“She attended to the request from Enri Emmot of Carne Village. It would be better if you asked her directly. Please, ask anything of her that you need.”
“About that… then— no, before that, guildmaster, please tell her to have a seat. I’m not the owner of this room, but still...”
“No! That would be overstepping my bounds! I’ll stand, thank you very much!”
To Suzuki Satoru, it felt wrong to have his counterpart standing while he sat. However, for Ainz Ooal Gown, the ruler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick… it wasn’t a problem at all.
With that, he could easily deal with the differences between a leader and a follower. It would seem his daily practice had not been wasted after all. Indeed, it felt like he had slowly increased his experience total.
...How much more XP until I level up, hm?
“Is that so? Well then, let’s begin. Please tell me, in detail, about the request she made. Since this is very important, I hope there will be no omissions.”
“Y-yes!”
Sticky sweat beaded on the receptionist’s forehead.
“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”
“No, it’s…”
The receptionist’s gaze was flickering back and forth.
“Am I asking the wrong questions? ...Well, that might be so. Then, let me ask; was it a request to find someone?”
“No, i-it’s not like that…”
“Ah, then what is it like? Was it not a request, then?”
“...Actually, it was more of a consultation for a future request. It concerned monsters called the Giant of the East and the Serpent of the West, monsters of the same level as the Wise King of the Forest that Momon-sama tamed. That, er, was it, I think.”
Momon considered that being too direct and forceful would only scare the receptionist, and continued asking.
“Then, will this be a problem in the future?”
“N-no! I-I didn’t know she was a friend of Momon-sama! If I had known I would have gotten more details from her! It’s true!”
The sight of the receptionist on the verge of tears perturbed Ainz. Could someone with so little control over their emotions work as a receptionist?
“—Guildmaster…”
“...Forgive me, I have not instructed my subordinates well enough.”
“But, no! That was the guild’s rule!”
After listening to the two of them, Ainz realized that they might have gotten the wrong impression.
They thought that since Enri and Ainz knew each other, Ainz could have taken the request for free, but as a way of saving the Adventurer’s Guild’s face, Enri had come to request via the guild.
But the receptionist had treated Enri coldly and kicked her out due to monetary issues. They were arguing over who was responsible for slamming the door on an adamantite-ranked adventurer’s friend.
But… wouldn’t that be the right thing to do, according to the guild rules?
Ainz turned a disapproving eye to the guildmaster, who was chastising the receptionist.
It’s the duty of a superior to protect their subordinates when they make mistakes. Or perhaps he’s putting on a big show of scolding her in front of a customer to win sympathy for her? What a masterful technique… looks like he’s really getting into it.
To Ainz, the receptionist had done the right thing. The guildmaster probably thought so, too.
However, be it Ainz’s entry through the back door or his audience with the guildmaster, it would all be forgiven because he was an adamantite-ranked adventurer. It was because adamantite-ranked adventurers were worth keeping around.
“But I really didn’t know!”
With the receptionist almost in tears, Ainz cut in with gentle words.
“You were not wrong.”
The receptionist’s eyes went wide in surprise, and the accumulated tears finally fell.
“It’s very important to obey the organization’s rules. While there are times when they should be bent, I won’t hold this incident against you.”
“Thank you very much! Thank you very, very much!”
“Although it might be troublesome, please tell me the details of her request. This isn’t a formal acceptance of the request, but rather, it’s so that it’s easier for me to take action should the situation call for it.”
“I understand! I’ll go get the details from her right away! Then, please excuse me!”
The receptionist fled from the room at top speed, as though a typhoon had passed through.
“...Even if you want to gain my sympathy, please don’t scold innocent people. It upsets me.”
“...As I thought, I can’t put anything past you, Momon-kun.”
The guildmaster’s sincere reply told Ainz that his hypothesis had been correct.
It seems the tricks of the Japanese salaryman can be used anywhere. Then, the question is—
The image of Lupusregina appeared in Ainz’s mind.
How did Lupusregina not know of the monsters that a village girl like Enri was aware of? Was there a failure in establishing an information network? I need to check this out.
I have to return to Nazarick soon, Ainz thought as he awaited the receptionist’s report.
A worried Lupusregina entered Ainz’s office. The panic and unease of being suddenly summoned was written all over her face. Inside the office was Lupusregina, the regular maid Sixth, the battle maid Narberal, Aura, who was the one most familiar with the forest, the Eight Edge Assassins on the ceiling, and the owner of the room, Ainz.
By the way, Albedo was still in confinement.
Lupusregina was about to prostrate before Ainz when he interrupted her.
“Lupusregina, is there something you’ve kept from me?”
After seeing the confused look on her face, he wondered if she did not know about it after all. Ainz decided to repeat what he had heard about the Giant of the East and the Serpent of the West from the Adventurer’s Guild. However, as Lupusregina seemed to have known about this long before, Ainz’s mood changed drastically. He exhaled long and loud.
“So you were aware of this, then?”
“Yes. About that—”
“You fool!”
Ainz’s thunderous shout, filled with wrath, seemed to shake the very room. As the others recoiled like they had been physically struck, Ainz felt something suppress his emotions, but even after the peak of rage was cut off, his anger surged up again, and there was no way he could fully rein in his ire.
“Why did you not report this to me? Were you trying to deceive me?”
“N-no! Nothing like that!”