"Is something wrong, Momonga-sama?"
Albedo kept asking him questions. Momonga did not know how to respond. As it was, there were far too many things he did not understand, so his thought processes short-circuited.
"Forgive me."
Momonga could only stare dumbly at Albedo, who was standing by his side.
"Are you all right?"
Albedo's beautiful face drew close to Momonga's as she studied him. A faint fragrance entered his nostrils. The scent seemed to restore Momonga's ability to think, and his mind, which had been hitherto out of comission, slowly returned to normal.
"No… nothing is wrong… no, nothing."
Momonga was not the sort of person who made a habit of speaking politely to dolls. However… hearing Albedo's questions instinctively made him want to respond with deference. Her movements, her speech patterns, her whole being radiated an undeniable humanity.
Momonga still had the feeling that something was terribly wrong about Albedo and himself, but he had no way of understanding exactly what the problem was. All he could do in this ignorant state was to suppress his fear, shock, and other unnecessary emotions. However, Momonga was a common person, and could not do that.
Just as Momonga was about to cry out, the words of one of his guild members came to mind:
—Panic is the seed of defeat, so you must maintain your calm and think logically. Remain calm, look beyond your surroundings, and don't waste your effort on unnecessary details, Momonga-san.
As he recalled these words, Momonga slowly regained his composure.
Momonga silently thanked Punitto Moe, the Zhuge Liang of Ainz Ooal Gown.
"Is something the matter?"
She was close to him now. Albedo was so close he could feel her gentle breaths. Her lovely face dimpled in an adorable way as she asked her question. Momonga, who had calmed himself after much effort, was in danger of being driven into panic again from her nearby face.
"...The [GM Call] function does not seem to be working."
Entranced by Albedo's limpid eyes, Momonga could not help but question the NPC.
In Momonga's past life, he had not received romantic attention from the opposite sex, let alone those of a sexual nature. Although he knew that she was just an NPC, he could not help but be moved by her realistic expressions and movements.
However, as his passions stirred within his heart, they were quenched like they had been earlier, and he returned to normal.
Momonga felt uneasy at the lack of strong emotions within himself, and he wondered if it was related to the words of his comrade from just now.
But was that really the case?
Momonga shook his head. Now was not the time to ponder these things.
"...Please forgive my inability to answer the Supreme One's questions about this "[GM Call]." I apologize for not meeting your expectations. Nothing would please me more than a chance to make up for my prior mistake. Please, command me as you see fit."
...The two of them were conversing. There was no doubt about that.
Learning this fact shocked Momonga so greatly that he could not speak.
Impossible. This should have been impossible.
The closest thing NPCs could come to conversations was with macroed responses to being addressed in a certain way. There was audio data for roars and cheering for players to download, but actually allowing an NPC to engage in conversation was an impossible task. Even Sebas from just now could only accept simple orders.
Why had such an impossible event occurred? Was this phenomenon limited to Albedo?
Momonga dismissed Albedo with a wave of his hand, and disappointment flashed across her face as she retreated. Momonga turned his eyes from her body to the butler and the six maids, whose heads were still lowered.
"Sebas! Maids!"
"Yes!"
Their voices chorused out as one, and then the butler and maids raised their heads.
"Approach the throne."
"Understood."
They responded as one, and then rose to their feet. After that, they proudly strode to the front of the throne before dropping to one knee and lowering their heads again.
Momonga had learned two things from this.
The first was that he did not need to specially enter commands on a keyboard; the NPCs would understand his intentions and execute his orders.
The second was that Albedo was not the only one who could speak.
At the very least, all of the NPCs in this room were exhibiting anomalous behavior.
As Momonga thought about this, he suddenly felt that there was something very wrong about himself and Albedo. In order to discover exactly what that something was, he fixed Albedo with a piercing gaze.
"—I-Is something wrong? Have I made a mistake…?"
"...!"
As he finally realized what the problem was, he did not shout, nor did he keep silent, but he simply sighed imperceptibly.
That unexpected breadth of facial expressions. The reason why her mouth could move and why she could speak—
"...pos...sible!"
Momonga hurriedly placed a hand on his mandible, and spoke.
—His mouth was moving.
This should have been impossible, going by what he knew about DMMO-RPGs. A character's mouth would not move with their words.
The basic premise was that external appearances were fixed. Because of that, facial expressions were impossible to design.
In addition, Momonga's face was a skull, without a tongue or a throat. He looked down to his hands, and they were the same fleshless pair that he was used to. He could also see that he had no lungs or, indeed, any other internal organs. But then, how was he speaking?
"Impossible…"
Momonga could feel the certainty he had in the world evaporating away, replaced by an ever-growing uneasiness. He suppressed his desire to shout out and, like he expected, his surging emotions were suddenly quashed.
Momonga slapped forcefully at the throne, but as he expected, no damage values appeared.
"...What should I do… Is there anything I can do?"
He knew nothing about what was going on. Nobody would help him even if he got angry.
Then, his first priority should be — looking for clues.