Kapitel 12: Return
Ainz stood motionlessly looking at the night sky, but unlike before, he was unable to fully marvel in the beauty of this precious view. Too many thoughts occupied his mind, especially about the magic of this world, the way it was similar to YGGDRASIL magic and what the connection between the two was?
A lot of things were still missing, and he wondered if the captives would be able to provide the necessary information. That was also a problem, how will he deal with the captives? They were fountains of information and he wanted to consult them whenever questions arose.
Torture was only useful if one wanted to learn something specific, in his case, it would be a waste. Subjecting someone to torture just to ask about common sense was obviously moronic.
Preservation.
— I might need Demiurge's help in tackling this matter.
Unlike Albedo, the guardian of the 7th Floor was a proper demon, one who embodied shrewdness and slyness. Ainz was sure that he might be able to convince the weak willed captives into switching sides.
Even so, he couldn't only rely on Demiurge in accomplishing this task, Ainz also had a way to turn enemies into friends, although the method still needed testing.
"We wouldn't need all of them to be friends."
He smiled a bit at his upcoming intentions. They were actually a lot of captives, and Ainz intended on using some to practice his proficiency with [Control Amnesia].
Looking again up in the night sky, he saw a few clouds dispersing. The existence of the gentle breeze was the culprit for this phenomena.
He turned his focus to his side and noticed the approach of the Warrior Chief, despite his previous wounds, the man walked like someone who hadn't even suffered any injuries. The reason for this speedy recovery was because Ainz had used healing potions on Gazef and some of his men.
Surprisingly, the potion had worked just as well on the Warrior Chief as it did on the girl Enri. Ainz wondered if it was something to do with body constitution. It was another thing he had to study in the future.
The man's armor was in tethers but his warrior spirit was still fearsome and abundant. Even so, Ainz still regarded him with a sideway glance.
"Nice to see you up and walking again, Knight Stronoff."
The man walked before stopping just a few steps before him.
"It is all thanks to Master Gown's miraculous potion. I have honestly never seen something like it before."
Ainz hummed for a bit before shaking his head.
"You needn't thank me, the items were ultimately useless to me, I'm happy that they got to be of some use to other people."
Gazef looked at him flabbergasted before he shook his head in what Ainz concluded to be defeat.
"You truly are an exemplary person, Master Gown."
Ainz ignored the compliment and opted to change the subject.
"You plan to leave the village tomorrow?"
"Yes, I must make sure to report the developments that have taken place here to his majesty with due haste."
Ainz had expected as such, he also knew the reason why the Warrior Chief came to him.
"I have no use for the false knights' horses so you taking some of them doesn't matter to me."
"I feel like all we do is rely on you."
Ainz didn't really care, just as long as enough horses had been left for the villagers. He looked to the side again and noticed the approach of Shalltear. For whatever reason, she still had her umbrella up in her hand even though it was nighttime.
Looking at Gazef, Ainz noticed that the Warrior Chief was gawking at her, but this time he was more appreciating her beauty than lusting.
"You really are a lucky man, Master Gown."
Ainz flashed a phantom smile behind his mask as he heard the Warrior Chief's words. Shalltear was indeed beautiful, and any man would be lucky to have her as a wife.
— Maybe in a different life.
Ainz knew that he could never love the Sanguine the same way he did the CORRUPTED angel. And to be honest, he was already madly in love with Albedo to a point of it being frightening. Coveting the Sanguine would bring hurt to Albedo, and that was something he didn't want to see happen.
— Your love better be eternal, angel. After all, you cost me a harem.
Ainz amusingly mused. The dream was a lost course the moment he was warped by the ethereal figure of Albedo.
Finishing his contemplation, Ainz turned to Gazef.
"You have no idea, Knight Stronoff."
For some reason, his words came out a bit arrogant. Gazef chuckled heartily before heading his own way.
Shalltear eventually reached him.
"Everything is in order, My Lord. We can now head back home."
Ainz looked up at the sky again, at the huge moon. It was as bright and as beautiful as the first night he saw it, noble and majestic. Even so, Ainz felt a bit ruthful...
"Let's go home, Shalltear."
—————————
As soon as Ainz stepped in the [Gate] spell, his eyes started to look around the familiar room that was his office. Despite having been gone for a few hours, he had missed this place.
Everything was the way he left it, the mirror still floating silently on the small table, and the image it projected was still that of the forest outskirts. This was the reason why he opted to use the item as a monitor as opposed to [Crystal Monitor].
The item allowed him to use it without fear of restrictions and mana cost, it was phenomenal because it allowed him continual search as long as the scene isn't changed. Of course, the item had plenty of other features or else it wouldn't be a rare item.
Ainz took a few steps as he dismissed the bowing figure of Sebas.
"Where's Albedo? I would have her here immediately."
He needed to debrief the Overseer on what had happened in the village, so that she can take proper steps to see that his will was executed flawlessly. He also needed to tell the guardians to return the security of the tomb to its normal state.
The excursion had concluded that their caution was a bit unwarranted, thus there was no need for heavy security. This didn't mean that Ainz was being lax in this unknown world, no, he was just not being paranoid. To fear the existence of danger at every corner was a bit ridiculous, especially now that he had determined the strength of the natives.
The minute Sebas stepped out of the door, Ainz fell into his chair with a loud thud as new thoughts occupied his mind.
"I guess I'll have to show them my new form the same time I announce the change in name."
The form wasn't really a problem, past experiences had already confirmed that the transition would be a breeze. The real problem was how they would react to his name change? Shalltear didn't show a negative reaction to it, she even went as far as complimenting him.
But what about the others?
Ainz let out a dry chuckle as he noticed what he was doing, the constant of worrying himself with non-problems. He had a habit of blowing the simplest things out of proportion.
No, the denizens wouldn't react negatively to his name change, if there was someone who would act negatively, it would be Albedo. Even then, Ainz already had a way to deal with her eventual dissatisfaction.
"I really have nothing to worry about."
It was actually true, there wasn't much for him to worry about. Ainz let out a sigh as he remembered something.
He extended his hand beside him and casted:
"[Summon Mid Tier Undead: Death Knight]."
As soon as he said those words, a whirl of dark magical energy formed before it vanished just as fast. The menacing figure of a Death Knight was left in its stead. Ainz smiled at the successful summoning.
"So using a summon spell can create them out of nothing?"
He stood from the chair and inspected the Death Knight before him. For some inexplicable reason, Ainz felt like something was off with it.
"This one feels...empty? Or maybe lifeless...no."
The Death Knight felt like an empty husk... Ainz continued to look at it as he sent a few commands for it to execute. Incidentally, the Death Knight didn't roar or bash its shield like the last one.
"No spark of consciousness in this one. What about..."
Ainz changed to his Dyig'Eri form, if words of the Warrior Chief were to be believed, undead had an instinctual hatred towards the living, and honestly that would explain why the previous Death Knight derived so much joy from killing those false knights.
Unfortunately, the undead summon before him didn't show any reaction towards his living appearance. Ainz frowned even though he had expected such a reaction.
...when enough negative energy is gathered, undead will start spawning.
Ainz remembered the theory behind the spawning of undead in this world. The problem was that the Tomb was also capable of spawning undead of level 30 and below without the existence of negative energy.
Naturally, Ainz was able to turn off this function via the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. It was one of the remaining privileges of the administrative system...if calling it the administrative system is still valid.
He looked at the hollow undead which lacked the stench that had lingered around the previous Death Knight. Ainz's green irises flickered towards the undead's crude looking sword...
"So, you aren't really an undead, just an incomplete copy of the actual thing."
The lack of the faint negative energy that a Death Knight used to turn those it killed into undead minions was also missing on this one, it missed the necessary features to brand it undead.
And also...
"You still have a time limit, ha?"
This summon was the same as the one from YGGDRASIL. Ainz even reasoned that summoning another Death Knight would leave him with a flawless copy of this one. Again, Ainz had already known about this, viewing the battle between Gazef and the scripture showed him how all the summoned Archangel Flames looked similar.
Ainz dismissed that summoned Death Knight before he started to walk around the office. He was contemplating about the functionality of [Create Undead] and [Summon Undead], the two spells obviously behaved differently.
"My strongest undead are all of the summon variety. This means that they will be identical to the husk from now..."
The realization caused him to pause for a bit in his steps before continuing, most people wouldn't lament the ability to create life...or unlife would be the proper word in this situation.
Ainz chuckle softly as he noticed his greedy behavior, even without being able to create level 90 special undead, he could still create plenty of permanent undead, many of them above level 70.
"An undead army, ha?"
He felt like those words had been said before. The idea was honestly appealing, the only problem was how he planned on procuring that much bodies to create the army.
And despite being a necromancer...death mage, Ainz didn't really like being around cemeteries or dead people. No, it wasn't because he was disgusted by the dead, the allure of [Death Weaver] would get stronger the closer to the dead he was.
They were as tempting as the previous dark thoughts.
"Maybe I should tryout its ability on the captives that end up dying."
He was convinced — at least a little — that a solution would present itself if he did. He would need to try out all his powers at some point, and maybe the act might encourage people like Shalltear to seek further strength.
Even as he thought that, Ainz wasn't sure. Had the existence of [Ninth Sorcerer] been voidable, he wouldn't have to worry about his death abilities. His [Fireball] spell almost got out of control pretty easily too.
A tired expression hung on his face as he remembered the work that waited for him in the future. His only solace was that he had a lot of time before he needed to test them out.
Sitting down back at his chair, Ainz let out a tired yawn. A knock came from the door, due to the absence of Sebas, Ainz allowed entry from afar.
Surprisingly, the doors on the Ninth floor weren't soundproof, thus knocks could be heard.
— I wonder if enchanting furniture or rooms is possible? Doing so in some rooms might be important in the future.
The doors opened and Albedo made her way inside the office. Ainz felt the worry that had occupied his heart be washed away as he looked at her ethereal beauty.
How long had it been since he saw her? Four hours...six hours? It didn't really matter, he had missed her.
— Maybe I just called her here because I missed her?
It was something worth considering in the future, actions secretly filled by emotions.
"Heh?!"
This was the winged woman's exclamation before she landed face first to the floor. The comical act stopped Ainz's gawking mid-process as he skillfully jumped his desk to rush to her aid.
"Albedo?!"
There was clear worry in his voice, and a variety of things that might have caused the falling ran through his mind.
...reaching and holding the still dazed Albedo in his arms, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she suffered no injuries.
"Don't scare me like that..."
Ainz stood up from the ground with the figure of Albedo still in his arms — it was a princess carry, though it failed to register as such to him. He kept looking at the confused expression on her face as he searched for a place to put her down.
— Did she not eat anything?
"Lord Momonga?"
Her voice came and Ainz could sense a bit of confusion from it. Crediting it to her recent falling, he responded with a reassuring smile and a nod of his head.
Albedo's wings quivered, startling him a bit. A look at her again, he found her cheeks flushed and her eyes glowing somewhat. The sight caused him to stop as he was taken by her oddly reflective eyes. It wasn't their beautiful color that stopped him, but the familiar image in them.
Ainz was still in his Dyig'Eri form. Focusing at Albedo to gauge her reaction, he found her looking at him salaciously.
It was at this moment the situation registered to him. This was obviously an opportunity and Albedo was also aware of it. Reacting amateurishly might ruin his image in her eyes... Probably?
Ainz looked at her lips, they were pink, small and glossy. But most of all they were inviting.
Before Ainz could act, he felt her lips brush against his softly and delicately. Her floral scent that seemed to follow her wherever she went entered his nostrils and tickled his nerves gently.
Albedo recoiled her head backward and Ainz felt her taste still on his mouth. This was his first kiss, her first kiss, their first kiss. The fact that it ended so quickly was truly regretf... no, it didn't have to be that way.
Ainz brought his head closer towards her as he reached for another kiss...
The sound of the door opening stopped their touching lips from continuing further as a familiar voice resounded.
"I'm sorry for taking so long, My Lord."
It was the dragonoid butler, and Ainz couldn't help but let out a tired sigh.
"I should have you killed for this, Sebas."
He gritted his teeth as he looked at the face of Albedo. The winged woman looked regretful as she understood what Sebas had cost her. Not wanting to wait for another fateful moment, Ainz opted to make his own.
"I will call for you when the time is right."
He whispered in her ear, Albedo nodded before Ainz let her on her feet. Turning around, Ainz looked at Sebas who looked dumbfounded at him. Since Albedo had seen it, Ainz saw no reason to hide it from the butler.
— Well, I guess being dumbfounded is better than falling on one's face.
The butler quickly composed himself and genuflected elegantly.
"Pardon my intrusion, My Lord. Had I known, I would have allowed you the necessary tim—"
"—that's enough, Sebas!"
Ainz couldn't help but curse at Touch Me for creating such a blunt NPC. Well, at least he was able to breach the first milestone on his quest to conquering the perfect woman.
— Now I'm starting to sound like Peroroncino.
Truthfully, Ainz was still enjoying the fading sensation of the winged woman's lips on his. And unlike Albedo, he wasn't giggling while touching his lips repeatedly.
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Author's Thoughts
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The Saint: there might not be a Sebas and Tuare in this story due to the actions that Ainz took. As for E-Rantel, I will try to make a better reason than just wanting to be an adventurer. And as you noticed, Ainz doesn't really like being away from Nazarick, away from Albedo for a long time.
Remember to provide reviews and ideas
Some about the most mentioned Job Class.
Death Weaver: This job class allows a player to summon and conquer the ghosts of those who have fallen on the battlefield. [Unique Job Class]
Requirements: Have [Death Roamer] Job Class. Being at Level 85. Have the pinnacle of any undead race. Have a death attuned domain.
Skill: Death Sense, Death Aura, Day of the Dead, Grim's Apostle, Soul Grafting(class exclusive) and 2 free skill slots
Perks: 45 to all reflected stats. Plus 10 to all stats when in a cursed land.
Bye bye.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein