This was not the case.
He felt as though he was going to drown in the lake that his non-existent cold sweat was forming.
He couldn't even grasp the meaning behind Demiurge's scheme. Ainz had simply gone into the battle with the foolish notion of showing off his battle skills in a stylish display at the capital.
The shock of learning that his opponent was Demiurge had shattered his composure utterly. Only the emotion control override possessed by all undead had kept him calm.
After that he thought he would just be fighting the Eight Fingers just going by his orders, but then he learned that he would be doing battle with adamantite-ranked adventurers. Because he didn't know what was going on at all, Ainz had nearly given up on thinking things through.
Speaking thoughtlessly under these conditions would sound entirely unnatural. Ainz knew that it was extremely dangerous to pretend understanding when one was actually ignorant. Perhaps it might have been wiser to reveal his lack of knowledge, but under the circumstances, it was ill-advised. A Supreme Being worthy of loyalty would have to demonstrate a fitting amount of foreknowledge.
If a superior — especially one of a CEO's level — proved himself to be too incompetent, his subordinates would lose their trust in him.
Therefore, he had frantically racked his non-existent brain cells to produce the aphorism he had just spouted.
Perhaps Narberal was too honest, or the words he spoke had been unexpectedly meaningful. Narberal's eyes were filled with respect. As such, Ainz made a request of her under the pretense of ordering her.
"Mmm. Then, in order to ensure the success of Demiurge's operation, make contact with him. I will not do it personally because that woman might still be watching. And right now, I cannot use magic. Hu… that Evileye hadn't let her guard down for a single moment. I don't have proof, but I'm sure she's already suspecting me.”
"How could that be? There's no such thing. Perhaps there's another reason she's looking so closely at you."
Ainz looked at Narberal while trying not to make it obvious that he was staring at her.
"That has to be the reason. I roughly understand how that woman thinks. I believe revealing my anger when we discussed Entoma was a fatal mistake. Perhaps I should have just killed her off back then?"
There was no answer to give.
When he had heard Entoma had nearly been killed, Ainz’s anger had flared up. Although it had been suppressed in an instant like all intense emotions, in that instant that he had been filled with murderous rage. It was a miracle that he hadn't promptly chopped off Evileye's head with his sword.
He had suppressed his killing intent and not acted on his anger because earlier, he had concluded that killing Evileye would have been counterproductive. At long last he had found an introduction to someone who could use resurrection magic— and they were in a position to benefit from it. Ruining this would be too much of a waste.
Perhaps I've grown, and learned to control myself.
If it wasn't because of Shalltear's brainwashing, it's possible that he would have ignored the potential gains to Nazarick and killed Evileye. The Great Tomb of Nazarick and the NPCs created by his former friends were treasures that Ainz wanted to protect. He would not forgive any attempt to harm them, but he also had to consider what was most important and which choices to make to attain it. That was maturity.
Ainz reflected that his capacity had grown to match his experience, and the illusion of the face underneath his helmet smiled to itself.
At this rate, there’s no doubt that he would be able to become a true ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Or rather, he hoped to reach that stage.
Before that, I have to avoid disappointing people or suffering great setbacks… it’ll be very hard on me…
“Is that so? As expected of Ainz-sama, you completely saw through that woman. Such vision could only belong to one destined for the throne.”
“Enough with the pleasantries, Narberal. More accurately, it was my mistake which led to her suspicion.”
Ainz waved Narberal off in a gesture that also hid his embarrassment. Then, in a steely voice, he issued his command.
“Let’s go, Narberal. Go and discover all the details of this scheme, and then tell me about them. Also, tell Albedo that if this drags on, we will have to join in clearing up Jaldabaoth’s mess.”
Narberal bowed and cast a spell.
Inside his heart, Ainz rejoiced. He had not lied to Narberal. Ainz’ current state as a Perfect Warrior meant that he could not use magic. Thus, using Narberal to relay messages from Demiurge was only logical. But there was another reason, one that he could not say out loud.
In order to better pretend that he had already seen through Demiurge's plans, and not let Albedo and Demiurge suspect anything, he had to minimize contact with them.
If he assigned Narberal to do it, it would be like playing a game of telephone, and some of the information might end up distorted. However, he would rather take that gamble than risk damaging his image as the supreme ruler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.
Ainz slowly made his way back to Evileye.
While Narberal was talking to Demiurge, it would be up to him to draw her attention.
"Really now… it'd be good if we could somehow get through this. Speaking of which, I wonder what the face of a child with such power looks like under the mask…”
Part 2
Though it was in the middle of the night, a corner of the royal city was lit up by torches as though it were broad daylight. A somewhat cramped room was packed full of men and women. They were all dressed in battle gear, but there was no unifying theme among them.
They were all adventurers within the capital who had responded to the hasty summons of the palace. Orichalcum and mithril-ranked adventurers notwithstanding, even lowly iron and copper-ranked adventurers were present for this.
The more senior adventurers had already realized that the reason outsiders like themselves had been permitted into the palace was in order to take care of the problems plaguing the capital. Some of these adventurers had already begun guessing at their employer upon seeing the youth in white armor standing at attention in the corner. Even fewer of these adventurers had any idea of the true identity of the katana-bearing man who stood beside the youth.
The great door to the chamber suddenly opened, and what appeared was a band of women, causing a stir.
Every one of them was known to the adventurers within the Kingdom.
At their head was the leader of the adamantite ranked adventuring party "Blue Rose", Lakyus Alvein dale Aindra.
Close behind her was the Golden Princess Renner, along with the leader of the Adventurer's Guild in the capital. Then there was Evileye of Blue Rose and one of the twins. And at the back was the strongest warrior of the Kingdom, Gazef Stronoff.
As the group stood before the gathered adventurers, the youth in white armor unrolled the scroll in his hands, and pasted it onto the wall behind him.
It was a detailed map of the royal capital.
The first to speak was a woman in her forties, a former member of a mithril ranked adventuring party whose eyes were still filled with vitality.
"Ladies and gentlemen, to begin with, I'd like to thank you for being able to be present for this emergency meeting."
After the room had quietened down, she continued to address the adventurers with an earnest expression on her face.