章 525: 35
Chapter 35 - End of the War.
If there was one time to envy the undead, it was a military campaign in the winter. Even with warm clothing and thick fur boots, Neia felt like selling her soul for a warm bath. The city walls in the distance promised the end of her current mission, as it was the last fortress of the Mad King Barbo, but for reasons unknown to her the last battle was held off.
Maybe there was some talk of surrender, but she wasn't in a position to know more. The distant walls were packed with archers and casters. The human part of the united army had grown much larger as many wanted to end the hated king's reign.
As hours ticked by, it became more and more clear that there will be no battle today. The young archer retired to her tent. As an odd case of not directly belonging to neither Re-Estize nor Nazarick's armies, she answered only to Shizu and thus didn't need to report her movements. If the battle maid wanted to give an order or just talk, she would send a message.
Her tent was an upgrade compared to the ones common soldiers occupied. First, she had an entire tent on her own, and second, the enchantment put on it provided a pleasant warmth inside.
The short walk to the camping area once again reminded her how privileged she was compared to the rest of the army, who were standing in rows waiting for orders, and eyed her with envy.
Neia took off the protective seal for her tent and went inside, only to be met with a blonde girl in a light blue dress waiting for her. The vertically slit pupils in her blue eyes answered the question of who she was.
Neia kneeled and said, "Princess Renner!"
"Just Renner, rise, there is no need for formalities."
Neia stood up silently, waiting for royalty to speak.
"Be at ease, Neia. I just came to see the famed emperor's chosen."
"Princess I…"
"Let's drop the formalities. In the eyes of our masters we are but servants, no matter the families we were born in."
"Of course," Neia said, while trying to understand what was going on.
Renner slowly walked up to her and stared into her eyes, as if wanting to see something.
"You know you are the first mortal directly in the emperor's service?"
"No, I didn't know that." Neia gulped hard, Renner's presence was far too intense for her to handle. "I-is t-there a problem?"
"Oh no no, on the contrary, I just wanted to see the prime apostle with my own eyes."
"There must be some mistake, I am just a…"
"Don't play around Neia Baraja. You want me to believe the God of Life and Death chose you without a reason? You are special and I want to know why."
"T-there is nothing special about me. I am… I was a squire training to become a paladin. Queen Calca of the Roble Holy Kingdom gifted my service to Emperor Ainz Ooal Gown."
"Is that so? The rest of us assumed our roles with great pride and you just play dumb. How disappointing."
'Rest of us?' Neia tried to understand the meaning behind those words. Renner was turned into a demon to save her life. The entire kingdom talked about it. But this demon was not the golden princess everyone described as the symbol of beauty and purity. There was something venomous about her. Then it hit her, she finally recognized what Renner was talking about.
"Wait a minute, you are one of the apostles?!"
"Wasn't that obvious? Why else I would come to talk to you? When you finally accept that you were chosen, you will not hold yourself back anymore."
She was chosen to be the apostle? That couldn't be right, why would the Emperor choose her out of all people? There were many far better candidates. She doubted her God! She failed to see that trials were set up for her to find her calling!
Neia dropped to her knees, ignoring Renner and half prayed, half begged forgiveness for not seeing the truth.
"My work here is done. Until we meet again, Apostle of Life and Death!" Renner said as her image faded.
The departure of Renner changed nothing. Neia remained kneeling as she prayed and prayed. God had given her power and a chance to grow and she doubted her God's intentions. She doubted herself.
'Weakness is sin. To doubt oneself is a weakness. I am a sinner. Forgive my lord for my weakness, as I am, but a humble servant. I will indulge in my sins no more. '
Neia prayed and prayed. How long she could not tell as at some point she slumped down and fell asleep, exhausted, while remaining in a kneeling position.
Morning came along with leg cramps unlike any she had experienced before. Silently swearing, she tried to get up but fell the moment she applied any kind of pressure to her legs. With a short, hard massage and a lot more swearing, the legs finally responded and the young squire could get outside and join the rest of the army.
By the looks of it, the attack was finally about to happen. Neia rushed to assume her position among the front-line shock troopers that consisted almost exclusively of Nazarick's forces, save a few former high-ranking adventurers.
Shizu acknowledged her presence with a small nod while loading her gun.
{ Take the left side, beware of casters. } Shizu sent a quick message and raised her fist.
With a motion to move, Shizu charged, followed by the rest of the troop. Neia ran as fast as she could with a half-drawn bow. The opponents were hiding in anticipation of incoming attackers but it didn't matter, her precision had grown to the point where she could shoot an arrow through a ring from almost a kilometer away.
The moment she was within the shooting distance of the walls, the first arrow hit a caster in the eye. The archers on the wall could offer only a meager resistance and their arrows were easy to avoid. The casters, on the other hand, posed a genuine threat, especially third-tier ones.
Neia barely avoided the incoming fireball by jumping aside and then shot an arrow towards the attacker mid-jump, hitting the man's shoulder. More and more projectiles assaulted her as she ran. The fourteenth target fell by her enchanted arrow as she finally reached the wall and jumped up.
Others already laid waste on the desperate defenders some distance away. Seven kills in quick succession cleared the surrounding area, and Neia took a breath and observed her surroundings. The wall's defenses quickly fell by the monstrous power of shock troopers, letting the main force march forward.
Neia shot another archer in the distance and moved towards the city gates as a loud voice yelled "Look out!" which made her turn and see an incoming fireball. A split second later, the magical projectile collided with her face, blinding her instantly.
She fell, hitting the ground hard. Hand likely broken, lungs burning and darkness surrounding her. Her eyes were burned out, she couldn't breathe as chunks of lungs came up with a cough. She tried to reach for a healing potion, but they were shattered during the fall.
{ I need help. } She messaged her troop. 'I failed once again. I failed.'
{ No Neia Baraja, you have done everything you could! } A soft warm voice radiated in her head.
{ Wha… }
The pain faded, she could breathe once again. Neia felt her burnt eyes regrowing back in her eye sockets as vision slowly returned. An angel knelt over her with a gentle smile.
"You are one from the throne room…"
"Be at ease, Neia, the master could hear your prayers, sense your doubts. I came with a gift from the master."
"Gift?"
The angel took off her plate glove and touched Neia's forehead. The pain she felt from the fireball hit was nothing compared to agony jolting through her body. Her eyes burned with a pain she couldn't have imagined. Her body twisted and changed.
Just as quickly as it started, the pain faded. Everything looked different, clearer. Neia could sense life forces around her now.
"Go now, cleanse the city in the master's name," Angel said as she stood up.
"Thank you. But I…"
"You are worthy of the role you are chosen for, Neia Baraja! Do not dare to doubt yourself." The angel said with conviction and disappeared in a flash of light.
Neia stood up and resumed fighting. The arrows found targets faster. Her muscles moved with precision and power she had not felt before. She was Neia Baraja, the Apostle of Life and Death.
It didn't take long for news to spread about a new apostle appearing, one with the same dark flames in her eyes as the Emperor had.
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Some part of him already knew it was the end. Barbo looked out of the mansion's window at the bleak, grey-looking city, his last stronghold. Everyone who opposed the monster empire had gathered around him as a leader, as humanity's king. How pointless it all was. Like rats in a cage, they were trapped with enemies on all sides. Re-Estize cities fell one by one, 'liberated' by Zanac.
Barbo gulped down a green-looking liquid, wincing in disgust. The taste was terrible, but at least the foul alchemical concoction calmed his nerves. His wife, Ellga, sat behind him, using a different type of liquid to calm herself. Barbo hadn't seen her sober for weeks.
As Barbo just stood with a blank expression, the commotion on the streets picked up.
"It's starting!"
"Barbo… we need to… we need to run," Ellga responded slowly with a mumble.
"We have nowhere to run, dear."
"Somewhere… anywhere… those monsters…"
"I know. But we have nowhere to run and they are coming for us."
"Barbo…" Ellga let out a sob as she dropped a half-empty wineglass on the floor, staining the carpet.
Barbo turned around, walked up to his wife, gently touching her cheek. He had already accepted his fate, but she was not ready for what was about to come.
"I am sorry if I was a better, smarter man, I would have seen what was going on, found a future for us."
Ellga mumbled through her sobs.
"I don't want to die. They will kill us, Barbo."
Barbo just gently dried her tears with a handkerchief and gave her a weak smile.
'I truly hope they will just kill us.'
He couldn't tell her the fears he had, what he believed would be their true fate. He tried to gather the courage to give the only mercy to his wife he had, a quick death as she was sobbing quietly.
A frantic knock on the door roused Barbo's attention.
"Come in!"
One of his guard captains barged in, panting, and speaks with a bow,
"Your highness, the city is being attacked. The enemy has breached the southern wall."
"How much time do we have?"
"Your majesty?"
"How long will it take for them to capture the entire city?"
"A few hours, your majesty, but the city is surrounded, we have no escape path."
"I know that. Captain, make peace with the gods and thank you for your service." Barbo said.
The man in front of his senior by at least a decade had few grown-up children, most of them trapped inside the city.
"With your permission, I will rejoin the fight."
"Of course. Make your sword count, captain."
The guard captain bowed and left. Barbo silently joined his wife on the sofa, wrapping his hand around her. His other hand slowly moved to the sword handle. It would be better if she died by his hand.
"How touching!" A soft woman's voice suddenly said.
Barbo looked up, alarmed, only to see his sister Renner sitting on a chair with a wide smile.
"Renner? How?"
"Immortality is not the only benefit of being a demon."
"Why are you here? After all that has happened, you still…"
She laughed. Not her gentle, cheerful laugh, but a cruel, mocking chuckle escaped her lips as the smile grew wider.
"Don't be stupid. Of course, I am not here to save you."
"You witch… siding with that fat bastard… those monsters," Ellga mumbled while raising her head.
"Regretting that your father sold you off to the wrong prince?"
"You… bitch."
"Why are you here, Renner?" Barbo asked.
"Why do you think I am here? To gloat before you are sent off to the farm."
"Gloat? I don't understand?"
"Of course, you don't, a brutish animal like you would never understand. Everything that happened to you was because of me."
"What? What do you mean?" Barbo shouted, rising from the sofa and pulling out his sword.
"Kneel and be silent, you animals^."
Barbo dropped his sword as his knees hit the floor. Ellga slumped out of the sofa as she kneeled and the sudden, violent movement was too much for her. Hunching over, she vomited the wine she was drinking all morning.
"How disgraceful and you call yourself a noble lady," Renner said, disgusted as the pair just silently glared back at her.
"As I said, I came to gloat. Everything that happened to you was planned by me. The treatment during the capture, your release. This civil war. It was all me. You can speak now^."
'"Why?"
"You wanted to sell me off like a piece of meat. You and the entire Vaiself family didn't care about me. Just one little princess that has to smile and be ready for the husband she will be sold to. You have no idea how good it feels to know you and almost everyone once related to me will spend the rest of your pathetic, miserable lives on Lord Demiurge's farm."
Renner's face twisted in hateful disgust as she spoke her family name.
"You… it was you who sold out my husband, sold out our country. You damn bitch, you will not get away with it." Ellga hissed.
Renner stood up and walked up to her slowly and leaned in as she said,
"I will make sure Lord Demiurge performs the most interesting breeding experiments on you."
"You sick…" Ellga shouted, but Renner's small hand suddenly clamped her mouth shut.
"Renner, please, we are family." Barbo pleaded.
"You are not my family. I already denounced my family name. I am not a princess anymore. Just Renner, the Apostle of Trickery, the most devoted servant of the great Lord Ulbert."
"Renner, please have mercy, we already served your purpose, please just give us the release of death."
"Name one nice thing you have done for me."
"I…" He couldn't remember even one. Not once during his life had Barbo done anything nice for his sister. He never cared about her as a sister. The memory of him smacking away a basket of flowers that his shocked wide-eyed sister tried to give him. She was four, maybe five back then. He didn't even remember why he did it. Likely, he was just annoyed that his youngest sister interrupted some trivial activity he did at the time.
Everything made sense now. He was one of many responsible for creating the monster that Renner was now.
"I…"
"Funny, isn't it? All this time I was just that little piece to be sold off and now you have to beg for your pathetic, worthless life to end."
"Please let Ellga die. She has done nothing to you."
"And give you that one tiny satisfaction, that sense of you being a better man who sacrificed yourself. No, no, she is getting the full treatment and you will know about it. Every single little detail. I will make sure of it."
His choices in life, everything had led to this moment. The realization that not all monsters just randomly spawn to spread misery but sometimes are created by the ones who should have known better was the lesson he had learned too late.
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Ankoro followed two wolfmen, trying to wrap herself tighter in the cloak given her by the youngest of two, Barg. The two were part of scouts that were tasked with watching over the borders of the Empire of Nazarick. An empire ruled by Emperor Ainz Ooal Gown. It wasn't much to go on but at least it meant one of her guildmates was here and she needed to reach one who called himself Ainz Ooal Gown now.
She wanted to ask the two wolves what they knew but each time she tried to tongue felt like making of the lead. Their banter seemed friendly, and both had a sort of father-son relationship. She wasn't that naïve to not see how openly the older wolf tried to pair up her and the younger one. The idea itself just felt weird. They were anthropomorphic wolves, and she was… well, she was one too.
With the decision to not continue the current thought process, Ankoro spaced out and continued walking in silence. Despite how cold the air was breathing, it felt fantastic. Even as a successful artist, she couldn't afford to visit botanical gardens and artificial forests on earth.
Besides her two companions, there were distinct sounds all around her. Something walked through the dried leaves in the distance with small careful steps. A small bird flapped its wings to her right. There was life all around her and the predatory instincts of her new body let themselves know with a nagging desire to chase the prey.
"Hey, young one, not getting tired?" Wark asked without turning to face her.
"N-no, I can still go on."
"By the way, do you remember your name?" Barg asked.
There was a hint of worry in his tone.
"Ankoro."
"Hmph, a strange name. You sure are not from the local tribes," Wark remarked. "Remember anything else?"
Most things would not make sense, no matter how she tried to explain them, but maybe she could ask about Nazarick.
"Not much. I-I remember Nazarick and Ainz Ooal Gown. H-have y-you seen him?"
"Nah, Gods don't come to visit us. They sit in their capital city. Have seen some of their servants. You know the undead, demons and some of those shining pretty ones… how they called…" Wark spoke slowly,
"Angels," Barg answered his companion's question.
"Angels, that's how those things are called, they healed the sick pups, so I guess life is better under the new rule."
Who could it be? If Akari and Itsuki died on earth, they could both be here. That would mean Peroroncino was the emperor, but he never was the type to make an empire. Buku would be more likely to run things, but then it would be an empress, not an emperor. For now, there was no way of knowing.
Ankoro continued silently following the pair of wolfmen, trying to figure out who could be in this world. The sun slowly started to set as a line of smoke appeared in the distance over the trees.
"Not far now."
The village itself was nothing impressive, but there were few stone buildings among the wooden huts.
"Come, we need to report you to the village chief."
Ankoro nodded shyly and followed inside to the largest stone building. A larger wolf was arguing with a lich loudly.
"I told you we can't send out more patrols. We need to hunt for food, not go on some wild chase." The large wolf growled at the lich.
"It is Emperor Ainz's direct order of highest priority. Nazarick will provide the needed food, but it is paramount that the entire forest area is scouted!" An undead responded with a raspy voice.
Both turned to look at newcomers as the large wolf spoke.
"Wark, report! Who is that female? She is not from our tribe!"
"Chief, we found her in the woods. She doesn't remember from which tribe she came from, but is very strong."
"Strong, you say, you there? What is your name?" Large wolf asked with a growl.
"A-a-a…"
"Speak up!"
"A-a-ankoro sir."
The lich pushed the large wolf aside rather violently and asked with a calm voice,
"Could you please tell me your full name?"
"A-Ankoro Mocchi Mochi."
Lich dropped to his knees instantly and exclaimed,
"Kneel before the Supreme Being!"
All three wolves looked at Ankoro and then at Lich surprised but before anyone could even reach a void opened and an elven woman charged through and pulled the shocked Ankoro into a bear hug.
"Anko, we finally found you! I am so happy you are alright!" The Elven woman shouted while squeezing the poor werewolf.
"I-I… do I know y-you?"
"It's me Buku!"
"Buku! Oh, you are crushing meee!"
"Sorry," Buku said, finally letting her go and smiling widely, "Ankoro, you have no idea how worried I was about you being all alone, who knows where."
Ankoro let out a relieved sigh at the presence of her best friend, even if she looked unrecognizable. Her panic rose once again as she noticed creature after creature pouring out of the void. Buku was asking questions to the lich as three wolves were forcefully pushed to their knees. She wanted to tell Buku to stop all this, but her tongue felt like it was made of lead as usual when there was a stressful situation.
Buku, however, noticed her expression and asked in a much gentler tone,
"Something wrong, Anko?"
"I, they… they helped me get here," Ankoro said while pointing at the two wolfmen.
"You want to keep them?"
"Ehhh…w-w…"
"It's alright Anko, deep breaths everything is fine." Buku said and then turned to Wark and Barg, saying, "You two are coming with us. Consider yourself the guests of Ankoro."
Ankoro could only follow as her friend dragged her through the portal, appearing in a wide luxurious hall. The place looked familiar.
"Your quarters are just beyond that door. I will send maids to cater to your needs. Rest and I will explain everything."
"Ok. Buku, is that really you?"
"Yes, of course I am, Anko. Please relax, take a bath and I will order food for you and get your gear. And don't worry about your two new friends, they will wait in the guest rooms."
"Buku can you…"
Ankoro shyly started to ask, but her friend just smiled, took her by the hand, and led her into her quarters. Buku always understood what she was trying to say, and this time was no exception.
The spacious rooms looked just like, she remembered, cozy and overfilled with plushies.
"Buku, where are we?"
"This is Nazarick, just like it was in the game."
"I mean, where are we? I died, I know you too died half a year ago. Why are we our Yggdrasil game avatars? Well, at least I am."
"I am still slime just like I was in the game, just learned a few new tricks. In short, we were recreated here by magic. In our case, it was some dragon who performed a ritual centuries ago and in your case, it was Tabula who summoned you here."
"Tabula is here too. Who else?"
"Well, Pero, Ulbert, and Momo, but he goes by Ainz now."
"Ok, this all is too much. Buku, you don't mind if I try to sleep."
"Not at all, rest as long as you need Anko."
Just as Buku left her quarters, Ankoro curled up in bed, mentally exhausted. First, a long rest and then she can start getting used to the new life.
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In less than a day, the number of elves in his care had grown from seven to fifty-six. Every single one had suffered from some kind of abuse. The treatment of elven children in this godforsaken land hit Blue Planet particularly hard. Most of them had these terrible lives longer than he was alive in his previous life. With all the bad things on Earth, it still felt like a safe and decent life compared to what these poor souls went through.
Despite multiple offers from Blue Planet for them to rest, the elves marched on and even carried the kids when the young ones couldn't move anymore. The message was obvious, all of them would rather die from exhaustion than spend even an extra moment in Slane Theocracy.
Blue Planet himself carried one kid in his arms as another one sat on his shoulders. Beside him walked a man with a cold expression. It was hard to tell the man's age given that elves lived for centuries, but Blue Planet guessed he would be in the late thirties by human standards. Short, ragged hair dampened his overall noble facial features.
From the brief conversation they exchanged, this man, Earnan Malloyei, was once an earl in the Elven kingdom, but after some incident, was sold off by his own king.
By his other side walked a woman with a kind expression. Despite the long, horrible life as a slave, nothing had broken her spirit. She was the oldest in the entire group and the only one with a few silver locks in her otherwise golden hair. She, Saibh Whaleni, carried a child in her tired arms.
The plants that weren't sleeping constantly updated Blue Planet on the current situation. The wall was three hours away by foot, with one small settlement on their path.
"We will reach another settlement soon. I think it's better to stop and rest now."
"My lord, we can still walk, I would advise to rest only when we are outside of the Slane Theocracy," Earan said.
"Earan, the people are exhausted, the small ones can't even walk anymore. We need to stop, eat what little we have, and rest a bit. Passing the border will be hard." Saibh interjected.
"I think Saibh is right. I can protect you all while you rest."
"My lord, you have done so much for us we can't…"
"It is fine, Earan. I am happy to help, calm down, rest a bit."
"As you wish, my lord."
There was another reason Blue Planet wanted to stop for a bit. A small detachment of riders was following the path of liberation he had left behind.
While elves sat down on cold grass and shared the dried fruits and stale bread, they had collected Blue Planet sat down as well and with the excuse of him resting used his abilities to set up traps and stall the pursuers. Even though he despised the humans living in this fanatical country, he still didn't want to needlessly kill them. It was one thing to stand up for the enslaved elves and another to just kill indiscriminately.
The gentle elemental didn't even kill slavers that willingly let elves go. Some even expressed remorse for how things were and kept their slaves under somewhat decent conditions.
Seeing how some of the elves started to get sleepy on the cold ground, it was time to move on. Picking up another two kids, Blue Planet urged everyone to pack up and start moving. The brief rest was not enough, but every moment helped.
The last settlement before the border didn't keep slaves and despite Earan's insistence of robbing the young human couple, Blue Planet ordered to leave the humans alone and moved on.
The tall stone wall was the last obstacle they needed to overcome, but for the Elemental, it was a simple task to achieve. With a single quake spell, a large section of the wall was shattered to pieces, letting the group leave the lands they despised.
Not even five minutes in what Blue Planet understood was Re-Estize, a patrol of twenty undead approached them.
"Halt!" A lich leading the group shouted and motioned for his soldiers to be battle-ready.
Blue Planet tensed up, but if there was a chance to talk with the undead, he was not about to waste it.
"We just escaped Slane Theocracy. We do not mean to cause trouble, but these people were enslaved there."
The Lich just stared for a moment at the elemental and then said,
"What is your name?"
"I am called Blue Planet, if we could just…" he started to say, but was surprised when the undead squad kneeled before him with lowered heads.
"My deepest apologies, Lord Blue Planet, for not recognizing you," The lich said as a void appeared behind him.
Demons and angels poured out, forming a perimeter around them. Right after them, a goat demon came though.
"Ulbert! Is that you?"
"Planet, you old pile of dirt, we finally found you!" Ulbert said as he approached the elemental with a wide smile.
"Ulbert, these people need food and a place to stay. They were slaves. We need to help them."
Ulbert nodded at the demon beside him and then patted Blue Planet on the shoulder, saying,
"Don't worry, they will be taken care of. We already have a few elven settlements. Your friends will love it there."
"Thank you. What is going on? How did you get to this world?"
"I will explain everything. Come, you likely want to have some rest too."
"My Lord, is it safe?" Earan asked with a shaky voice eying the demons around him and his people.
"Can I see how the elves you mentioned live, not that I don't trust you…"
"Ahh I see… Fine, let's go. As for the rest of you, consider yourselves guests of the Empire of Nazarick and please enjoy our hospitality."
The void shifted a bit as Ulbert motioned for the elemental to follow.
Blue Planet hesitated a bit but stepped through. Even if he had his full equipment he would not stand a chance against Ulbert in a one on one fight. The only thing he could do at this moment was to put a tracking spell on the elves he saved and hope Ulbert was not lying to him.
An average-sized village of stone buildings came into view. A pair of children ran by, but the moment they saw Ulbert both kneeled almost on instinct.
Blue Planet at first wanted to shout at Ulbert for whatever was going on, but the warmly dressed children looked well fed and didn't show fear but rather excitement.
A moment later, a tall elf followed by a lich ran out of the largest building and also knelt before Ulbert, saying,
"Lord Ulbert, please forgive us for a poor reception, but we were not warned about your arrival."
'"Be at ease, I'm just showing a friend around. Would you mind giving us a small tour?"
"Of course, it would be an honor, Lord Ulbert, and Lord, please forgive me, but I am unaware of the second lord's name."
"Blue Planet." the elemental said. He was half afraid to find conditions similar to the ones in the Slane Theocracy, as Ulbert was known as the most evil guild member and was obsessed with the idea of villainy.
What he discovered, however, was the opposite. Well-fed and dressed elves clearly lived decent lives here. Once the small tour was over and Ulbert led him to their old guild base, Blue Planet spoke up.
"Ulbert, I must apologize for assuming…"
"It's fine. I am not blaming you, not after what you likely saw in Slane Theocracy."
"Why is such a country permitted to exist? Their practices are despicable."
'"Before we started to take over and change things, they were hailed as protectors of humanity. There is a lot to explain and I think you could use some rest after your adventure."
"I have to go back there, there are a lot more of them that are enslaved."
"I know, Planet, I know, but for now, rest and relax. We will bring you up to speed on what is going on in this world and then you can decide what you want to do, OK?"
"I guess you are right. I know too little right now."
"You see? Here, these are your old quarters. I will send maids to cater to your needs, and we will all talk later."
Blue Planet didn't argue with his guild mate and walked into his quarters. The rooms were filled with potted plants, just as he remembered it. Only when he sat down on the soft grass bed did Blue Planet realize just how exhausted he was. The soft grass lulled his stone form to a much-needed meditative sleep.
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With a recent scare of Splendora teleporting outside the Nazarick, Ainz, Albedo, Tabula, and Mariposa sat on the sofas in Ainz's quarters. Luckily Ainz, fearing for his daughter, had bound Rubedo to her and she could report where the unruly princess had decided to teleport.
Splendora sat by a small table, made for her size, near the sofa and was drawing with an expression of absolute concentration. Rubedo stood beside her and served as both bodyguard and crayon manager.
"Still no luck finding a way to block her teleportation ability?" Ainz asked.
"I'm afraid not. To be honest, I do not know what type of magic she is even using. For all that I know, it should be impossible to teleport inside the Nazarick. At least it is impossible for both tier and wild magic teleportation."
"She already teleported outside once. The threat of taking away her desserts if she teleports without permission may not work for long." Albedo said with noticeable worry in her voice.
"I will continue searching for any method to prevent her from teleporting around. For now, there isn't much we could do. But at least she is powerful enough for most mortals to not even be able to harm her."
"Ah, as usual, you are missing the point. Albedo dear, we will do everything we can to help." Mariposa said as she glanced over to her granddaughter, who was still drawing. She had to suppress her smile upon seeing Splendora, using her skeletal wing to impale a marshmallow from the bowl near her.
"What did I say about eating with wings?" Albedo raised her voice a bit as her daughter looked up, took off the marshmallow from her wing with a guilty expression, and mumbled.
"Sorry, mama,"
"So there is no way of knowing what kind of magic or power she uses?" Ainz asked while looking at his daughter, who had returned to drawing while munching on the marshmallow.
He wanted the best for his child, but the idea of being even unable to understand her power frightened him. What if she can't handle it at some point? What if she teleports somewhere dangerous by accident? There was the sleeping old one and whoever served him. Splendora, by the power she radiated, was almost equal with a floor guardian in terms of strength, but she was just a child and only a few days old at that.
Tabula's careful questioning revealed that she didn't remember her previous lives, if there were any. At least she was a smart and obedient child, but as all children are, also curious and adventurous to a dangerous degree.
"She will outgrow us all in terms of power. We will have to wait and see what type of abilities manifest next, and maybe I will be able to find at least some clues."
{ You don't want to tell them, don't you? } Mariposa messaged her husband.
{ There is nothing to tell, for now the only connection would be the power we don't understand and that's all. A more likely possibility is that she is a new infernal lord or type of being with a similar power level.}
{ You are right I guess, we would only worry than with unnecessary speculation. }
{ For now the best we can do is to help raise our granddaughter to the best of our ability. }
Bonus Story - Offer.
Two wolfmen sat in a big luxurious room just as maids put plates of juicy-looking steaks on the table in front of them.
For a moment, both just stared at the food and then started to eat in silence.
"At least now we know how she knocked me out by accident," Wark said.
"You do realize she can order our execution. She is friends with the Grand Marshal of Nazarick's army." Barg says with a whimpering whine.
"Ah relax, you heard what she said, we helped. Besides, this last meal is nice."
Barg just let out a low growl and slowly ate. When he prepared for a patrol a day ago, he couldn't have imagined how things would end up. Finding someone on equal standing with Nazarick's leaders and only finding out afterward that the entire empire was looking for her was a strange twist of event.
"Not funny."
"Ah relax pup, if they were angry with us we would be half skinned by now."
"I guess you are right."
Their stay wasn't particularly thrilling, but soft beds and as many meals as they liked were a treatment usually reserved for someone who was on the level of tribe chief.
The next morning, however, came with Grand Marshal's summons.
"So you are the ones who found her," Buku said as she got up and walked closer to both kneeling wolves, and handed Barg his cloak.
The young wolf took his clothing, trying to not shiver in presence of the Grand Marshal. Tales about her short temper were well known. Even the Beast King Kato was on the receiving end of her wrath once.
"I'll get to the point right away. Ankoro is my friend and from what I heard from her, you two handled the situation better than I would have expected from beastmen." Buku said as she slowly walked around them, seemingly enjoying their nervousness.
"With that, you two have a chance to join her personal guard. A mostly honorary position, but you would answer only to her and me."
Barg couldn't believe his ears. A simple wolf like him was offered a position to be an honor guard of one of the most powerful beings in the empire.
"Yes, it would be an honor," he finally said, just as his friend also agreed to the offered position.
Edited by Edgy and Aterro
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