Chapter 14: Confusion and Understanding
Nazarick's 9th Floor, Seven Years Ago
The Round Table Room, Conference Chamber of the Forty one members of Ainz Ooal Gown. Currently, all it's members were sitted around the meeting table for a meeting that Touchme had called them for, concerning his brother…
"Bullshit!" Ulbert Alain Odle yelled, while slamming his fist on the table.
"Calm down Ulbert." Peroroncino said, trying to calm his Guildmate down.
"Calm down?" Ulbert repeated in annoyance while glaring at the Hentai addict. "Did you even listen to what he said? He's basically asking us to allow his brother into our guild like he owns the place."
"That's no-"
"Or have you all forgotten the requirements to be a member of our Guild, or do I need to remind you guys?" Ulbert said, cutting off whatever Touchme had planned to say. "Rule one, they have to be a working member of society. Two, they have to be a heteromorphic race, and three-"
"...They need an approval from a majority vote." Touchme finished, causing Ulbert to glare at him for the interruption. "He has already met one of the criterias though."
"And what's that?" Ulbert asked incredulously. "Working member of society? Part time jobs don't count."
"Not to be that guy, but they kinda do." Herohero said.
"That's besides the point."
"Is it?" Herohero asked, slightly annoyed by Ulbert's reaction. "You're letting what ever personal Vendetta you have with Touchme cloud your judgement."
"That's enough you two!" Bukubukuchagama scolded, causing both players to instantly stop their banter. "Arguing like this won't get us anywhere."
"Sorry." Both Ulbert and Herohero apologized, with the former now taking his seat.
"Thank you." Touchme said sincerely to the Voice actor, before standing up to address his Guildmate. "I'm sincerely sorry for being the cause of a dispute between guild members. It was never my intention." After a brief pause, he continued. "I know this might come out as selfish, but I ask that you look past him using a human character and give him a chance to be a member of our. If not for anything, at least for my sake."
Once he was done, murmuring could be heard throughout the hall as the members of Ainz Ooal Gown are seen talking with eachother.
"Ehem." Herohero said, getting the attention of everyone present. "Since he already meets one of the Guild's criteria, I believe the only thing left is voting. And I for one am in support of having him join our guild." He said, wasting no time in casting his vote.
"I disagree." Ulbert said, voicing his vote against the new recruit. "Having a human player stand against everything this guild was built on."
"I'm with Ulbert on this one." Beast King Mekongawa said.
"Well I for one don't see any problem with having him in our Guild." Tabula Smaragdina said before facing Touchme. "As a member of Ainz Ooal Gown, I believe you are also entitled to vote in this matter."
"My thoughts on this isn't really a secret." Touchme said. "Regardless, I'm in favour of my brother joining."
"I'm against him joining." Luci Fer said.
"I say we let him join." Peroroncino said.
"I say we don't." Temperance said.
Just like that, the members of Ainz Ooal Gown began a back and forth process on deciding the recruitment of Touchme's brother. With a total of 40 votes casted, the decision to allow Touchme's brother into the guild was left in a tie, with 20 votes in favour of his recruitment, while another 20 was against it.
For a brief moment, the Conference Chamber was silent as all it's members turned to the only member who had not yet voted.
"Momonga?"
Ulbert called to the guild leader who seemed to be deep in thought concerning the issue on ground. On one part, he did not feel a human player should be welcomed to the guild, due to past experience. On another, he felt slightly indebted to Touchme for saving when he was a noob. No matter how he looked at it, if he refused to allow Touchme's brother, he might end up antagonizing the former Guild leader. On another had, if he chooses to allow a human player, he might antagonize Ulbert. So many scenarios began playing in Momonga's head as debating what to do.
After what felt like an eternity, Momonga stood up, ready to make his decision…
Nazarick, Present Time
When Ainz saw the empty space that once contained Shalltear's name, he felt as though his non existent heart had just been stabbed by a massive stake. So great was the shock that he had nearly fallen to his knees. However, he was able to compose himself Infront of Albedo.
The same could not be said for the Succubus. Despite her somewhat composed stance, Ainz could clearly tell Albedo was agitated. He couldn't really blame her. The thought that Shalltear, one of the strongest guardians of Nazarick had been kill caused many questions to race through Ainz mind.
"If Shalltear was dead, does that mean Ben too has suffered the same fate?"
"Albedo?"
"...Yes Lord Ainz."
"Declare a state of emergency across all of Nazarick. Raise every security protocol to its maximum. Also, every Guardian needs to return home immediately. After that, we shall proceed... to the Treasury."
"As you wish my Lord."
Standing on what could be considered a podium, the two Dark Elve twins and Cocytus are seen addressing multiple Vampire Bribes concerning Nazarick's current state of Emergency.
"Excuse me." Mare said, getting the attention of the Vampires. "Lord Ainz sent orders for all of us. We are to supervise the first, second and third floors."
On hearing this, whispers and gasp of surprised could be heard from the Vampire Brides present. Seeing this, Cocytus slammed the butt of his axe into the ground, instantly ending their murmuring.
"Nazarick is currently following the topmost alert protocol." Cocytus said, once order was established. Let's use this situation to show the Supreme Beings that we are completely loyal to them."
Demiurge, having received orders from Albedo to return, wasted no time in teleporting back to Nazarick. As he makes his way to the Throne room, the ever cunning Demon began murmuring to himself.
"The all-powerful ones created us to do their bidding. If anyone fails to meet their expectations, then there is absolutely no purpose for their existence, and they should be terminated at once."
Nazarick's Treasury
After teleporting into the Treasury, the first thing Ainz saw was countless lights glittering in the air, like stars in the sky.
The ceiling was so high that one would have to strain to see its heights, and its walls were so broad that they exceeded the range of one's vision. The vast room they defined was filled with dazzling treasures.
In the center of the room was a heaping pile of gold coins and gems, so immense that it resembled a mountain range.
Ainz looked behind him, at the three women waiting for orders.
Yuri Alpha, had a look of genuine admiration on her face as she looked around her surroundings. Albedo on the other hand, had a neutral expression, but beyond that mask Ainz knew she was worried for Ben's safety…as was he.
The final female was unlike Yuri. That person did not gasp in awe, but instead watched Ainz in silence.
She was a heteromorphic being, of the kind known as Automatons. Her name was CZ2128 Delta, or Shizu for short.
As a Pleiades Battle Maid, she was dressed similarly to Narberal and Yuri. However, the biggest difference in her outfit from the others was that all her accessories were done up in an urban camouflage pattern, while her skirt had a cute "1-yen" sticker on it. In addition, she had a firearm of some sort at her waist, attached to her belt like a sword.
Signalling them to follow him, Ainz lead them until they stopped Infront of a massive door. This was a door which required a certain password to open. Perhaps one could force it open with magic or rogue skills, but Ainz did not know spells like that, nor did he have such skills. Thus, he had to speak the password.
"Hm, I forgot it."
Ainz thought, which was only to be expected. There were so many such gimmicks in Nazarick that he would probably only be able to remember a password if it was one he used frequently. However, since he could not remember the password, Ainz spoke a master password.
"All glory to Ainz Ooal Gown."
In response, the jet-black door displayed a series of words "Ascendit a terra in coelum, iterumque descendit in terram, et recipit vim superiorum et inferiorum."
"...Tabula Smaragdina really was a perfectionist." Albedo reacted to those words which Ainz could not help but mention.
Ainz thought of one of the person who had designed the tricks and traps used by Ainz Ooal Gown.
He had a hand in designing about twenty percent of the smaller mechanisms throughout the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. His abnormally intricate designs consumed much of Nazarick's free data capacity, which caused the other members to complain about being unable to indulge themselves. Thus, he took responsibility for his actions and paid for many cash items to expand said data capacity.
Ainz studied the words which appeared. This must be a hint for the password, but what could it mean?
He racked his brains, taking his time to plumb the depths of his mind for the answer.
Soon, Ainz finally found the password, which slumbered within his memories.
"It should be…By this means you shall acquire the glory of the whole world, And so you shall drive away all shadows and blindness…am I correct?" As Ainz said this, he looked to Shizu with questioning eyes.
Shizu nodded in response to him. She had been made by one of his friends who had worked on different mechanisms from Tabula Smaragdina. Shizu's backstory had been written so that she would be familiar with the bypassing of Nazarick's mechanisms. This was why she could easily solve that password hint.
However, Ainz had not asked her for help because he wanted to indulge the selfish desire to open the door through his own efforts.
As though in response to Ainz's wishes, the shadow door collapsed into a single point. Soon, the shadow was gone, leaving a fist-sized sphere of blackness floating in the air.
Now that the shadow had vanished, one could see into the tunnel that had been left behind. This was an orderly place, completely unlike the previous area. The best way to describe it would be something like a display from a museum.
"I'm going in."
Ainz entered the Armory without waiting for his three followers to respond.
What awaited the three of them were broadswords, greatswords, estocs, flamberges, scimitars, patas, shotels, kukris, claymores, short swords, sword breakers...
Of course, swords were not the only weapons here. There were one-handed axes, two-handed axes, one-handed bludgeons, javelins, bows, crossbows...
Just the types alone were almost uncountable.
In addition, there were many unrealistic weapons here that stretched the definition of actually being called weapons. Those were the kind that could not possibly be sheathed, or which were more decorative than useful, and so on. No, these weapons were in the majority.
Almost none of them were made of anything as ordinary as mere steel.
There was a sword with a blade of blue crystal, a pure-white sword with gold inlays and engravings, a black sword with purple runes along its body, and even a bow that seemed to have been strung with pure light.
The group looked at these weapons on either side as they silently walked through the Armory.
"Within lies the Mausoleum." Ainz said, as he continued leading the group through the treasury.
"The Mausoleum?" Albedo asked in confusion.
"Hm? Albedo… do you not know the name of that room?" Ainz asked as he remembered picking the name himself. Then a thought crossed his mind that Albedo might not even know the name of the Treasury's Guardian… "Then, do you know of Pandora's Actor?"
"Yes, I do. As the Guardian Overseer, I am aware of his name and appearance… Pandora's Actor is the Area Guardian of the Treasury, and his abilities are on par with myself and Demiurge. Other than managing the Treasury, his purpose is also to prepare the currency needed to activate Nazarick's defense network. In other words, he is a treasurer."
"That's pretty much it. However, that is not all. That fellow-"
Before Ainz could finish, he was interrupted. The three NPCs turned to look at one of the other passages and saw an entity there.
That being had a bizarre appearance.
While it had a man's body, its head was that of a distorted squid. The right side of its head was half-covered in a twisted, tattooed letters, which resembled the ones that had floated up on the door just now.
Its skin was like that of a corpse, with purple blotches amidst a ghastly white color, and it was covered in some sort of sticky slime that gave off a bizarre sheen. Webs of skin grew between the long digits of its four-fingered hands.
Its body was covered in a shiny, form-fitting black leather outfit studded with silver jewelry. Several belts wrapped around it. Its black cape was closed in front of it, as if to conceal its body.
It was the very picture of a heteromorphic character. The six twitching tentacles which sprouted from its mouth dangled down to its thighs, and it turned its cloudy blue pupil-less eyes to survey the group.
"Lord Tabula Smaragdina!" Albedo cried out in surprise. This was one of the Forty Two Supreme Beings. As a magic caster, he was superior to Ainz in terms of attack power. "No, that's not him!" she immediately continued.
The two maids watched Albedo's reaction and swiftly moved into action.
Shizu drew her gun and braced its stock against her shoulder, levelling her muzzle at the person before her.
Yuri clenched her fists in front of her chest, and punched her gauntlets together, which made a sound like a ringing gong.
Then, she slid next to Albedo's side, in front of Ainz and Shizu. Ainz was a magic caster while Shizu was a gunner, neither of whom did well in close combat. Thus, this was the ideal position for her to be in order to cover for them.
"Who are you!? Even if you disguise yourself and your presence as a Supreme Being, I would not mistake my own master for anyone else!"
The mysterious being who looked like Tabula Smaragdina merely inclined its head at Albedo's question, but did not make any reply.
"...Really now. Kill it."
As that cold voice rang forth, the two battle maids hesitated. Though this was an unknown opponent, they were still a little reluctant to attack someone who resembled one of their creators.
Under these circumstances, one could not fault the battle maids. All that could be said was that Albedo's calm judgement was impeccable. Their top priority was the safety of Ainz.
Albedo clicked her tongue as the other two failed to act. Just as she was about to charge, a distinctly unhappy Ainz spoke.
"That's enough. Return to your true form, Pandora's Actor!"
Tabula Smaragdina's body distorted. In the space of a heartbeat, another heteromorphic being stood where the impostor Tabula Smaragdina had been, though it was something else entirely.
Its face was flat, with no nose or other facial features. Its mouth and eyes were replaced by three empty holes. There were no eyeballs, teeth, or a tongue; just three black holes which looked like they had been drawn on by a child with a black marker.
The pink, egg-like head was smooth and shiny, without a single hair to mar its surface. This strange character and Narberal were both Doppelgangers.
His name was Pandora's Actor, and he was a level one hundred NPC personally designed by Ainz and placed in charge of the Treasury. His talents lay in disguise, and he could copy forty five separate forms and even their abilities, though only at eighty percent of the original's potency.
His hat bore the crest of Ainz Ooal Gown, while the uniform he wore was very similar to the uniforms used by Neo-Nazi elite guards during the Euro-Arcology Wars twenty years ago.
After forcefully clicking his heels together, he raised his right hand to his cap in a grossly overacted salute.
"I bid you a fond welcome, my creator, Lord Momonga!"
"...You seem quite lively."
"Indeed! I burst with energy every day! Speaking of which, may I know the purpose for which you have come? And to think you would have in your train these fair maidens, the Guardian Overseer and the Pleiades Battle Maids!"
Yuri and Albedo returned to their positions behind Ainz after the Area Guardian revealed himself, although the three of them had different looks on their faces.
"We will be going into the innermost vaults to retrieve World Class Items."
"Of what do you speak!? Has the time come to unleash their power!?" Pandora's Actor put on an exaggerated look of shock.
This act made Ainz furrow his nonexistent eyebrows. His clothes were one thing, but why did he have to overreact to everything? No, Ainz knew the answer to that. Ainz was the creator of Pandora's Actor; in other words, his every move and gesture existed because Ainz thought they were stylish. Thus, he had happily worked them into the character design.
"...Ugh, this is really…"
In the past, he had thought of military uniforms as being very cool, and he believed that actors ought to be dramatic, but watching someone as intelligent like him make such showy motions was…
"...Lame."
Those quiet words slipped free of Ainz's heart, so softly that nobody heard.
If anyone else in the guild were around to witness this NPC's conversion into an actual person, they would probably be rolling around on the floor, laughing out loud. Well, that was how he felt; he was not pointing fingers at anyone.
As his thoughts ran haywire, Ainz suddenly felt his emotion suppressor kick. Making him ignore Pandora's Actors behaviour "...Mm, you're right. I intend to withdraw [Greed and Generosity, [Hygieia's Chalice, [Billion Blades, and [Depiction of Mountains and Rivers]."
"...And what of the other two?" Pandora asked.
"Leave them. They're one-use items. The fact that they're so powerful means you have to think about the right time and place to use them. Then, there's also the matter of how to recover the items to use them again."
"Indeed, it is so. For these legendary treasures, so mighty and potent that they are worthy of being called trump cards, which can make the impossible possible, or even change the face of the entire world."
"...Pandora's Actor, I'd like to test your knowledge; there are two hundred World Class Items, but how many of them are you familiar with?"
"Forgive me, Lord Momonga, but I only know of eleven of them."
Ainz nodded in acknowledgement. Those were the World Class Items which Ainz Ooal Gown possessed. He did not know that there was one more, [Atlas, which had been stolen from them. In other words, he had learned that the NPCs' knowledge was affected by their settings, but they could ignore any contradictions in their backstories.
Ainz had observed the NPCs for several days now. He had learned that the NPCs seemed to take after his former guildmates in the parts of the their personalities which were not covered by their character details, as well as in the interpersonal relationships with other NPCs. For instance, the relationship between Shalltear and Aura, or that between Demiurge and Sebas.
Ainz smiled, though his expression did not change. "So basically, they're like everyone's children."
It felt like his friends from the past were by his side once more. It gladdened Ainz's heart.Ainz shook his head to disperse his feelings.
"...Never mind. I will be heading to the Mausoleum soon."
"Understood. Then, I shall continue to manage the Treasury from now on."
"Mm, make me proud. Also, from now onwards, call me Ainz, Ainz Ooal Gown."
"Ohhhh! I hear and obey, my creator, Lord Ainz!"
After Pandora's Actor saluted him in a rather overdramatic fashion. If Ainz could have blushed, his face would be bright red.
"Oi, Pandora's Actor."
Ainz grabbed Pandora's Actor by the shoulders and pulled him aside, as if to say, Come with me. Of course, he told Albedo and the maids to stay where they were.
"I have an important question for you. I am your creator, and the one you are loyal to, right?"
"Indubitably so, Lord Ainz! For as I was made by you, if you desire me to do battle with the other Supreme Beings, I shall charge into the fray without hesitation!"
"I see… then, I have a request for you as a human being… no, a man… no, as your creator… Could you please not salute any more?"
Pandora's Actor locked his vacant eyes with Ainz's own, his confusion at Ainz's words evident within them.
"Er, that… how shall I put it, your saluting is pretty weird, so please don't salute any more… As for your uniform, it makes you look very strong, so we'll leave that be… but please, really, don't salute any more."
"Wenn es meines Gottes Wille!"
(If this is my God's will!)
"Is that German? Don't speak like that either. No, you may use it if you please, but just not in front of me. I'm begging you."
"Y-Yes…"
Once he was done scolding his creation, Ainz wasted no time in meeting up with the others.
"Then, there's something which has to be done before entering the Mausoleum. Albedo, leave the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown which Ben gave you with Pandora's Actor."
Ainz explained the reason for that to a confused Albedo.
"This is the final trap emplaced here; the Avataras within are programmed to attack anyone with a Ring, even if that person is you or me."
"I see… intruders would use the Ring to get here. Thus, they would trigger that final trap."
"Evil, don't you think?"
"Of, of course not!"
Albedo reluctantly plucked the Ring from her left ring finger, folding it into a silk handkerchief before handing it to Pandora's Actor. As he saw this, Ainz removed his ring as well, and placed it into a box that he had produced from thin air.
This was because he would still be considered to have the ring on even if it were in his inventory/pocket dimension, which would result in the Avataras attacking him if he entered the Mausoleum.
"Lady Albedo… could you please let go?"
As he heard that vaguely annoyed voice, Ainz turned to see Albedo and Pandora's Actor playing tug-of-war with the silk handkerchief.
"My, my precious…"
"Lord Ainz said so, didn't he? If you wear the Ring, you'll be attacked. It's just taking it off for a while…"
"What are you saying? This is the Ring which Lord Ben gave me! How could I-!"
"...Albedo, there's no time for this. If you're unwilling to leave it with him, then I shall..."
"My apologies, I'm ready now!"
Albedo suddenly let go, making Pandora's Actor lose his balance and stumble back with a cry.
"Is that so… then enter. Pandora's Actor, you will direct Yuri and Shizu to move some of the treasure to the Throne Room… Though it might be troublesome, be considerate of Albedo and do not use her Ring. Instead, use this." Ainz said before handing Pandora a ring of his own.
"Thank you very much, Lord Ainz!" Albedo said sincerely. "I cannot bear the thought of others using the Ring that Lord Ben personally gifted to me. But…since this is an emergency, it is not that I am truly unwilling…"
"...I Understand." Ainz said before looking towards Pandora's Actor. "We should be gone for some time. I will notify you with a [Message] and you can return to us then. After all, we cannot leave this place without a Ring."
"Understood."
Ainz and Albedo entered the Mausoleum, under the eyes of Pandora's Actor and the two maids.
This dimly-lit place was deathly silent, and it seemed like a suitable place for the spirits of the departed to rest. Ainz felt somewhat guilty about breaking the silence here, but nevertheless, he opened his mouth and asked the person travelling beside him.
"That's right, Albedo: what do you know about World Class Items?"
"From what I can tell, they are the most valuable treasures that the Supreme Beings have collected. They are deeply cherished and one of them is in my possession… but that is all."
"I see. Then, on some other day, I shall commit what I know about the World Class Items to paper. It will be safer to let more people know about that information. Before that, however, I shall inform you about these dangerous items." Ainz began talking about them as he walked.
"World Class Items. These items were closely linked to the game world of YGGDRASIL. The World Tree Yggdrasil had countless leaves, but then a gigantic monster appeared which devoured these leaves, causing them to fall one after the other, until only nine were left. These nine leaves were the previous incarnations of the Nine Worlds: Asgard, Alfheim, Vanaheim, Nidavellir, Midgard, Jotunheim, Niflheim, Helheim, and Muspelheim."
"However, that leaf-eating monster continued its advance on those nine remaining leaves. This was the backstory upon which the players adventured into unknown worlds in order to protect their own world."
"What did those World Class Items represent? They were equivalent to those other leaves in other words, a single World Class Item represented a world. Thus, the basic design principle of World Class Items was that they possessed enormous power, and indeed, many World Class Items were extremely powerful."
"Many players had even expressed the opinion that these items were too imbalanced, but the developers simply replied, 'The possibilities of the world are not that small,' and showed no intention of changing these balance breakers."
"The developers seemed to have a soft spot for the word "World," and so any class or monster with "World" in its name was usually much stronger than normal."
"To the developers, the incredibly powerful last boss of the main campaign storyline, known as the "World Eater", was the signature World Class Enemy. In addition, only the winners of a tournament held in each world could become a "World Champion."
Just as Ainz got to that part, the two of them arrived at two neatly flanking rows of niches, each filled with a statue dressed in battle gear.
This place resembled the Lemegeton, down to its magic arrays and the mood in the air. However, while the Demons of the Lemegeton were not armed, all the statues here sported incredibly powerful gear, and their potency rivalled Ainz's primary battle equipment.
In any other situation, Albedo would have ended up admiring this statues. But with Ben's condition still unknown, she instead chose to help Ainz swiftly collect the World Items, as opposed to admiring the scenery.
Throne Room
With all the guardians now present in the Throne room, Ainz began making preparations to resurrect Shalltear. He opened the name list in the Throne Room, and as expected, the space which should have contained Shalltear's name was still blank. This verified that Shalltear was dead, and he had not been hallucinating when he first saw it.
"Shalltear, Resurrect!"
There was a mountain of gold coins there, about five hundred million of them. That was the sum needed to recall Shalltear to life. Normally, he would have needed to use the keyboard to perform the necessary operations, but he now knew that it was no longer necessary.
The mountain of gold changed shape, from a solid to a liquid. Watched by the Guardians, the molten gold formed a river, which flowed to the same place. Ten thousand tons of gold compacted and shrank, taking a humanoid shape that finally resolved itself into the form of a golden puppet, and its golden glow slowly weakened.
Soon, the golden glow had vanished completely, leaving white, waxy skin and platinum blonde hair. There was no doubt that the person before him was Shalltear Bloodfallen.
Then, he reached into his pocket dimension and retrieved a black cloak, before he strode over to the supine Shalltear.
Her eyes were tightly shut, and her chest was not moving. She lay quietly on the ground, like a corpse. Still, the undead were essentially animated corpses, so that was hardly unusual.
Something unusual…The chest he had just seen was so flat that it hardly seemed to belong to a girl, but to a boy. Not knowing where to put his eyes, Ainz's gaze left her chest and looked elsewhere.
The freshly resurrected Shalltear was naked, so he had no idea where he should be looking. Ainz was so panicked that he forgot that all he had to do was look elsewhere.
His vision had sharpened greatly from when he was a human being, so he could see certain places very clearly.
Shalltear's body was carelessly displayed, and her thighs were slightly parted. Ainz hurriedly threw the black cape over her.
The cape spread in mid-air, settling perfectly on Shalltear and covering her entire body.
"It's not like I regret doing that! I'm undead, so I have no sexual desires! No, that should be, almost no sexual desires. I was looking at Shalltear's body because I was simply curious about whether or not she was designed with parts under her clothing. You'd never be able to take off all your clothes in YGGDRASIL anyway, so that's why I took a peek. That's right, it's not because I was wondering if she had hair down there or anything!"
As Ainz tried to explain his actions to himself, he approached Shalltear. As Ainz stood before her, Shalltear's crimson eyes opened, as though sensing the presence of someone nearby. She blinked sleepily and looked around, finally resting her gaze on Ainz.
"Lord Ainz?"
She sounded like she was groggy from having just woken up. Ainz was delighted, and he knelt down to embrace Shalltear.
"Uh, ueeh?"
Ainz paid no heed to Shalltear, who was babbling in a thoroughly baffled way, and tightened his grip on her.
"Wonderful… no, I'm sorry. This was all my fault…"
"Eh? Ah, I'm not sure what happened, but I'm certain that you couldn't have made a mistake, Lord Ainz."
Shalltear's ice-cold hands returned the embrace. They were vaguely uncomfortable, given that she seemed to be trying to grope him, but Ainz did not stop her, because she was probably trying to verify her sense of touch after her resurrection. He pretended that he did not hear her saying, "Ah, shall I have my first time here…"
"This is not the time or place for that Shalltear." Albedo said in annoyance. "Where is Lord Ben?"
"Lord Ben?" On repeating the name, Shalltear felt confused due to her drowsiness. But after a brief second of confusion, a look of shock and regret came over her face as her last memories came rushing in. "Oh no."
"What do you mean by that?" Albedo asked angrily.
"Please Forgive me Lord Ainz, I've failed you." Shalltear said, falling face first to the ground, begging Ainz for forgiveness.
On seeing this, Albedo began emitting a sinister aura, fearing that Shalltear's incompetence had somehow endangered Ben. On feeling the Succubus blood lust, Shalltear could not help but gulp at the implication of fighting Albedo. On a normal day, Shalltear was confident she would beat the Head Guardian, but in her current state, counting also the loss of her gears and weapon, that was not possible.
Sensing the same thing, Ainz chose that moment to interfere.
"Albedo, control yourself!"
"But Lord Ainz-"
"At least hear what she has to say before taking any drastic decisions."
Loosening her grip on Ginungagap, Albedo managed to reduce the blood lust she had being emitting.
Sighing in relief, Ainz turned to address Shalltear. "Shalltear. I want you to be completely honest with me…Is Ben dead?"
The question felt difficult to ask, as Ainz was mentally praying that the boy was still alive.
"...He is still alive."
A wave of relief filled Ainz chest as he heard those words. Even Albedo became calmer. Regardless, said answered filled him with more questions.
"If he's alive, then why were you apologizing earlier?"
"It is true Lord Ben is alive, but our esteem Supreme Being has fallen victim to a unfortunate predicament, due to my carelessness."
"And what is that?"
"Lord Ben is under the influence of a powerful mind control?"
"Nonsense!" Albedo growled.
"Calm down Albedo." Ainz ordered sternly before facing Shalltear again. "How are you certain this was mind control?"
"I'm certain because… Lord Ben was the one who killed me."
The room was instantly flooded with the murmurs of the guardians, as they questioned the implications of the information.
"Shalltear." Ainz spoke, instantly ending the murmurs. "I want you to tell everything that happened to you while you were away from Nazarick. Even down to your subsequent demise at Ben's hand. Do not leave out anything."