“—It’s fine.”
“My lord?”
“I said it’s fine.”
Ainz fixed his posture once again and the chair squeaked.
“Everyone makes mistakes. Sebas, I forgive your transgression.”
“—I thank Ainz-sama for his generosity.”
“But every mistake has a price... Kill it.”
The room’s atmosphere tensed up again and it felt as if the temperature had dropped a couple degrees. No, it wasn’t truly so. The only one who felt it was Sebas. Everybody else from Nazarick were unmoved.
Sebas gulped.
What did he order to be killed? No, there was no need to ask. The fact things had to turn out this way made Sebas’ heart and mouth equally heavy.
“...I beg your… pardon…”
“Hmm… I mean for you to eliminate the root of your mistake, thus redeeming yourself. If any trace of your mistake remains, it would set a bad example for the others. You are the butler of Nazarick. One who stands above many. If someone of such an important position does nothing to rectify his mistakes…”
Sebas let out a deep breath and breathed in again. He who did not shirk before even the strongest of opponents felt like a small prey cornered by a predator.
“Sebas, are you someone who follows the decisions of the 41 Supreme Beings, or are you someone who follows his own decisions?”
“That is—”
“There is no need for words. Show me through your action.”
Ainz closed his eyes and opened them again.
Hesitating just for a second, no, even a second was a long time to hesitate. It was enough time for loyal servants like Cocytus, Demiurge and Solution to show hostility once more. In that amount of time, Sebas came to a conclusion.
Sebas was Nazarick’s butler. He was nothing more than that. His foolish hesitation caused this situation. If he had asked for a permission earlier, this would not have happened. It was all his fault.
Sebas’ eyes emitted a steely look. He turned around to Tsuare and her hands released their grip. They floated in the air hesitantly for a moment before slumping. Tsuare could understand which conclusions Sebas came to after looking at his face.
She smiled and closed her eyes. There was no signs of fear or desperation on her. She had the face of a martyr who was ready to accept her fate. Sebas’ movements had no hesitation in it either. Sebas was calm. His action was how a loyal servant of Nazarick should act. There was no reason to disobey the master’s orders.
There would be no regret. There could only be loyalty.
Sebas gripped his fist tightly to grant her the only mercy he could afford to give, a quick death. His fist flew towards Tsuare’s head.
Then—
—Something hard intercepted his first.
“—Why are you interfering?”
Sebas’ fist, which was supposed to blow away Tsuare’s head had been blocked. One of Cocytus’ arms had caught his fist. Preventing him from carrying out his order, wasn’t Cocytus disobeying the Master? But Sebas’ astonishment was cleared up immediately.
“Stand down, Sebas.”
As he was about to strike for the second time, Sebas obeyed Ainz’s words. There was no reprimand for Cocytus, but only an order for Sebas to stand down. In another word, the reason Cocytus stopped Sebas was because it had been planned so.
Everything had been an act, designed to test Sebas’ loyalty and will. Tsuare opened her eyes slightly and confirmed that death was not going to happen immediately. As the threat of death went away, so did all her tension and Tsuare sniffled as her body started shaking. Her legs looked as if they would give in at any moment, but Sebas did not hold her. No, he couldn’t hold her. What could he possibly do? He was a man who had abandoned her. Ignoring Tsuare, who was gripped in fear, Cocytus and Ainz started talking to each other.
“It was. Indeed. A killing. Blow.”
“Then I will declare that Sebas’ loyalty is no longer questioned. You did well, Sebas.”
“Yes!”
Sebas bowed deeply with a rigid expression.
“—Demiurge. Any objection from you?”
“None.”
“Cocytus.”
“Nothing.”
“...Victim?”
“!rewop eht evah I ...…lluksyarG fo rewop eht yB (There is none.)”
“Then we shall move on to the next matter.”
Ainz stood up with a fingersnap and let his robes flutter with a wave of his arm.
“Thanks to Sebas, we have collected plenty of information. There is no reason to linger here any longer. Thus, we will return to Nazarick. Sebas, I will leave it to you to take care of that woman. I would like to say that so long as your loyalty has not changed, I won’t interfere, but we will need to examine her a little before letting her go. It would be problematic if she decided to go around telling wild stories, wouldn’t it Demiurge?”
“Yes, it is indeed so. As long as unknown enemies exists, we must prevent any information leak about us if possible.”
“Then what should we do?”
“...May I suggest testing her first?”
“A sound idea… Sebas, let us postpone the matter on how to deal with Tsuare just a bit longer. We will not kill her, but that is no guarantee either.”
Sebas could not hide his surprise. Since these words implied that Tsuare’s fate was still unclear, did this mean that even the Great Ruler of Nazarick was unable to make an immediate decision?
“Ainz-sama, is it due to my mistakes that we are retreating from this mansion — the capital?”
“...It is so, but not so as well. As I stated earlier, we have already obtained all the information we need. As long as there is no reason to remain undercover here, I have judged that it would be safer to simply retreat. Demiurge, I shall take Victim and return first.”
Ainz received the angelic fetus and activated his magic.
“「Greater Teleportation」!”
Ainz fluttered his robe like an actor as the magic activated. His figure appeared as if it had been sucked in by a black hole and disappeared completely. For a moment, Sebas was confused at Ainz’ new act that he had never seen before, but regained his composure.