“I’ll tell you the rest when Shalltear arrives. That way, I won’t have to explain myself twice.”
Just as Ainz said so, knocking came from the door, followed by Decrement going over to check on the visitor.
“It is Shalltear-sama.”
The person he was waiting for had arrived. Ainz indicated that Decrement should let her in.
As the door opened, he saw someone in the doorway.
“Shalltear Bloodfallen is ready to go!!”
Ainz — who was prepared to thank her for her coming all this way — froze up for a moment, and it took him a while before he could gather his wits and speak.
“Why… why are you in your full battle gear?”
Not only was she in her full plate, but she was even holding her Spuit Lance.
“Yes!!! I am fully prepared to protect you, Ainz-sama!!!! I shall exterminate anyone who dares to oppose you, Ainz-sama!!!!!”
Ainz glanced at the panting Shalltear, her eyes wide open. Then, he glanced to Aura, as if to say, what should I do about this? It was not as though he could say Shalltear had gotten the wrong idea.
“Haaa~ you’re being too hasty. How about taking action after Ainz-sama finishes speaking?”
Shalltear pouted as Aura took a jab at her. Before the two of them could start quarreling, Ainz raised his hand to get their attention.
“Shalltear. You might have the right idea, but things are different this time. Forgive me for not explaining things to you.”
Ainz hurriedly explained the objectives of this operation to Shalltear — and his plans to forge friendly relations with the Dwarven Kingdom.
A baffled look appeared on Shalltear’s face after she took it all in.
“If, if that’s what you want, is it really alright to bring me along?”
“…I have many reasons for choosing you. Having you protect me is one of them. But the greatest reason is so that you can gain experience. It is my selfish opinion that you consider yourself unsuitable for this task due to your Blood Frenzy. Perhaps after you give it a try, you might discover that you are surprisingly suited for this sort of thing.”
Shalltear’s eyes went wide.
“I understand, Ainz-sama!! I shall make sure you do not regret your decision!!”
“…Umu. Then, Shalltear, I will be placing you under Aura’s command for this journey. Since Aura is in charge of you, I hope you will obey her.”
“Understood!!”
Shalltear bowed to him.
Ainz wondered if her response was too high-strung, but it was better than a dispirited answer. Still, it would be troublesome if it all turned out to be for nothing.
“I appreciate your eagerness, but you should calm yourself down, Shalltear…Then, let us consider the matter of followers. Who else should we bring along?”
“Ainz-sama — may I be allowed to speak?”
Ainz was somewhat startled because the response had come from an unexpected quarter, but he coolly turned to face Decrement.
“What is it? Is something the matter?”
“Ah, I was wondering how you would feel about bringing some of us maids along to serve as your attendants during your trip to the Dwarven Kingdom. Traditionally speaking, those in power have always brought followers with them to handle miscellaneous tasks. I feel that the Dwarven Kingdom will think poorly of you if you do not bring handmaidens with you, Ainz-sama.”
“I see…You do have a point there.”
While spying on Jircniv, he noticed that the man went out escorted by several carriages, and some of them contained well-dressed ladies. They must be the people who waited on him. If he had stayed in Nazarick back then, Ainz would have observed him more carefully, but regrettably he had not, which was a bit of a shame.
No, the fact was that Jircniv had come a long way to visit Ainz, and Ainz had been terribly rude to Jircniv by not insisting that he stay the night. Granted, the man had firmly refused every offer of lodging Ainz had made, but perhaps the right thing to do was to make him change his mind.
Perhaps if they had established good relations back then, the matter of vassalage might not have come up at the arena.
Oops, I’m getting off-track… Decrement has a point, but—
Ainz considered her data. The 41 regular maids might look different, but their equipment and statistics were identical.
The heteromorphic species known as Homunculi were not particularly outstanding, and they were very weak, being only level 1. While they were still superior to level 1 human beings in terms of stats, if it came down to a fight, a Homunculus would only have a 60 % chance of victory.
The maid uniforms they wore did provide them with a measure of defensive strength, but that was only on the level of a high-class item. Those might seem incredibly resilient to the inhabitants of these world, but they were nothing more than scraps of paper to a YGGDRASIL player.
Frankly speaking, there was no way he could bring them to the Dwarven Kingdom, given that he knew next to nothing about it. There was a chance that a player might be waiting with his forces deployed and ready for battle.
“Still… Unfortunately, I cannot do that. If we must have followers — Shalltear, can I bring your Vampire Brides with us?”
“There is no need to ask. Everyone in Nazarick serves you. You have but to order us.”
“Is that so. — Decrement, your proposal is very reasonable. However, it contains a problem, in that you are weak and I am uneasy about your safety when travelling into unknown lands.”
“We are all prepared to face any form of danger!”
Ainz raised a hand to calm Decrement down.
“I am pleased by the loyalty which you — which you all show. Therefore, once I ensure that the Dwarven Kingdom is safe, I shall send for you via teleportation. Until then, what do you think about handing the matter to the Vampire Brides?”
Decrement’s mouth moved several times, but no words came out. Eventually, she bowed her head. Ainz hoped that she was not agreeing because he had ordered her to, but that was most likely not the case.
Since he had nothing else to persuade her with, and he would not change his mind no matter what she said, Ainz turned his eyes from Decrement.
Resurrecting level 1 NPCs was cheap, but that was not the problem here.
Nobody would bring their friends’ children into a dangerous place.
“Then, Shalltear, bring — let me see — six Vampire Brides along. Then add 30 more riders on top of that. Five of them will be the recently summoned Hanzos.”
There was no particular significance behind the number 30. It was simply that he felt that number would be sufficient. Perhaps it was because this was the amount of players allowed in a raid group?
“I’ll contact Cocytus while waiting for everyone to gather. Right, I should finish up first. Once everyone is assembled, the two of you will travel to the Lizardman village through Shalltear’s [Gate]. After that, we’ll head north to find the Dwarven Kingdom. What do you think?”
“Understood!”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
The two Guardians replied in the affirmative. They did not suggest a better idea, which Ainz had hoped for. While the two of them were hardly yes-women, the fact that they had said exactly that in response to his suggestion made Ainz feel a little uneasy. This was because Ainz did not have much confidence in his own idea.
“Then, do you have any suggestions on who the other followers should be?”
“My magical beasts—”
“My undead—”
The two of them spoke up at the same time, and then glared at each other. Just as he thought they would start arguing, Shalltear looked away first.
“After you.”
“…What? Did you eat something weird?”
“It’s just that I was ordered to listen to you.”