“Uh, what about, uh, Coctyus-san?”
“Cocytus-sama is currently outside the Great Tomb of Nazarick, visiting the new lizardmen village.”
“I-is that so.”
The frost virgin replied while bowing.
“Yes. If you have a message to leave for him, we’ll take it for him. What do you wish to do?”
Mare hesitated.
Since he came this far, he could just leave the folder in Cocytus’ room and leave a brief message with the frost virgins. But considering the content of the memo, giving it directly to Cocytus would be fully respecting the master’s commands.
So how would he go to Cocytus, who was outside.
There was no special rule forbidding the guardians from going outside Nazarick. However, there were conditions to meet before going outside. It was because the master had forbidden all independent activity outside the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
The information gathered so far indicated level 100 beings like the guardians of Nazarick were unimaginable walking disasters in the outside world. There would be no problem even if Mare, one such walking disaster, engaged in independent action. It would be the outside world that should be afraid of him, but that was a mistake only possible after forgetting one important incident.
There was an unknown enemy who brainwashed Shalltear and might possess a World class item.
There were also glimpses of player activity in the shadows every once in a while.
They needed to take extra precautions because they could not assess how many or how strong the enemies were.
“Hm, mmm. What should I do…”
Anyone who wanted to go outside needed to be accompanied by at least five level 75 servants. Mare had two dragons as direct subordinates, but they were too big to be discreet. It would be best to ask his sister, but considering how the conversation went, he did not want to do something so scary.
Then an epiphany struck him. It was perfect in both level and number.
“S-sorry, but can you come with me?”
“I, I apologize, but we have been ordered by Cocytus-sama to guard this place. With the exception of Ainz-sama, we cannot disobey Cocytus-sama’s order… Please forgive us!”
“Ah, no, no, it’s fine.”
It could not be helped. If he had thought about it, then it would’ve been rather obvious that they couldn’t do so. The next idea that came to his mind was to ask the demon lords in the 7th floor, but unless he gave them a good reason, he would be rejected again. It was true that he couldn’t rely on any floor but the one Demiurge guarded. It was difficult to ask for help from any guardians outside the names that were written on the memo. Also, most servants over level 80 in the Great Tomb of Nazarick were direct subordinates of a guardian and those who were not, were few and far in between.
Because of that, Mare would need to ask Demiurge if he wanted to borrow the demon lords.
But how would I contact him?
The only way to contact Demiurge who was outside, was to dispatch a servant as a messenger or use magic.
But besides him…
Mare remembered the book he had just been reading.
Did he have any subordinates over level 75? But he’s not a guardian… Muu, would it be fine since he’s a man as well? If I ask him to keep it a secret…
“T-thank you! Uh, I’ll be fine.”
“Is that so? I understand.”
Mare activated the ring. His destination was the Grand Library in Nazarick’s 10th floor, Ashurbanipal.
The scenery changed immediately from a snowy plain to a large room. The room was decorated simply, with plain black as a base colour, while dim, reddish light illuminated the area. The ceiling formed a gently sloping dome, with a grand set of double doors on the opposite side.
Golems were standing on either side of the doors that led to the Throne Hall. They were almost three meters tall, nearly as large as the doors themselves. The golems were shaped like armoured warriors and because they were made from rare metals, they were stronger than regular golems made by the Supreme Beings.
“Excuse me, can you open the door?”
In response to Mare’s request, the two golems put their hands on the door and slowly pushed it open. After a heavy, creaking sound, Mare walked in through the open doors that were big enough for several people to enter at once.
The sight that lay before him was more reminiscent of an art museum than a library. Countless decorations added flair to the level, while the bookshelves and even the books themselves looked like ornaments on display.
Not a single speck of dust could be seen on the immaculately polished hardwood floors and the surface was covered in beautiful engraved patterns. The upper area was quite roomy, with a hall-like design, and a balcony extended from the second floor. Even on the second floor there were countless bookshelves, arranged as if they were peeking into the room. The semi-circular ceiling was covered in grand frescos and luxurious carvings.
There were even books in the numerous glass bookshelves across the room. There were many source of light in the room, but none of them too glaring. As a matter of fact, a regular human would frown, claiming it was too dark.
It was impossible to take in the whole interior at one glance because the bookshelves covered the scenery at every angle.
Amidst a silence befitting a library, the doors slowly closed behind Mare. It turned darker since there was no light coming in from the entrance. The stillness in the air panned out to create a creepy atmosphere that made silence sound like another noise.
Of course, for someone like Mare who could see in the dark just as well as during the day, it was not creepy at all.
Mare headed towards the inside at rather fast pace.
This was the “Room of Logic”. For the most part, the library was divided into three large rooms; the
“Room of Wisdom”, the “Room of Logic”, the “Room of Magic”. There were also several smaller rooms designed for specialized uses and the individual rooms for the staff. His destination was quite far away considering the size of the area.
To either side of the tunnel were rows of bookshelves with countless books arranged on them.
The books in Yggdrasil could be divided into five large categories.
The first category was a collection of recorded monster data, which was required to summon said monsters as mercenaries.
There were three types of monsters inside Nazarick. The first type consisted of monsters that were created in a similar manner as player characters. The next type consisted of automatically spawning monsters that were under level thirty, and the last type consisted of monsters that were summoned as mercenaries. Mercenary monsters needed to be summoned using a book, a special summoning ritual and adequate amount of gold. Thus, they could not be summoned without a book.
The second category was magic items.
Certain data crystals could only be imbued into a book-shaped object. Items shaped like books usually tended to be single use magic items. The difference between a scroll and a book was that while scrolls could only be used by certain classes, anybody could use a book.