Ainz's room was filled with elegant and high-class furniture, the floor was covered in bright red carpet. This room was usually covered in a thin veil of silence, but was even more quiet today. Even the maid that should be on standby was missing from the room. The only ones present were Ainz and a Death Knight who stood in a corner.
Wanting to keep the peace and quiet, a gentle voice as sweet as honey came out of Albedo's mouth:
"Reporting: The commander of the Slane Sunlight Scripture has been sent to the Frozen Prison. Intelligence will be extracted by the special intelligence officer from now on."
"Neuronist should be fine. But I plan to conduct experiments with the corpses… You’re aware of that?"
"I do. According to the reports, we are investigating the equipment stripped from the knights, no signs of special enchantments so far. After finishing the investigation, the equipment will be sent to the treasury."
"… Yes, that would be adequate."
"Finally, in order to protect and monitor that village, I plan to send 2 shadow demons over. How should we deal with Gazef Strolonoff?"
"Ignore the Knight-Captain for now. More importantly, that village will be the place where we build our good relations. We might need his help someday, so it would be best to not get on his bad side."
"Understood. I will instruct the underlings clearly. This concludes the report."
Answering "Thanks for your hard work", Ainz looked at Albedo’s face who finished her report. Her smile was slightly different from her usual gentle smile and she seemed to be in a good mood.
The reason was the ring on her left hand's ring finger which she was caressing with her right hand. It was a sparkling Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown.
It was her own decision which finger she wanted to wear her ring on, but the reason she decided on that finger was obvious.
If these were Albedo’s true feelings, he should be happy as a man. But her feelings were the result of Ainz’s casual editing, causing him to feel guilty.
“Albedo… Your feelings for me are just the result of me altering you, they are definitely not your true feelings. So…”
What should he say next? Was using magic to alter memories the right thing to do?
Ainz couldn’t continue on. Looking at Ainz, Albedo asked with a smile:
“What kind of person was I before you altered me?”
A slut.
Ainz didn’t know how to say something like that. Albedo stared at Ainz who appeared cool on the outside but was panicking on the inside, and said:
“I think the current me is great, so don’t feel sad Ainz-sama.”
“But…”
“But…? But what?”
He didn’t answer but still felt an unfathomable atmosphere from the smiling Albedo. Albedo continued talking to a silent Ainz:
“The most important thing will be…”
Ainz waited for her to continue, but she only mumbled with a depressed face:
“Will it bother you?”
He opened his mouth stupidly, looking at Albedo’s pretty face. Her words were branded deeply into his mind — although it was empty now — But Ainz knew what she was saying and replied in a hurry:
“N-no way, how would that ever bother me.”
He wasn’t dissatisfied with being loved by a beauty like Albedo. At least for now.
“Then it should be fine, right?”
“… Eh一”
It just didn’t feel right.
That’s what he thought, but Ainz couldn’t find a reason to contradict her.
“It should be fine, right?”
There was a mysterious air emitting from Albedo who repeated herself. Ainz attempted a last ditch struggle and asked:
“I modified Tabula Smaragdina-san’s settings, don’t you want to turn back to your old self?”
“If it was Tabula Smaragdina-sama, he would definitely give his blessing with the feelings of seeing his daughter off for marriage.”
“… Is, is that so?”
Was he such a guy? As Ainz thought about that, the sound of metal clanging rose.
Looking at the source, he found a long sword on the floor. The Death Knight holding the sword was gone. It was summoned not long ago.
“… It disappears after a period of time if it was summoned using normal methods… Since the sword from this world was left on the ground, it wouldn’t linger if equipment were used as a medium to link to the otherworld. Hence, they long for this world if it was summoned using their corpse and won’t disappear? If there were a huge number of corpse, it can be used to strengthen Nazarick.”
“Should we collect corpse en masse?”
“… But we can’t dig up the graves from that village alright?”
“Understood, but we would need to think of a new way to obtain fresh bodies. Okay, the Death Knight vanishing means everyone should be here. Please grace us with your presence at the throne hall with Sebas. I will go there first.”
“I see. Okay Albedo, see you later.”
Albedo left Ainz’s room quietly and saw Sebas who was walking that way.
“Sebas, you came at the right time.”
“Albedo-sama. Is Momonga-sama in the room?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Albedo felt a sense of superiority when she saw Sebas still addressing Ainz as Momonga. Upon seeing her expression, Sebas lift one eyebrow:
“You seemed to be in a great mood. Anything good happened?”
“That’s correct.”
The reason Albedo was happy wasn’t just because of the name, but also her conversation with Ainz. She told him she wanted to marry him, and he showed no sign of rejection or annoyance. This means…
Albedo’s expression changed instantly from elegance to an evil and slutty smile. That was a smile she never showed in the presence of Ainz.
“Fufufufu. it will work, it will definitely work. The one sitting beside the overlord will be me. Shalltear will have no choice but to give up.”
That was Albedo’s thoughts as a woman, not as the overseer. She clenched her fist:
“My succubus blood is boiling…”
Throne room.
Sebas silently followed behind Ainz who arrived after everyone.
The hall was full of people on their knees showing their fealty.
No one fidgeted in the hall, it was quiet enough to hear the sound of breathing. The only noise was from the master of this hall — Ainz, and his follower Sebas’s footsteps, as well as the sound of the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown hitting the ground.
Ainz ascended the steps and sat on the throne. Sebas kneeled behind Albedo at the base of the steps.
Ainz watched the scene below the steps on the throne.
Almost all the NPCs were gathered here, it was a grand view of the crowd, and looked like the the Hyakki Yagyō, the Night-Parade of a Hundred Demons[2]. To create such a variety of characters, Ainz praised the imagination of the guild members in his heart. Glancing through the crowd, he realized some NPCs didn’t show up, but that couldn’t be helped. The colossally huge golem Gargantua and the 8th floor guardian Victim were unable to leave their posts.
Those gathered here weren't just NPCs. Although there were no replacements for the 2 who were not present, many high ranking servants handpicked by the Floor Guardians were also present in the hall.
But even so — the throne hall was vast and the scene didn’t seem too crowded. He understood why his subordinates were unwilling to let lowly servants into the heart of the Great Tomb of Nazarick — the Throne Hall, but Ainz thought there was no need to be so strict.
Never mind, this is not urgent. Ainz decided to discuss that on a later date and spoke slowly:
“I apologize for gathering all of you here.”
Ainz apologized in an unrepentant tone. This is just for show, but apologizing was still important. Gathering everyone was Ainz’s decision alone, but this was to let his underlings know that Ainz trusted them.
2
TL Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyakki_Yagy%C5%8D — Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.