Ainz was surprised that he was so comfortable saying these things that he had not prepared for.
Though in a way, it was not that surprising, because all he had done was vocalize how he truly felt.
Mare hugged Ainz and buried his face in Ainz’s shoulder. A calm voice in Ainz’s mind said that it was a good thing he was not in his usual attire. A warm, wet sensation came from the shoulder of his robes, but Ainz let Mare cry. After the sniffling noise died down a little, he lowered Mare to the ground while softly petting him on the head.
Ainz took out a handkerchief from his pocket to clean Mare’s face. Since he had never done this for someone else before, he ended up being a bit rougher than he expected, but Mare stood still and let Ainz do as he pleased.
“Then, go wash your face, Mare.”
“W-what about Ainz-sama?”
“Hmm. I need to go to E-Rantel now. I have a meeting with the Guild Master. I rejected it so far because it was annoying, but I can’t put it off any more. If not—”
Ainz looked at Albedo, who was standing in silence. It was difficult to tell what expression she was making because her long hair was covering the face. But the fact she was trembling ever so slightly made him afraid. It resembled a volcano brimming with rage right before the eruption.
“What is it, Albedo?”
In that moment—
“—Ku. Ha!”
—Ainz’s field of vision suddenly shifted, and he felt something hit his back.
It did not hurt, since Ainz would only take damage from something with magical properties. It was just a shock light enough to tell him that he hit something in the back, but nothing that was close to being painful. However, the reaction of Ainz’s human side made him blink his lidless eyes for a second.
The situation was so sudden that Ainz could not think clearly for a moment. Since his undead mind was immune to confusion, it must have been Suzuki Satoru who was flustered.
“Mm, umm.”
When he opened his eyes, the Eight Edge Assassins came into view. Ainz understood that he was somehow lying on the floor and tried to get up, but he could barely move due to something soft and mysterious holding him down.
How is this possible? I have restrain resistance and other movement hindrance resistance items. The moment I was completely immobilized, I should have been freed... This means the opponent has high level restrain skill!
Ainz looked at the creature that was trying to restrain him and confirmed that it was Albedo, as he had suspected.
“Ainz-samaaaaa!”
After straddling Ainz with both legs and firmly mounting him she raised her upper body.
“W-what is it? What’s the matter?!”
“I don’t need to... hold it in anymore, right!”
Albedo opened her eyes wide. Her pupils that seemed to split her golden irises apart gave Ainz a chilling sensation down his back.
“W-what are you talking about?!”
Ainz panicked, but Albedo ignored him and put her hands on her dress, closing her fingers around the slit of her cleavage. With a grunted “Hmph!” she tried to rip it apart, but the material did not budge.
“Magical clothing is annoying. I should use an item destruction skill or just take it off normally.”
“Get a hold of yourself, Albedo. Get down from me right this instant!”
He tried to push her off by force, but the opponent was a level 100 warrior. Plus, he could not use his full strength because he was grabbing something extremely soft while trying to push her off.
Albedo’s hands closed in and tried to open up Ainz’s robe.
“Don’t try to take off my clothes! Don’t move your hips! Oi!”
“Ah. Awawawawawawa...”
“It’s your fault, Ainz-sama! I held it in so far, but you started saying things that I can’t hold myself anymore! It’s all Ainz-sama’s fault! I just need a little bit! Just a little bit! Really, a little bit! Please, give me some of your favour! It’ll be over by the time you’re finished counting the number of Eight Edge Assassins on the ceiling!”
If she had mentioned that it was Ainz’s fault for changing her setting, he would have lost all will to resist. However, Albedo looked like she was about to devour Ainz whole and the fear of being eaten, like that of prey being cornered by a predator, overrode Ainz’s guilt and he struggled against her.
Finally, his subordinates, who were confused at this sudden situation, sprang into action.
“Albedo-sama has lost her mind!”
“Albedo-sama has lost her mind!”
The Eight Edge Assassins jumped off the ceiling simultaneously.
“Get her off Ainz-sama! No, no! Don’t try to restrain her with skills! It’s just going to get cancelled!
Use your strength!”
“It’s too much! To be this strong, she is indeed the Overseer of Guardians! Mare-sama, help us!”
“—Awawa! Y-yes!”
Ainz fixed his clothing after being finally liberated and pointed to Albedo, who was being held by all four limbs by the Eight Edged Assassins.
“Albedo shall be grounded for three days.”
The Eight Edged Assassins dragged Albedo out of the room.
“U-uh, Ainz-sama... Are you alright?”
“I’m fine… But when did Albedo turn so weird? Did she eat something bad…? Devils don’t need to eat food, but there shouldn’t be a problem with eating... right?”
Mare looked away as Ainz asked the question.
“Well… I guess, uh, mmm, there would have been this and that happening for her. She must have been under a lot of work-related stress.”
Ainz stood up from his place and called over the maid. To regain his dignity, he spoke in the most regal voice he could manage.
“...Tell Narberal and Hamsuke to prepare. It’s time to head to E-Rantel.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Nazarick Time 13:35
Sitting on top of Hamsuke, Ainz pulled the reins to signal him to halt. He looked over E-Rantel’s gate which stood strong in front of him. Ainz did not dislike the gate, which could easily stop an entire army and radiated power and gravity. In Yggdrasil, there were many gates larger and more magnificent than this one, but unlike simple data, this gate was made with human hands —though the possible help of magic could not be discounted— and sweat. Standing before the steely gate steeped in history and labour, an indescribable emotion welled up from inside him.
There were guilds that conquered and used a city as their base in Yggdrasil. I used to wonder why they would set up a base in areas so difficult to defend... but I think I can understand now. Ruling a great city might be the dream of any man.
Back in Yggdrasil, it was a common occurrence for different guilds to lay siege to a city. Most members of Ainz Ooal Gown could not understand why they would do that, but there were also few members who said they wanted to try it as well.
Warmongers...