The final, third phase would be to have the Sorcerous Kingdom step in to take over everything.
“… I have a question regarding the item needed for that, which would be my corpse. Will you keep it here?”
“There is no need for that. It has already been brought to Nazarick. When it is necessary for the plan, it can be brought here.”
The true Caspond’s body was wrapped in an item known as a Shroud of Sleep, and it had apparently been brought to Nazarick.
This magic item could arrest the decay of a corpse. He had been neatly killed with instant death magic upon capture, and his body had been preserved before rigor mortis could set in. If one touched it, one could still feel traces of his body heat. With that corpse, one would simply assume he had died all of a sudden.
“Allow me to verify something. Do you understand what you ought to do, as Holy King?”
“Yes. In order to make this a country worthy of Ainz-sama, I must make it prosperous.”
“Mm, just so. However, you must keep the people unhappy. After all, dissatisfaction is the best spice to welcome a new king.”
“Yes,“ Doppel-Caspond replied. Then he asked Demiurge about a problem that had not been described in his plan.
“Speaking of which, what should we do about that girl?”
That was all Demiurge needed to realize who Doppel-Caspond was talking about, and for the first time his smile came from the heart.
“I once used the word ‘unfathomable’ to describe Ainz-sama… indeed, that is the case. Ainz-sama has prepared an excellent pawn for me. Her existence has cut years off my plan.”
Doppel-Caspond had the feeling that Demiurge’s eyes ― he could not tell exactly where he was looking ― had suddenly moved. They seemed to be looking at the wall. And over there is… on that topic Caspond remembered that it was the main gate of the capital.
“While he had said he wanted to enthrall humans to his side… to think he could actually make a girl like that in such a staunchly religious country. Although, I have no idea why he said it would be fine to kill even a girl to whom he had lent a weapon. No doubt it must have been to force her into the appropriate mental state.”
Demiurge seemed to be in a very good mood, and he did not seem to be telling this to anyone in particular. Caspond merely waited in silence for Demiurge to turn his attention back to himself.
“The instruction to help that girl was truly the right answer. No, if it were Ainz-sama, he would surely be able to correct anything that I did. While he did say in the past that he planned to introduce flaws into the plan to test my adaptability, to think he had laid such cunning plans… he is truly the one who united the Supreme Beings. Every time, he shows me how inferior I am compared to him… Kuku, what a cruel master he is.”
Demiurge seemed profoundly moved as he shook his head, and the interior of the room was silent. Finally, Demiurge adjusted his collar, as if to bleed off the last of his excitement, and then tightened his tie.
“Support anything Neia Baraja does with everything your position affords you. Do so in the name of giving thanks to Ainz-sama. That ought to further accelerate the conflict between North and South… I will soon hand you plans on what to do if someone tries to interfere with that girl. Until then, act as we have discussed.”
“Yes!…But what will become of that girl? Do you intend to make her the next Holy King?”
In that case, he would need to make the appropriate preparations. That said, Demiurge had said he would be giving him exact instructions, so it would be best to do as he was told.
“That is not a bad idea, but it would be better to give her another mission. While there is no telling if Ainz-sama wishes to be regarded as a god, if he does intend that, then it would be better to prepare for it. The experiment of worshipping Ainz-sama as a god will surely be useful in that case.”
“Yes!”
“Now then, is there anything else you would like to take this chance to verify?”
“Yes. It concerns that woman who is no longer necessary, Remedios Custodio. While the original plan was to have her run around as needed, would it not be better to kill her off?”
“No, just keep her alive and let her become a scapegoat for the nobles’ dissatisfaction. That was why I said she was the only one who was not to be killed during our first encounter. Transfer her to another post. Let the Vice-Captain become the Captain of the Paladin Corps and then make use of him. He can be put to meaningful work.”
“I understand!”
“Deal with her when the conflict becomes evident.”
After Doppel-Caspond showing that he understood, Demiurge indicated that the conversation was over, and vanished with 「Greater Teleportation」.
The demon hiding in his shadow, and the Hanzo that Caspond could never defeat no matter what he tried were still at his disposal.
Doppel-Caspond rose to his feet and looked outside the window again.
While he could only see the courtyard, he imagined he could see the revelling people throughout the city. After that, he laughed mockingly.
“―Enjoy the taste of happiness for a while longer, my people.”
Afterword
Thank you for your hard work, dear readers who have made it all the way here. The hand you held the book with must be feeling heavy, no?
I’m sure you must all have felt the fear of dropping a book on your face when reading while lying down.
Volume 13 is the first Overlord book in history with a page count well in excess of 500. What did you think of the contents? I would be happy if even a small portion of the readers felt it was interesting.
However, in truth, it might have been better to split it up into a second and third part instead. Reading the whole thing from start to finish really taxes the brains. Reading chapters 4, 5 and then the intermission before going to sleep might be a better pace. How did you read it, everyone? Ah, a major advantage of dividing it into two books would be the opportunity to enjoy more of so bin-san’s lovely illustrations!
Still, this won’t happen again, so there’s no point thinking about it.
While I kept saying I want to cut the page count, the length of this book ended up being really rough. As page count increases, all the associated work takes more time too, and the schedule keeps slipping. The probability of wrong words also increases, so it seems like there are pretty much no upsides to it.
Next time, I’d like to write a book that’s easier on both the author and the audience.
Now then, while I did say the next volume is in 2019, I’m planning to write something very long before that, so I don’t know how things will actually turn out. Relaxing and waiting helps a lot. The third season of the anime will also come out during that time, so I hope you’ll all enjoy it.
But in truth, I’ve pretty much run out of things to put into the afterword. In the past, when I was a reader and saw the author say he didn’t know what to write, I would think “just write whatever you want”. Now that I’m in the same situation, I can understand what they had to deal with. What would you all write if you were in my position? Honestly… the idea that I don’t need to write these afterwords any more is starting to grow on me!
Now then, I’d like to thank everyone who helped me with this volume. I look forward to working with you in future.
2018 April
Maruyama Kugane
二〇一六年九月 丸山くがね
Character Sheets
Neia Baraja