The Terror of Option

"Kuuuuuuuhhhhh—!"

Knowing that defeat was at hand, Shalltear continued her frenzied string of attacks. Though her features were distorted, her looks were not diminished.

In the face of that, Ainz made his final gambit.

Despite what he had told Shalltear, his plan had not gone as smoothly as he had intended.

To begin with, super tier magic was like a skill, and did not consume MP. However, it was still a form of magic, and he could not access it when transformed into a warrior.

Once he dispelled the warrior transformation magic, he would not be able to equip his armor and shield and they would fall off him. That would make it very difficult for him to resist Shalltear's attacks. If she decided to use a skill of some sort, he might not be able to secure a victory through HP damage with super tier magic.

That would spell defeat for him.

However, he had no other way to win.

Ainz briefly went over the timing of his actions. First, he would dispel the warrior transformation, and then he would use a cash item.

He smiled.

He had never been this profligate in the use of cash items before, even when PVPing in YGGDRASIL. This was the difference between a game and reality — between entertainment and survival.

Now!

He blocked Shalltear's full-tilt attack with his friend's shield, and then he glared at her.

He dispelled the warrior transformation, and cast the super tier spell.

The same magic circle appeared around him as before, and he prepared to break the hourglass-like cash item—

—And then he suddenly hesitated.

This was because a wave of guilt flooded through him; guilt at murdering an NPC which his friend had painstakingly created.

His hesitation was a fatal mistake.

Shalltear did not miss that opening. She noticed the item in Ainz's hand and thrust her Spuit Lance, enhanced with a skill. Her plan was to destroy Ainz's hand.

Having dispelled his warrior transformation, Ainz could not possibly avoid Shalltear's attack—

—And then she felt something.

Just as the Spuit Lance was about to destroy the item, she felt something on her spine. That was clearly hostility.

Someone hostile had appeared beside Shalltear, so obviously that she could not ignore it.

Shalltear averted her eyes from Ainz to see who that enemy was.

And then — she found that there was nobody there.

Ainz's spell had created a two hundred meter-wide expanse of desert. Nobody else was there beside Shalltear and Ainz. The hostility she had felt just now was nowhere to be found, as though she had been daydreaming—

"Not good!" Shalltear exclaimed as she came to her senses, but by then it was already too late.

The hourglass shattered, reducing the casting time of the spell to zero.

"「Fallen Down」."

With those words, a brilliant flash erupted between them and swallowed up everything.

Shalltear could feel her body disintegrating in the incredible heat.

Her carbonized right arm crumbled to dust, while the Spuit Lance slowly fell to what was probably the ground in this bleached-white world. Her face was shrivelled up from the incoming heat, and all she could see before her was whiteness.

Her throat was dried up too — in fact, she did not know if her throat had also been incinerated — so it was difficult to speak. Still, there was one thing she had to say. Shalltear Bloodfallen marshalled the last reserves of her vitality to give praise:

"...Ah, long live Ainz Ooal Gown-sama. Truly, you are the mightiest of Nazarick's Supreme Beings."

This was her sincere respect for the almighty one who had gathered the Forty One Supreme Beings. The heatwave seemed to burn away her bindings, and though her body could not move, she felt unimaginably free.

Someone who should not have been there appeared in Shalltear's vanishing consciousness. That someone was the person that had allowed this victory to take place.

The undead could ignore just about any form of mind-affecting effect. However, there were certain abilities that produced similar effects, but which were not counted as mind-affecting. That person had used such an ability.

Shalltear smiled, and said:

"...Shorty."

Thus satisfied, Shalltear vanished into a world of white.

-x-X-x-

Aura dispelled her skill 「Sky Eye」, and her puckered pink lips returned to their original shape. There was a look of annoyance on her face as she began scolding someone who was not there.

"You dummy... how could you let yourself get mind controlled, even though you were undead? That's just so stupid of you."

"What, what's wrong, Onee-chan?"

"Hm? Nothing."

Mare looked where Aura had been looking, but since he was deep in the forest, all he could see in any direction was trees. Still, he could tell what Aura was looking at from the way she was facing.

She should have been observing the battle between Shalltear and her master.

His big sister Aura could use a ranger skill to expand her field of vision to about two kilometers. This was why he and his sister were standing watch over the surroundings with the help of the Eyeball Corpses.

"Th-Then, has the battle been decided?"

"Mm. Ainz-sama won, hands down."

"That, that's what I thought too."

The form of Ainz-sama — a being that not even the strongest Guardian could defeat — appeared in Mare's mind. It was a sensible conclusion; how could the one who led the Supreme Beings be defeated?

"Then, Onee-chan, should, should we go collect Shalltear's equipment?"

Aura considered what she had seen before terminating her skill.

"Ainz-sama should have recovered it all. We'll fall back as instructed."

"Mm."

Mare knew his sister was in a bad mood, so he said nothing else, but obediently acknowledged her commands.

Aura's best friend had been mind-controlled, and made to point her lance at the beloved master to whom they had all sworn their loyalty. While her execution was the expected outcome of such a course of action, she still felt upset about it.

-x-X-x-

He opened the name list in the Throne Room, and as expected, the space which should have contained Shalltear's name was blank. This verified that Shalltear was dead, and so phase one of the plan was concluded.

Ainz's heart ached. While he knew that there was no other way, the fact that he had personally committed and witnessed the act filled him with guilt.

In his heart, Ainz apologized to Shalltear. Then he gulped, and turned to the gathered Guardians.

"Then, the next step will be to resurrect Shalltear. Albedo, pay attention to Shalltear's name. If she remains mind-controlled as before..."

"Ainz-sama, though I may overstep myself, I propose that you should allow us to deal with it ourselves."

Cocytus and Aura immediately agreed with Demiurge's words, while Mare despondently agreed as well. Only Albedo remained unmoved.

"Demiurge..."

Demiurge's passionate words interrupted Ainz's mumbling.

"We are fully aware that your orders are to be respected above all else, Ainz-sama. We will grind ourselves to dust in order to obey them. However, as your loyal servants, we cannot allow you to be placed into danger once more, Ainz-sama."

Demiurge's gaze shifted from Ainz to Albedo.

"If Shalltear betrays you once more, then we shall eliminate her as your Guardians. We pray that you will watch us do so, Ainz-sama."

Now that he understood the Guardians' intentions, Ainz could not offer any further resistance.

"I understand. Guardians, if Shalltear betrays us once more, you may deal with her as you see fit."

The Guardians nodded in acknowledgement.

Ainz felt miserable as he watched them.

What a pathetic excuse for a master he was.

Even after going this far, he still had to let his beloved children kill each other.

The root cause of it all was his foolishness. It was all his fault.

Ainz wanted to sigh, but as he saw the gentle expression on Albedo's face as she stood to the side, he decided to swallow it.

"Ainz-sama, all you need to do is stand aside and watch. To whom should we pledge our loyalty if the final Supreme Being vanishes? Though we will not have been abandoned, we will still be lonely if all the Supreme Beings are gone."

"...Indeed. It's very lonely to not have anyone by your side."

Ainz's eyes had unconsciously turned to the the flags hanging within the Throne Room, his gaze resting on the emblems above his head.

"...Yes, you're right... It must have been that way in the Treasury too... What a fool I was."

After muttering to himself, Ainz turned to face the Guardians.

"Protect me, Guardians. It begins now!"

Their spirited replies washed over Ainz as he grabbed the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown that floated in the air beside him, and turned it toward a corner of the Throne Room.

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.

"Albedo!"

Ainz kept his eyes fixed on Shalltear as he bellowed Albedo's name.

"Please be at ease. It seems the mind control has been terminated."

"Is that so..."

Ainz unconsciously touched his chest in response to the powerful sense of relief flooding him. The gesture calmed his spirit. 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 (of course), 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... someone, he approached Shalltear, feeling somewhat helpless. Perhaps the reason why he took so long to reach her was because he wanted to cool down his overheating head.

Also, he deliberately ignored the female voice behind him saying, "If you are interested, I have no objection to displaying myself for your viewing pleasure."

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.

"Ainz-sama?"

She sounded like she was groggy from having just woken up. However, he could hear the loyalty in her voice. Although Albedo and Nazarick's administration system had already verified her allegiance, Ainz was delighted to confirm it with his own ears, and he knelt down to embrace Shalltear.

"Uh, ueeh?"

It was hard to believe that such a slender body possessed such startling physical abilities.

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, Ainz-sama."

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..."

However, Albedo immediately made her displeasure known.

"...Ainz-sama, I believe Shalltear is tired, so we should leave her be for now."

"Indeed."

Perhaps there was a penalty for resurrecting NPCs, just as there was for players. After all, this was the first resurrection ever since coming to this world.

"Tell me the details later. Before that, I have some questions."

After Ainz let go of Shalltear, a look of disappointment crossed Shalltear's face and she glared sharply at Albedo. Albedo responded with her usual smile. He thought they would continue staring at each other as usual, but Shalltear averted her eyes instead.

"Yes, do ask me whatever you desire... right, Ainz-sama, why am I in the Throne Room? Then, there's the matter of my body, and your treatment of me, Ainz-sama. Have I caused any trouble?"

"I was about to ask you that. Do you remember anything that happened?"

"Ah, yes."

"...Sorry. Shalltear, tell me the last thing you remember."

Shalltear's most recent memory was five days ago. She had no impression of what had happened after that, until now.

Ainz could have used the tenth tier spell 「Control Amnesia」 like he had at Carne Village, but even altering short stretches of memory would require a massive amount of MP. The staggering amount of MP needed to affect five day's worth of memories was beyond the limit of ordinary magic casters. Not even Ainz and his extraordinary MP regeneration rates could do it.

Of course, the resurrection process might be such that NPCs lost their memories of the past few days. Alternately, perhaps several people might have gathered to do it.

He lacked information at the present moment, so he could not solve that mystery.

Still, he could be sure that whoever had used the World Class Item on Shalltear had gone silent, vanishing without a trace.

It's quite troublesome when I don't know who's acting behind the scenes. The enemy might be waiting for a chance to strike at Nazarick... no, perhaps I should be glad that this incident didn't escalate... In any case, I'll make sure I thoroughly avenge myself on whoever did this to Nazarick.

Ainz quelled the anger which even his undead traits could not fully suppress, and gently asked Shalltear:

"Are there any other problems with your body?"

If this world was like YGGDRASIL, then there should not have been anything else. The NPCs should not have lost levels, but he was unsure if the same applied to this world as well. For all he knew, the NPCs would lose levels, just like player characters would.

Shalltear felt herself up before answering Ainz:

"I don't think there's anything."

"Is that so?"

After Shalltear answered, a look of shock came over her face. Not knowing what was wrong, Ainz felt uneasiness welling up inside him.

"Ainz-sama!"

"What happened!? What's wrong?"

"My chest is gone."

The faces of the Guardians twisted as they heard this, with expressions of We want our concern back written all over them. Even Demiurge had his teeth bared.

"Don't you know what you did? How could you say something like that!?"

As Albedo delivered a rebuke on everyone's behalf, Shalltear's shoulders trembled in fright.

Ainz had gone so limp that his hands were about to drag on the floor. All he could do was watch Shalltear argue with the other Guardians, and ponder various questions about resurrection.

In particularly, he hoped that Clementine and Khazit, who he had met in the graveyard, would also lose their memories after resurrection, as Shalltear had.

Still, that was just being optimistic.

Since he did not know why Shalltear had lost her memories, he could not guarantee that their resurrection through magic would be the same as resurrecting an NPC through money.

Just as Ainz was thinking about these things, Shalltear had already begun tearing up under Albedo's one-sided torrent of abuse.

As Ainz watched the scene before him, he recalled a scene from the past.

-x-X-x-

He saw Bukubukuchagama (the elder sister) scolding Peroroncino (her younger brother), and the rest of his smiling guildmates.

The NPCs before him were like his past comrades.

-x-X-x-

Ainz slowly reached a hand out, and then stopped in mid-air. It felt as though an invisible wall of glass was blocking him.

A profound sense of loneliness filled Ainz's heart.

It felt as though the memories of the warm place where the Guardians existed was little more than an image on a monitor — and he was on the other side.

If he stepped into it, they would pledge their loyalty to him. That was a form of awe, and not the warmth he had felt when he had been with his friends.

He felt that it was a terrible shame.

Just as Ainz's hand fell powerlessly, Albedo turned around — as though sensing something strange about Ainz — and watched him quietly. Baffled by why she was looking at him that way, Ainz was about to ask what was wrong when the flames in his eyes suddenly flared up.

That was because Albedo was gently holding her hand out to him. After a moment's hesitation, Ainz took her hand, and thus he was pulled into the circle of the Guardians.

Albedo was the first to speak, and then the other Guardians followed suit.

"Ainz-sama, please reprimand Shalltear sternly."

"That's right! Please give this dummy a good scolding!"

"Indeed. She. Needs. A. Stern. Lesson."

"You'll remember Ainz-sama's words of wisdom, won't you?"

"Al-Although, maybe it would be better not to be too strict... er, erm..."

"—Ha, hahaha."

Ainz could not keep his laughter from escaping his mouth despite the baffled looks from the Guardians around him. No, that laughter did not just come from his mouth, but from his heart.

After he was satisfied, Ainz silently turned back to Shalltear.

"I have told Albedo before, but the fault for this does not lie with you, Shalltear. It is I — who possessed all this information but did not consider the possibility of this happening — who most deserves to be rebuked for this. Shalltear, you did nothing wrong. Remember that."

"Thank, thank you, Ainz-sama!"

"Demiurge, you will be in charge of explaining what happened to Shalltear. Can you do that?"

Demiurge bowed to show that he understood.

"Ah, then there's the matter of Sebas—"

"He will be bait."

As Ainz calmly proposed using one of his subordinates as bait, the Guardians merely nodded, with the attitude a proper minion should have. They were simply prioritizing the considerations of the master of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick over the life of their colleague.

"I am not entirely willing to do this, but it cannot be helped... I do not know why Shalltear was targeted, but if the opposition is looking for a new victim, they might well decide on Sebas, who was travelling with her. This was why I did not call him back to receive a World Class Item... Albedo, select a few clandestine operatives to keep an eye on Sebas and his surroundings... He might be bait, but I do not intend to allow Sebas to be so easily taken. Inform these observers that their mission also includes preventing the enemy from approaching Sebas."

After issuing his orders, Ainz narrowed his eyes — in other words, the flames in his eye sockets grew dim.

...Someday I shall meet the person who used a World Class Item on Shalltear. When that day comes, I shall return the favor with interest!

"Understood. I will select the appropriate personnel as soon as possible."

"Please do. Thanks to Shalltear, we now know that NPCs can be resurrected, but I do not wish to kill any of the NPCs my friends created again."

Moved by those words, the Guardians lowered their heads. They had probably sensed how much Ainz valued them. However, since he had actually voiced those feelings, the effect on them had been that much greater.

Shalltear seemed to have realized something had happened to her. A look of shock crossed her face, which soon turned into one of utmost regret.

Ainz gestured that she did not need to take it to heart. Just then, a voice came from the side.

"Ah, then, Ainz-sama."

"What is it, Mare?"

"Erm, ah, should... should I remove all traces of the battle?"

"There's no need for that. Did you know? When one breaks a spell-sealing crystal, it releases powerful energy, enough to level the surroundings."

"Eh? Is, is that so?"

"...My apologies. It's a lie, of course. What is false is true and what is true is false. Magic-sealing crystals seem to be rare items, so nobody should be able to test that. Albedo, put a few scratches on the item Nigun was using. Then, we'll need to have the blacksmith build some damaged armor and put some scorch marks on it, so it looks like it went through an intense battle."

"Understood."

"In addition, perhaps I have been too careless so far, which allowed hidden enemies around Nazarick to harm us. Thus, I wish to initiate a program to strengthen Nazarick. Part of that is to use my skills to create an undead army. I think I've mentioned that before... hm? Did I only tell Albedo about that? Forget that. In any case, this will be my top priority. I would like to make some preparations to recover corpses from E-Rantel which can be used to make an undead army."

"About that, Ainz-sama..."

"What's wrong, Albedo?"

"If I am not wrong, when you use a human corpse as a medium for making undead, the undead thus created are quite weak, despite being mid-tier. Is that correct?"

"Indeed. Is there a problem?"

The most powerful undead he could make with the corpses of the Sunlight Scripture were level forty. Beyond that, the undead would vanish with the passage of time, along with the corpses that served as their medium.

"In truth, after receiving that order, I had considered ways of obtaining fresh corpses. Perhaps you could consider using non-human corpses?"

"...I trust you do not intend to use the corpses of Nazarick's vassals?"

"No, that is absolutely not my intention. I was thinking of using other demihumans."

Albedo smiled. It was a stunningly beautiful — and terribly cruel — smile.

"Aura discovered a Lizardman village. What do you think of attacking and destroying them?"

-x-X-x-

Epilogue

Perote, the leader of the mithril ranked adventurer team "Tenrou," opened the doors to the Adventurer's Guild.

The adventurers there looked at him with admiring eyes.

Perote was used to this sort of thing. However, the reception seemed more subdued that it had been a month ago.

Well, it can't be helped.

He turned his eyes to the noticeboard. Regretfully, there were almost no mithril ranked requests.

Granted, jobs which only mithril ranked adventurers could do were quite rare. However, the reason for this dearth of requests was not because there were few of them to begin with, but because there was an adventurer who could swiftly tackle requests of mithril rank and up.

"...Momon-san, huh."

Perote sounded like he was complaining when he said that name.

About a month ago, that man had slain a powerful Vampire.

He had not personally witnessed that intense battle, but one could imagine what had happened after seeing the remains of that battlefield. Thus, he had not been surprised to learn that Kralgra — an adventurer team of the same rank as Perote's own — had been annihilated in the crossfire.

No, anyone who joined that battle would have been killed for certain.

The exploding magic crystal had scorched the land black, and it had even reduced some places to a desert. The startling thing was that it had to be done to defeat that Vampire. And then—

"—They survived..."

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Not only had they survived, but they had seized victory. It was only natural for Perote to consider these people — who had returned safely from a battle with a Vampire, a monster that Perote himself could not defeat — to be even greater monsters.

The change in his tone from just now was because Momon was powerful enough to compel respect from him.

Just as he was fantasizing about that sort of absolute might, he heard the sound of the door opening. A wave of commotion swept through the guild like a gust of wind.

Perote vaguely understood the reason for that disturbance, and turned his eyes in the same reaction as everyone was looking. There, he saw the person he had been expecting.

It was the talk of the town, the "Dark Hero," Momon.

He had two greatswords on his back, and a beautiful girl behind him.

"There's a lot of adamantite on the front of his armor... how much did it cost, anyway?"

The nickname of "Dark Hero" came from that suit of incredibly high-end full plate armor, which had been heavily damaged when he came back from that battlefield. Back then, there had been scorch and claw marks everywhere, but now that suit of armor was pristine. It glittered brightly under the rays of the sun.

This was the result of the combined efforts of every magic caster in the Magician's Guild coming together to repair it.

At his neck hung a metal plate — one that belonged to a living legend, an object of worship for adventurers, the trump card of humanity that would protect them from being ravaged by the powerful races of the world — an adamantite plate.

His accomplishments had long surpassed those of the orichalcum rank, and there had never been one of those in E-Rantel before.

And now, this individual, famed in song and story, had appeared before them, stirring the Adventurer's Guild into a frenzy.

"The Kingdom's third adamantite adventurer team..."

"That must be... the 'Dark Hero' Momon, right? ...And behind him is the 'Beautiful Princess,' Nabe. The rumors were right about her looks..."

"You know, they say he was responsible for burning down that swath of forest... apparently, he did it with some kind of martial art..."

"No way, how could that be... if he could use martial arts to burn it down, wouldn't that mean he's no longer human?"

"He should be one of the few people who could do it, right? Adamantite ranked adventurers are those who define the peak of power. I wouldn't be surprised if people called him the adamantite rank of adamantite ranks."

Momon advanced calmly to the counter under these adoring looks. The adventurers chatting with the guild receptionists all made way for the most highly-placed of adventurers, and on their faces was respect — and fear.

Momon nonchalantly addressed the receptionist.

"Our assignment is complete. Please help us keep an eye out for any new jobs."

The guild receptionist's eyes went wide, but they returned to their normal shape immediately. Perote knew why her eyes had widened. The task Momon had accepted was one which even mithril ranked adventurers would have trouble accomplishing, and which would need quite a while to complete. However, Momon and his partner had cleared it with ease.

Indeed, he could clear even mithril ranked missions with ease.

This was only to be expected, because such were the talents of the most highly-ranked adventurers.

"There's no work left for us."

Perote let that grumble slip, but of course, he did not actually mean it. Anyone who could reach the mithril rank would have made enough money to retire and live in luxury for the rest of their lives. Thus, anyone who continued adventuring after this must have had a reason for that beyond money.

"Ah, Momon-sama. I am very sorry, but we do not have any other jobs for you, Momon-sama. Please forgive us."

The receptionist rose to her feet and bowed deeply to him.

"Is that so—"

Momon seemed about to say something else, but then he froze halfway. Several seconds later, he spoke again:

"—I see. That's good, because I just remembered something I had to do. I'll be returning to the inn; if there's anything, look for me there. Do you know where I'm staying?"

"I do. Is it the Shining Gold Pavilion?"

Ainz nodded, then flourished his crimson cape as he turned and walked away.

Perote had heard the sound of Momon speaking from his side, but because his voice was too soft, Perote could not make out the details.

What Perote had failed to hear was Ainz's order to his distant subordinates to demonstrate their matchless military might.

"Order Gargantua to move out, and summon Victim as well. Once Cocytus returns, we will bear witness to a rare event — all the Floor Guardians will move out as one."

-x-X-x-

Overlord Volume 4 Prologue

"Welcome back, Ainz-sama."

It had been two weeks since he had last returned to his room, but the words which followed next sent a shiver through his bones.

"Would you like dinner? A bath? Or — would — you — like — me❤?"

For a moment, Ainz imagined that he saw several pink hearts wafting out from behind Albedo.

"...What's the meaning of this?"

"I'm playing newlyweds, Ainz-sama. I've heard people say that this is the best way for a newly-wedded wife to greet her husband after he returns from a business trip with his pet. Do you like it?"

So this was why she had not met him directly at the surface when he returned. He was a man without a girlfriend, much less a wife, but just as he was about to coldly retort, "Who cares?" he swallowed those words. He had his pride as a male to consider, and he wanted to protect his image.

Besides, what sort of answer was she expecting when she asked, "Do you like it?"

Despite his lack of confidence, he put on an attitude which seemed to say, All is within the palm of my hand, and replied in a way which should probably not cause too many problems.

"That was quite a charming welcome, Albedo."

Albedo smiled and replied, "That is good to hear, kufufufu~"

As Ainz saw her smile seductively, he lowered his stance and prepared himself for battle.

He sensed something like a venomous snake slithering up his spine.

There was a bestial lust hidden in Albedo's eyes — most likely the source of that slithering sensation. Those eyes were deadly serious. If he had replied, "I'll have you, of course," even in jest, there was no doubt that the superpredator before him would latch onto that and savagely pounce him. The words "reverse rape" even came to mind.

While he had little in the way of a sex drive, the remnants of his human personality seemed to be responding to Albedo's mood, telling him to see what would happen next. His still-undiminished curiosity only added to that feeling.

Stop that, you moron.

It was not exactly self-control, but Ainz used something similar — something which would have been impossible had he not been undead — to force himself to ignore the subtext of Albedo's words.

Still, something like disgust welled up from somewhere within Ainz's heart. Before he had been transported to this New World, he had altered Albedo's backstory, writing that "she loved him" in jest. He had been using her and that twisted personality of hers, without going the next step with her.

But it's gone... What can I do about that? It's not as though a relationship between a man and a woman can progress through a meeting of minds... Is that why I'm afraid of taking the next step?

Ainz — a virgin who had never dated a girl before — pondered that problem.

At the same time, another thought came to mind. The NPCs made by his former friends could be considered to be their children. How could he stain those precious offspring and let them carry on with warped minds?

Idiot, now's not the time to be thinking about that sort of thing.

"Ah!"

Albedo's sudden yelp caused the fiery points in Ainz's eyes to flare.

"What, what is it, Albedo? Did something happen?"

"How embarrassing. I, I heard that a newlywed wife ought to welcome her husband home while dressed in her final decisive battle attire (a naked apron)..."

With that, Albedo looked down at her dress and her face turned pink. Then she replied:

"If you wish, I shall immediately..."

Her voice was quiet, but he could hear it very clearly. She sneaked peeks at Ainz as she continued, "...Change in front of you, Ainz-sama..."

"Ah... yes... ahem! Really... haaa. Listen, Albedo, that's enough clowning around for now. It's time for the intelligence briefing."

"Yes, I understand."

With some reluctance — though he was not sure where exactly said reluctance stemmed from — Ainz forced himself to ignore Albedo's temptation and sat himself down on his chair. Then, he tossed three pouches onto the table. He then dictated instructions to Albedo, who had changed modes from an eager newlywed to an efficient secretary.

"This is the money I earned in E-Rantel. Use it for experiments."

The three pouches looked different from each other. The largest of them appeared to be on the verge of bursting, and it was filled with the silver and copper pieces Ainz had earned during his time as an adventurer.

"Understood. I shall see if these funds can be used to summon monsters or activate Nazarick's defense systems."

"Please take care of that. Also, see if we can use them to make items, such as scrolls and so on."

Ainz's eyes turned away from Albedo, whose head was deeply lowered. Then he looked back towards the pouches with a prayerful expression in his eyes.

The gold pieces which one obtained in YGGDRASIL could be used to buy magic items, but they could also be used for guild base maintenance fees. For instance, they could be used to summon monsters of above level thirty — which did not naturally respawn, or "pop" — as catalysts for the use of certain spells, in the creation of magic items, resurrecting dead NPCs, and so on.

He had already verified that YGGDRASIL coins could be used in this world. However, he had not made sure that the currency of this world could also be used within Nazarick. He was particularly curious about whether silver and copper coins could be utilized, since YGGDRASIL only had gold coins.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the results of that experiment might determine the future of Nazarick. If the money in this world could be used in the same way as YGGDRASIL gold coins, it might greatly affect their future plans. After all, it would dramatically change the importance of earning money.

In fact, under certain circumstances, a situation might arise where the earning of large quantities of currency became essential. In contrast, if currency from this world could not be used, then the wealth within the Treasury would become an irreplaceable resource, and unnecessary expenses would have to be minimized.

"Also, about Clementine—"

As Ainz spoke the name of the missing corpse, his nonexistent brows wrinkled.

His error in judgement had resulted in the disappearance of that girl, who knew quite a few things about him. There was no telling if she had been resurrected or if she had told what she knew to others. Unease welled up in Ainz's heart.

There were many potential enemies to be wary of, but he had learned nothing about them, and he had even revealed information about himself by accident.

If this news reached the ears of any of my friends who ended up in this world... but I shouldn't count on that sort of luck. I need to be more careful from now on. In any case, the most important thing now is to decide what I should do about the Momon identity.

If anyone came after him, they would be coming after Momon. However, Momon was a stepping stone for him at the moment, and it would be a shame to discard him. The time had not yet come to reveal that Ainz was Momon.

I'll have to see how things go...

No matter how hard he thought, his contemplations only led him to a dead end with no answers. Therefore, he decided to put his problems aside for now and think no more on it.

"I might as well order Pandora's Actor to put one of that woman's blades into the Treasury's shredder and see what happens."

"The shredder?"

It was only when he heard Albedo's surprised voice that Ainz recalled the proper name of that item.

"That would be the Exchange Box. Someone with merchant-type skills can get better prices when using it. Order Pandora's Actor to take Nearata-san's form and use his skill."

After seeing that Albedo had nodded in acknowledgement, Ainz unfurled the scroll he was holding onto his desk.

"Also, it took some effort to obtain it, but this is a map of the world which I acquired in E-Rantel."

"This is... I see."

Ainz understood why Albedo's brows had furrowed ever so slightly, because the details of the map before them were terribly vague.

"I understand why you're unhappy. After all, this map only covers a small portion of the surrounding world. The scale was haphazardly written and many landmarks are not recorded either. In addition, this map focuses on the human countries, and there is only one demihuman nation recorded. It is a crude map, no doubt... but it is unlikely that we'll find anything better."

For instance, he had heard about the Centaur tribes on the plains, the Scorpion-Men (Pabilsag) settlements in the desert, the country of the Dwarves in the mountains, and so on. But he had learned of all these by speaking to the guildmaster of E-Rantel's Magician's Guild, and they were not recorded on the map. In other words, this was a map for human convenience.

A vague map like this was hardly reliable, but he would have to expend a lot of money and time to obtain a better one.

That was what the Magician's Guildmaster, Theo Rakesheer, had told him. The man was very favorably disposed towards Ainz, so that information was most likely accurate.

Besides, he sensed from the other man's reply that even a map like this was quite a harsh demand.

"I see. Then, I shall have the map duplicated and distributed to each Guardian."

"Please do so. Then, before that, I shall briefly explain the contents of the map."

Ainz pointed to the center of the map. It was the region which had been most accurately detailed.

"This is E-Rantel, and this region contains the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick."

His finger moved northeast, to the vicinity of a huge forest. He was quite confident in his knowledge of the area surrounding Nazarick.

"This is the Azellisian Mountain Range, which marks the border between the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire. The large forest around the southern tip of the mountain range is the Great Forest of Tob, and there is a large lake here."

The lake in question was shaped like an inverted gourd, and it was located between the southern foothills of the mountains and the Great Forest. Ainz's finger stopped at the southern tip of the lake.

"There is a Lizardman village here, in these large wetlands."

After seeing Albedo nod in understanding, Ainz continued:

"Now I will tell you what the Magician's Guildmaster told me about the surrounding countries. To the northwest of the Kingdom is a region bounded by mountains. This region is the Agrand Council Alliance, which is inhabited by many demihumans. What we need to be most wary of are their councillors, which are said to be Dragons. Apparently there are five of them, but some say that there are seven. To the southwest of the Kingdom lies the nation known as the Holy Kingdom. Apparently, it is surrounded on all sides by a high wall, indicated roughly on the map, and it is known as the Great Wall. This country is on guard against the many demihuman tribes which battle frequently in the wilderness surrounding them, though it is not indicated on the map."

"Is that not where Demiurge has gone?"

"That's right. On the other end of the wilderness is the Slaine Theocracy, entities which we must be mindful of."

"Is this a national border?"

Albedo traced a line around the surrounding region with a lily-white finger.

"Probably. Frankly speaking, there's no use trying to study borders from this map on account of how vague it is. Then, let's take a look on the Empire's side. There are many city-states located to the northeast of the Empire, who have formed up into a City-State Alliance. There seems to be a city of demihumans there as well. To the southeast of the Empire is a region with many gigantic standing quartz pillars, as well as many caves. Apparently, there are humanoid tribes there who raise Wyverns."

When Ainz had heard the description of the place, it reminded him of Wulingyuan in Zhangjiajie City, but the details were not clear.

"Are they Wyvern Riders, then?"

In YGGDRASIL, players with over thirty five levels in equestrian-type classes could summon the magical beasts known as Wyverns to serve as mounts, However, there was no proof that the same held true in this world as well.

"...Possibly. Going by that logic, the opposition should be quite strong, but even so, they aren't exactly fearsome opponents for the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick... However, the portion of the map below them — the eastern shore of this great lake — hasn't been filled in yet."

Ainz indicated one of the outer edges of the map below them.

"And they say there's a Draconic Kingdom here."

"Dragons?"

"Yes. A powerful Dragon founded that nation in the past, and apparently its royalty has inherited that Dragon's bloodline... but whether those rumors are reliable remains to be seen. In any event, that's enough about the map for now."

In the world where Ainz had lived as Suzuki Satoru, it would have been a far-fetched rumor, but in this world, that rumor might well be true.

"Then, Ainz-sama, we should be wary of the Slaine Theocracy and the Council Alliance, am I correct?"

Ainz folded his arms across his chest and went, "Hmm..." While she did have a point when it came to nations, she might have come to that conclusion because they did not know enough in that field. As she saw Ainz's reaction, Albedo slowly bowed in apology.

"Forgive me. Given our present circumstances, we should be on guard against all other countries, am I correct?"

"...Indeed, that is so. Even if they aren't much as nations, they might harbor surprising individuals among them."

For instance, the person who used that World Class Item on Shalltear.

Albedo could sense that underlying meaning in Ainz's words without him having to explicitly state it.

Ainz's finger continued tracing the eastern and southern edges of the map.

"However, there's a city that floats on the waves in the east, while there's the city founded by the Eight Greed Kings to the south. Those two are probably the ones we need to be the most mindful of. The city of the Eight Greed Kings in particular... they say it's a flying city in the middle of the desert."

"A flying city?'

"According to the news I've heard, it would be more accurate to describe it as a city built underneath a flying fortress. They say water flows endlessly from the fortress to the city, and that the city itself is completely surrounded by a magical barrier and doesn't look like it belongs in the desert at all."

Albedo's eyes turned cold, and she quietly replied:

"Shall we have the vassals conduct a reconnaissance in force?"

"There's no need to go around stepping on the tiger's tail. Even if the World-Class Item's user came from there, we should try to get along cordially with them until we're sure of their fighting power... Speaking of which, how is Shalltear doing?"

"Her body seems fine after her resurrection, but..."

"Come on, spit it out. Even I feel uneasy about her too."

"Ah! My deepest apologies. In truth, Shalltear's mental state is somewhat unsettling."

"...Aftereffects from her mind control? Could it be that even death cannot fully erase the effects of a World Class item?"

"No, it's not like that... It's more like she still feels intense guilt for raising her hand against you and she cannot forgive herself for doing so, Ainz-sama."

For a moment, Ainz did not quite understand, but it became clear almost instantly.

It had been Ainz's fault, not Shalltear's. He had told her that many times already.

"Please forgive my rudeness for interfering with your deliberations by interrupting, Ainz-sama."

Ainz nodded to Albedo, who had a severe expression on her face.

"I feel that it would be best if she were punished."

The crimson glow in Ainz's eyes socket dimmed slightly. He made to speak, but closed his mouth without making a sound. That was because the woman before him seemed to have something else to say.

"...Rewards and punishment must be handed out as they are due. If you assign punishment to Shalltear, it will eliminate the guilt in her heart. In contrast, she is currently stewing in guilt because she has not been punished for her actions."

Ainz felt that she made a lot of sense. Indeed, it was because of punishments that rewards could exist. However, the matter of how severe a reprimand he should give her and how much he could forgive was beyond a mere salaryman like Ainz. Under normal circumstances, he would wave the matter aside and forgive Shalltear easily.

On the other hand, while he might feel bad about punishing Shalltear, it might end up being good practice for next time.

"...I understand. I shall give Shalltear some punishment, then."

"I feel it would be better that way. Please forgive any offense I have given."

"What are you saying? I look forward to such suggestions. I have always hoped that someone would be able to step in with an opinion when I was unsure about what to do. Albedo, what you have done is very fitting of your position as the Overseer of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick."

"Thank you very much!"

The stunning beauty bowed before him, her cheeks flushed and her eyes moist. Feeling a little uneasy about Albedo's very open reaction, Ainz coolly waved it aside and replied:

"Now then, there are some things I need to handle. I will leave this place to you."

"Understood! Please leave it to me! I will take care of matters while you are not around, Ainz-sama!"

He seemed to have heard something along the lines of, "in the capacity of your wife," somewhere in the middle of those words, but he decided to pretend he had heard nothing, because she still had more to say.

"Still, please be careful, Ainz-sama. The person who controlled Shalltear with that World-Class Item might not just be targeting us."

"Hmph!"

That was the first time Ainz had snorted in displeasure ever since he had returned to this room.

"If the enemy attacks... they might not be easy to deal with. But relax, Albedo. Since I have no idea what sort of enemy we're up against, I intend to prioritize retreat when we encounter him, and I also have several meatshields prepared for such a circumstance."

Ainz slowly raised his head to look at the ceiling, and began visualizing the foes against which he would need to prepare.

There was the mysterious holder of that World-Class Item who was probably their enemy, and other players, whose very existence was still unclear. In addition, there were the traces of players who should have existed in the past. Of course, it might be too rash to take them all as enemies, but doing so would ensure that he did not overlook them by accident. He had to assume the worst-case scenario when doing his planning.

"Before we learn more details about the enemy, it would be wise to act as low-key as possible. However, we might need to scatter some bait to tempt the foe... how is the progress of plans on that front?"

Albedo lowered her eyes, and from that reaction alone Ainz could guess what the results were.

"Cocytus has not made any reports yet, but Entoma indicates that the plan has not yet exceeded our scope of predictions. They should have set up camp near the objective and they are preparing to make contact."

"Is that so... Well, it wasn't what I hoped for, but the important thing is what we can gain from this."

"Your saying so fills me with relief."

"All right. Originally, I had planned to observe the developments from here, but unfortunately, I have several tasks to complete in my role as an adventurer, and thus I must move out in person. Still, I would like to see how the battle goes. Help me record the battle between the Lizardmen and the forces of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick."