“…They created a world? That would make them like gods…”
“That’s correct. To us, they are beings on the same level as gods. Gods with Ainz-sama as their leader.”
Arche looked around.
She had accepted it. No matter how you put it, after seeing so much, the only thing she could do was accept it.
There was no way she would be returning alive.
“Well then, not fleeing?”
“—Would it even be possible?”
“Of course not. There was never any intention to allow you to escape to begin with.”
“—Is that so?”
Arche gripped her staff tightly with both hands and charged the girl. She could no longer use spells since she was out of mana. However, even in this most hopeless of situations she still had to try her best until the very last moment. This was the duty of Arche, the sole surviving member of Foresight.
“There, there, you’ve done your best.”
The girl’s reply to Arche’s fully-determined charge was little more than bored dismissal.
“Then, your sad little escape attempt ends here… though it’s a shame I couldn’t see you cry.”
The girl easily caught the staff with one hand, and yanked it toward herself. Arche was thrown off balance and fell into the arms of the girl. The two of them ended up embracing in mid-air.
In this position, the girl buried her face into Arche’s neck. Although Arche tried to struggle, the girl who stuck to her like glue could not be shaken off. She breathed hotly on Arche’s neck, and Arche’s body quivered.
“…Mm, the smell of sweat…”
Not being able to keep one’s body clean was part and parcel of the worker’s life for Arche. This was true for all workers, adventurers, travellers, and anyone who spent time moving around outside.
Even if they got dirty, the appropriate response would be “So what?”
However, she still felt deeply ashamed at being told this by a girl who was younger and more beautiful than her.
The girl’s face left Arche’s neck. A feeling of revulsion swept up over Arche as she looked into those crimson eyes. Within those eyes burned a lust for the female body, stained with the same carnal desire that men possessed for women.
“Be at ease. You will die without experiencing any suffering. Be grateful to Ainz-sama for his mercy.”
“—!”
Arche wanted to respond, but instead all she felt was surprise — surprise at the fact that her body had been immobilized. It was as though those crimson pupils had stolen away her soul.
At last, Arche realised the true identity of the girl. She was not human, but a vampire.
“…And then…”
The girl’s face drew closer to Arche’s, her tongue slipping past her lips to lightly lick at Arche’s cheeks.
“…Salty…”
The girl laughed, and despair swallowed Arche’s soul.
That only made the girl laugh harder.
Her lips split apart to her ears. The red of her irises spread to engulf their respective eyeballs.
With a cracking sound, she opened her mouth. What had once been neat, pearly white teeth were now things that made people think of medical syringes, in multiple rows like those of a shark. Her lascivious voice was laced with lewd undertones, and clear drool oozed from the corners of her mouth.
And then, terror enveloped Arche completely.
“Ahahahahaha!”
Arche’s mind lost hold on consciousness in the face of the laughing monster that reeked of blood.
The last thing that went through her mind was the faces of her two sisters waiting for her.
“Ooooooh? Fainted already? …Then there’s no need to knock you out with magic. You can embrace Death in your dreams~”
After entrusting the cleanup of the intruders to others, Ainz sat down on the throne and started up the monitor. As he browsed through the data of Nazarick, the things that he focused the most on were the changes which occurred to the total amount of funds, which were miniscule. This was mostly due to not having activated any traps that consumed a large amount of money. From the looks of things so far, today’s experiment could be considered as more than successful.
Ainz smiled — even though it was impossible to show it on his face — towards the tense faced Albedo who was waiting by his side, anxious to hear his evaluation, and praised her.
“Magnificent. Although the intruders this time were a bit too fragile from our point of view, they were considered a fearsome force in this world. And you were even able to accomplish it while keeping expenditure to a minimum, looks like from here on, I can truly be at ease when entrusting the defenses of Nazarick to you, Albedo.”
“My deepest gratitude.”
Albedo bowed her head deeply while making a relieved expression.
“By the way, Ainz-sama, was it fine timewise?”
“Not a problem. I have already heard from Pandora’s Actor, the adventurers have decided to wait another day, or until something changes within the ruins, before leaving.”
The fact that none of the workers returned even when it was morning had caused a panic amongst the adventurers, and they had hurriedly reported it to Momon — Pandora’s Actor, who suggested that they wait another day. Usually, when something unexpected happened, the most appropriate thing to do was to retreat towards a safer location and assess the situation once more from there. However, things were different due to the presence of an adamantite-ranked team.
“In that case, could I take up a little bit of your time? The truth is, I have a proposal which I hope Ainz-sama would kindly listen to.”
“What’s the matter, Albedo? Could you wait a bit? … … Okay, not a problem now.” After verifying once more on the situation regarding Hamsuke and the lizardmen on the monitor, Ainz turned to face Albedo. “What is your proposal about?”
“—Yes” Albedo glanced around at their surroundings before continuing, “It is about the things that were mentioned previously by those foolish ones, regarding the search for the Supreme Beings, what level of priority should we assign it?”
“The highest. Take any actions necessary provided they do not bring harm towards the Great Tomb of Nazarick or reveal us in the process.”
Ainz answered immediately.
“As I thought so. I understand. In that case, here is my proposaclass="underline" please allow me to personally select the members and be in charge of the unit tasked with the search for the Supreme Beings.”
“What exactly are you suggesting?”
Ainz’s voice deliberately became cold once more. It was because he noticed the dark emotions dwelling inside of him.
There had been opportunities to search for his comrades, but each time the plans were put on hold due to reasons such as “lack of manpower” or “lack of intelligence”.
If they were unable to find his companions even after searching every corners of the world, thoughts like this were the reason why Ainz could not make up his mind. Rather than knowing for sure that he was the only one left in this world, it was easier for him to hold onto the hope that through gathering up enough fame, his companions would eventually be able to find him.
“Yes. Although we were able to immediately determine that what those foolish ones had said previously were lies, I believe there will be times in the future where it will become difficult for us to judge. For this reason, I think it is necessary for us to have a unit tasked with determining the accuracy of received reports as well as for the search of the Supreme Beings. It would be much better for me to investigate them beforehand, and then report my findings to Ainz-sama.”