping pills and twisted the cap off the bottle and poured out a large handful of the white tablets onto the counter and took up the knife before using the flat end of the blade to start crushing the tablets. I did it for a while until I had a white powder on the counter in front of me.

Once finished, I began scooping up the large amount of powder in my hands and dumped it into the cup until the power was finally gone. Take one pill, and you'd clock out for three to four hours. Take two, almost half a day. Take more than five, and you're gonna die.

That last part was a little rhyme some took to using due to how prevalent suicide was these days. This was just one of the easier methods.

But before I went to unscrew the cap of the bottle, I hesitated. At that time, my mind was wondering if I should go through with this? Maybe, there was some other way? I know that the small jobs I'd been getting since dad got sick hadn't paid much, but I also knew that there were some more unsavory jobs that I've been trying to avoid which paid a lot more.

I was a smart girl. I had skills, and I wasn't exactly unaware of my appearance. Maybe I could make enough money to get some meds that could buy a little more time before it was too late? Then, I could look at trying to get him an actual doctor.

His symptoms had skyrocketed last night as his skin and eyes slowly began yellowing. I had been desperately trying to find any way to reverse this, but there was nothing. What I learned later on was that there was no possible way to fix dad at this point. His liver had been in the process of failing for a week now. It was a simple miracle that it had held out for this long after all the chemicals and heavy metals his body had constantly been battered with for years now.

He needed a new liver along with dialysis. Neither of which we could afford. But I kept believing that there might be a way. I was just a teenager that didn't want to lose her dad.

Looking at that cup of powder, I was about to reconsider my decision and pour the cup into the sink until I heard dad scream in agony. He always tried to hide the screaming from me if he thought I was home.

But then, the next thing I heard just caused me to freeze, "I-Inari! Where are you?! Where am I?! This isn't our room! This isn't our home!"

He was going through another of his episodes. This time, he couldn't remember that we had moved out of our old apartment. And he still thought that mom was around…

I gritted my teeth and scrunched away the stinging at the corner of my eyes as I set the cup back onto the counter, unscrewed the cap of the bottle, and poured it into the cup. Following this, I used the blade of the knife to stir the crushed sleeping pills into the water until it looked like the powder had fully dissolved into the water.

Picking up the cup once more, I slowly trudged towards the closed door to dad's room and stopped with my hand reaching towards the steel handle. Taking a shuddering breath, I wiped my eyes on my sleeves and did my best to put a smile onto my face.

Then, I finally opened the door and entered the room to see dad laying on the mattress, sweat pouring from his jaundiced skin. But at my approach, he turned his head towards me and put on a wide smile while trying to hide the immense pain he was going through.

"Ka-Kashia! You're getting so big! Th-Then again, your birthday is tomorrow and you only turn eight once, kiddo!" I hid my urge to start crying as I heard how enthusiastic he was.

"Y-Yeah, I'm excited, daddy. I can't wait to see what you-you've got for me!" I replied, playing along as I approached his bed and sat on the floor next to him. It was easier to play along during one of his episodes then try and explain where and when we are.

Dad looked around me a bit before meeting my gaze again, "You do-don't have M-Meepo with you. You two are inseparable usually. D-Don't tell m-me my little girl is growing up already?"

"I'm still your lit-little girl, dad-daddy." I said with a sniff before using my tail to gently grab Meepo off the shelf near the door before bringing him to my free hand. "See, Meepo's just been watching over you, that's all."

"He's been very good at h-his job-" Dad was sudden wracked with a coughing fit before he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, the wet red stain smeared across it showing how badly this fit was.

Looking to the cup in my hand, I swallowed the lump in my throat and got closer to him. "Here, daddy, dr-drink this to he-help with the coughs." He nodded and I helped to pour the drink in his mouth until he had drained half the cup. Then, he pushed it away.

"Thank you." He said.

It didn't matter that he hadn't finished it. He already drank enough to overdose. Now…I just had to wait.

"Y-You know, kiddo, if-if you had a b-birthday wish, what would it be?" He asked me with a smile. I wanted to start sobbing as I felt my smile waver slightly.

"Do-Don't you know, if-if I tell you, then the wish won't come true?" I replied as I hid my eyes in my hand and squeezed them shut to stop tears from leaking out.

"M-Maybe it might come true if you do this time?" He playfully said back.

"M-My wish is that you would tell me a bedtime story?" I answered as I wiped my eyes and looked at dad's smiling face, unaware or uncaring of his approaching end.

"Oh, that's a-an easy wish to m-make come true! I know, h-how ab-about I tell you your f-favorite one?" I couldn't trust myself to talk so I just nodded, "On-Once upon a time, there was a beautiful pr-prin-princess of a f-far-off land. She had tra-trav-" Another coughing fit erupted from his mouth as I moved over to support him in sitting up.

"She traveled from a far-off land, wait, I already said that?" I gave him a nod, "I remember, she had traveled the land to h-help those less fortunate w-with her magic. But o-one day on he-her travels, she was attacked b-by e-evil tr-trolls who wanted her m-magic for themselves.

She w-was in trouble, but t-then, a pa-passing kni-knight came to-to… Yes, to her rescue with a ma-magical sw-sword to ward off t-the trolls. Once t-the cowardly trolls r-ran away, t-the knight of-offered to escort the princess home… Are we home right now, Kashia?"

"Ye-Yes, we're home. Y-You w-were telling me a story." I managed to squeak out which served to jog dad's memory.

"Right. The knight escorted her h-home, protecting her from all the d-dangers. But, he p-protected her from th-them all until th-they reached her castle. With his task done, the knight was about to l-leave until the p-princess asked h-him to es-escort her on her j-journey the next day.

The knight agreed and he escorted her through the woods. After bringing her back home, she asked if h-he could d-do it again. The knight agreed, and so he escorted the beautiful princess again. And so, so… I was at a part…"

Dad stammered for a moment as he tried to remember what he was saying while I held him a little tighter with one arm while Meepo was held in the other.

"Now I've got it," Dad announced, "and so, this happened for more days, which extended into weeks, which extended into months, and then into years until one day, the princess made one final re-request. If h-he could escort her to a wedding altar. T-The knight happily agreed and they were soon wed and…" I could see dad's eyes were starting to get drowsy as his head slowly began to nod.

"And then, they had a beautiful and amazing daughter that they lo-loved with all their hearts. And they all had a happily e-ever after." Dad finished with heavier breathing from the effort, "Did I g-grant yo-your wish?"

"A-All that a-and more, daddy. You're the best dad in the world!" I answered, putting a grand smile onto dad's face, even as his eyelids were drooping further and further.

"Well, don't worry. Daddy will make sure your bi-birthday is even better tomorrow!" He promised with a weak cough, "Daddy's getting real tired, kiddo. I love you. I'll see you in the morning." My tears were falling at this point.

"I love you, too. I'll be waiting for what you've go-got in store for m-me to-tomorrow." I choked out as I watched his eyes fully close for the last time. For a few moments, I was hesitant as I looked at how peaceful dad looked. Then, the desperate kid that I was wanted to believe that he was okay.

"Dad?" I asked, shaking him gently, "Dad?" I asked again to no response. "Daddy?" I sobbed out as I saw his chest stop breathing.

That was when the dam finally broke and I began wailing as I pulled into me with both my arms and tail before rocking the one constant in my life that was forever gone.

Mom was gone. Dad was gone. I was all alone in the apartment with nothing but my grief, Meepo, and dad's corpse to keep me company. Then, I eyed the cup that killed dad.

Picking it up, I saw that there was more than half of the water in it left. I was tempted for a long moment with one of the hardest decisions in my life. Then, I roared in anger and grief at myself, the world, and everything in between before throwing the cup at the wall and going back to cradling dad.

I stayed like that for an entire day.

[Baharuth Empire – Arwintar]

Day: 28

Within the walls of the capital city of the Baharuth Empire stood the Imperial Magic Academy, home to the Empire's greatest advancements in magic and producer of the finest mages within the region. This bastion of sorcery and research was part of the backbone of the Empire's military as many, if not all, mages within its ranks studied from this academy.

And leading this academy was the both the famous and feared wizard Fluder Paradyne. Fully accepted to be the strongest magic caster within both the Baharuth Empire and possibly the Re-Estize Kingdom. There was barely any human alive who could possibly contend individually with his power and wisdom. Both of which came from the unnaturally long life that he's lived.

As it's currently known, he's older than 200 years old at the very least. And, while his age did show at this point, it was well believed that he could possibly have another century or two of life left within him if he didn't discover some way to even further extend it.

But, power, age and wisdom were not all he had in his repertoire. Fluder was extremely close to the royal family, enough so to have been the teacher for two generations of the royal family. This gave him immense political power that allowed him to further fund and study his research into the arcane.

Currently, behind the walls of the academy and, within a well-guarded room containing a large ritual circle, a gathering of mages had occurred. Most wore white and gray robes covered by hooded cloaks of dark gray. This marked them as disciples of Fluder Paradyne.

As for the man himself, he stood in front of the inactive ritual circle in layered white robes, with the only bright splashes of color coming from the necklaces of large beads around his neck. Though, most of the necklaces along with the front and back of his robes were covered over by his long beard and slicked-back hair that both went down to his waist.

Of the parts of the tanned skin of his face that could be seen, all of it was covered in heavy wrinkles while his green eyes held a mixture of weariness and wisdom that was hard to see in most but the oldest people. It was typically hard to find much emotion within his face aside from a constant look of study and thought.

Yet, right now, Fluder stood perplexed at the news he had just received from the Re-Estize Kingdom. Before him, a mage in a dirty traveling robe knelt at the man's feet.

"You are absolutely serious about this news that you've received?" Fluder questioned but also partially demanded from the man.

"Of every word, Master Paradyne. Every [Message] that was relayed used the proper coded words to confirm it. And, as a precaution, I had four different relay groups confirm it. Our spies vehemently confirm that the Magician's Guild has made contact with a goddess of magic residing within the Lake of Tob known as the Fox Princess. In addition, they have made claim that some type of gift given to the guild by the goddess has been giving their mages enhanced ability in spellcasting and mana." The mage responded.

This made Fluder pause in thought. What could possibly allow the half-baked mages of the Re-Estize to enhance their magic? Over the years since the Re-Estize had formed their guild of mages, Fluder had kept close tabs on them, both to hinder them if they started to become too strong or to steal any valuable magical discoveries that were made. One thing that the old wizard was certain of was that the Magician's Guild was nowhere near competent enough by themselves to come up with a mass-producible way of enhancing their mages.

"Have our spies made any discovery as to what this method of enhancement might be and how it enhances one's magic?" Fluder questioned.

"Her blood. They drink an elixir made from her blood. As for the enhancement itself, what's been reported is that it permanently makes it easier for mages to cast their spells and allow for said mages to cast their spells more often." As the messenger said this, Fluder's eyes widened at the concept.

A way to permanently enhance a mage like that without the use of a magic item on one's person or a potion with its temporary effect was considered a fanciful concept that belonged to the realm of myths and gods.

But this? If it was actually real, then the Baharuth Empire would be able to sweep over the forces of the Re-Estize with an army of enhanced mages, and that was the dull and mindless effect that such an elixir could have. No, what Fluder was truly interested in was the application it could have to his continued magical research.

"Have our spies had any chance to steal any of this elixir for future study?" Fluder asked.

"I'm sorry to say, Master Fluder, that acquiring any sample of this elixir is impossible due to how well the Magician's Guild guards it. Any attempt to do so would break whatever cover our spies have." The messenger answered, making Fluder contemplate the options.

While Fluder wasn't fully convinced if this was truly a goddess of magic or just some powerful magical being that made the claim to being one, what he was aware of is that she had some method of enhancing mages, either through her blood. if it wasn't a euphemism, or through another substance that she could produce. If acquiring an elixir from the Magician's Guild was too much of an issue, then they'd just have to go to the source itself, located somewhere within the Lake of Tob.

But that also meant that they needed to send their own expeditions into the forest to investigate this after they had scried the lake to confirm if this goddess truly lived there.

After that? Fluder considered what way would one bargain with a supposed goddess? Even more, if she was a goddess of magic, what magic might he be able to learn from her? He had to find out.