—Sebas."
He could see an earnest, sincere expression on Sebas's face. He looked like a real person.
It should be fine to give him orders, right? Although he had no idea what would happen, he could assume all the NPCs in the Tomb were loyal to him, right? For all he knew, the people in front of him might not be the NPCs that everyone had made together.
Numerous questions rose up in his mind, floating on a sea of uneasiness, but Momonga forced aside all these emotions. In the end, the only choice he had for reconnaissance was Sebas. He glanced briefly to Albedo, but then Momonga steeled himself and decided to order Sebas out.
The mental image of a department chief giving orders to his subordinates appeared in his mind. Momonga took on a superior, commanding attitude, and spoke:
"Exit the Tomb and investigate the surrounding region. If you encounter intelligent creatures, interact peacefully with them and invite them to the Tomb. Attempt to accommodate the other party as much as possible during negotiations. Do not stray more than one kilometer from the tomb and avoid unnecessary combat."
"Understood, Momonga-sama. I will do so immediately."
In YGGDRASIL, NPCs made to protect a guild base could not leave it under any circumstances. However, it would seem this ironclad restriction had been overturned.
No, he could only be certain of that once Sebas returned.
"...Select one of the Pleiades to accompany you. If battle begins, retreat immediately and tell me everything you have learned."
That was simply the first step.
Momonga let go of the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.
The staff did not fall onto the ground, but floated in the air as though someone were still holding it. This was in complete defiance of physics, but it was a common sight in the game. There were quite a few items in YGGDRASIL which would continue floating in the air when left unattended.
The aura of tormented spirits seemed to cling to Momonga's hand as he let the staff go, but Momonga paid it no heed. He was long since used to that sight… or not. Thinking that the macro command would have already been built in, Momonga snapped his fingers and deactivated the aura.
Momonga folded his arms.
The next step would be—
"...I should contact the game company."
The game company would know the most about Momonga's present situation.
The problem was actually contacting them. Normally, simply using the /shout command or a GM call would put him in touch with a GM instantly, but if these methods did not work either...
"「Message」?"
This was a spell used to communicate in the game.
Normally, its use was restricted to certain places and conditions, but perhaps he might be able to make good use of the spell in this current situation. The problem was that this spell was originally designed to communicate with other players, so it might not be able to reach a GM.
And in this extraordinary situation, there was no guarantee that the spell would work either.
"...However…"
He had to give it a try.
Momonga was a level one hundred spellcaster. If he could not cast spells, his mobility, his ability to gather information, and of course his fighting power would plummet drastically. In these unknown circumstances, he had to verify that he could use magic, and quickly.
Now where can I go to test my magic... As Momonga thought about that question, he looked slowly around the Throne Room and then shook his head.
Although this was an emergency situation, he had no desire to conduct magical experiments in the silent, nearly sacrosanct Throne Room. He contemplated suitable locations for magical testing, and then a promising place came to mind.
There was one more thing he wanted to confirm, in addition to his own abilities.
He wanted to be certain of his authority. He had to know whether his powers and privileges as the guildmaster of Ainz Ooal Gown still existed.
Until now, all the NPCs he had met were loyal to him. However, in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, there were several NPCs with levels equal to his own. He had to make sure they were still loyal.
However—
Momonga glanced at the kneeling Sebas and the maids, and then at Albedo beside him.
Albedo was smiling. It was a beautiful smile, but it seemed to be concealing something else behind it. As he wondered what that "something else" might be, unease crept through Momonga.
The NPCs were loyal to him, but would they stay that way? If this were in the real world, subordinates would no longer be loyal to superiors who constantly screwed up. Would the NPCs be that way as well? Or was it that once they were programmed to be loyal, they would stay that way forever?
If their loyalty to him wavered, how should he regain it?
Rewards? There was vast wealth in the Treasury. Although it pained him to expend the treasures left behind by his former comrades, they would probably understand if it was for the sake of Ainz Ooal Gown. The question would then be how large of a reward he should give.
In addition, was he superior to others by virtue of being higher-ranked? But what criteria could he use to quantify his superiority? He was not clear about that yet. He had the feeling that as long as he kept this dungeon going, he would eventually come to understand these things.
Or did that mean—
"—Power?"
He opened his left hand and gripped the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown that sailed into his grasp.
"Overwhelming power?"
The seven gems set into the staff gleamed brightly, as though imploring their master to use their colossal might.
"...Forget it, I'll take my time to think about that later."
Momonga released the staff he held, and the wavering staff fell to the ground as though it were angry at him.
In any case, as long as he acted the part of the leader, they would probably not raise their hands against him right away. Be it among animals or humans, enemies would probably not attack if their intended prey did not reveal any weaknesses.
Momonga declared in a powerful voice:
"Pleiades. Other than the maid selected to accompany Sebas, the rest of you will head to the Ninth Floor and repel any invaders from the Eighth Floor."
"Understood, Momonga-sama."
The maids behind Sebas acknowledged his orders respectfully.
"Begin immediately."
"Understood, my master!"
Once more the chorus of voices rang out. Sebas and the maids bowed once more to their lord who sat upon the throne, then stood and left simultaneously.
The giant doors opened, and then closed again.
Sebas and the maids vanished beyond the doors.
It was good that they had not replied with a "No," or something similar.
A great weight seemed to lift off Momonga's chest, and at the same time he looked at the person who had stayed by his side. That person was Albedo, who had stood by, awaiting orders.
She smiled, and asked him, "Then, Momonga-sama, what will you have me do next?"
"Ah, ahhh… got it."
Momonga rose from the throne to retrieve his staff, and as he did that, he spoke:
"Come to me."
"Yes."
The smiling Albedo drew closer. Although Momonga was wary of the black wand and orb she had been carrying, that caution passed in an instant, and he decided to temporarily ignore its existence. Just as Momonga finished thinking that, Albedo was close enough that he could embrace her if he wanted.
She smells nice — wait, what am I thinking.
Momonga cast out the thoughts which had rose up inside him again. Now was not the time for fooling round.
He reached out his hand to touch Albedo's.
"...mf."
"Hm?"
A pained expression flickered across Albedo's face. Momonga drew his hand away, like he had received an electric shock.
What's this? Did I make her feel uncomfortable?
Several bad memories ran through his mind — like being hit by loose change that fell from the sky — but in the end Momonga found his answer.
"...Ah—"
Overlords required levels in the Elder Lich racial class, and among the abilities Elder Liches possessed was the ability to inflict negative energy damage on anything they touched. Was that the reason?
Although, even if it really was the reason, he still had some questions to ask.
In YGGDRASIL, the monsters and NPCs that appeared in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick would be recognized as belonging to the Ainz Ooal Gown faction. Since every member of the guild was also flagged as belonging to Ainz Ooal Gown, there should be no problems even if they attacked each other.
Could it be that she no longer belongs to our guild? Or has friendly fire been enabled?
The latter possibility was more likely.
With that conclusion in mind, Momonga apologized to Albedo.
"Forgive me. I forgot to deactivate my negative energy touch skill."
"Please pay it no heed, Momonga-sama. That damage hardly counted as damage. And as long as it is you, Momonga-sama, I would gladly endure any kind of — kya!"
"Ah… mm. Is… that so… No, no, I must still apologize."
Momonga was caught off-guard by Albedo's adorable yelp and the way she shyly covered her face, and his reply ended up being less dignified than he had hoped for.
So it was due to the negative energy touch after all.
Momonga turned his eyes from Albedo, who was going on and on about how this was nothing compared to the pain of losing her virginity, and began thinking about how to temporarily deactivate the always-on skill — and then he suddenly knew how to do it.
To Momonga, who wielded the power of an Overlord, it was as simple and natural as breathing.
He could not help but laugh at the strange situation he found himself in. After all the shocks and surprises he had received so far, this was hardly worth panicking about. It was frightening how well he had adapted to his condition.
"I'm going to touch you."
"Ah."
After deactivating the skill, he touched Albedo's hand. Thoughts like Her hand's so slim, her skin's so white, and so on raced through his head, but he cast aside these male desires and focused on one thing — the pulse at her wrist.
—It was there.
It was a steady rhythm, lub-dub, lub-dub. She was a living being, so it was only natural.
Yes, she was alive.
Momonga released her hand and looked at his own arms. All he saw was an expanse of polished white bone, bereft of skin or flesh. Because he had no blood vessels, he could not feel a heartbeat. Indeed, an Overlord was an undead creature, a being that had transcended mortality itself, so obviously it would not have a heartbeat.
He shifted his gaze to Albedo.
Momonga saw himself reflected within Albedo's moist golden eyes. Her cheeks were pink, probably because her body was rapidly heating up. The changes in her body surprised him.
"...What's this?"
Is she not an NPC? Is she not pure electronic data? Why does she feel like a real person? What kind of AI could do this? More importantly, why is it that YGGDRASIL feels like the real world...
Impossible.
Momonga shook his head in denial. There was no way such a fantastic scenario could have occurred. But once the idea took root, it was not easy to eradicate. Momonga was not sure how to proceed given the changes in Albedo.
The next step… yes, the final step. If he could confirm that, then all of his predictions would be vindicated. Was this real life, or was this just fantasy?
He had to do this. If she attacked him with that weapon of hers, it could not be helped.
"Albedo… I, may I touch your breasts?"
"Eh?"
The air between them seemed to freeze.
Albedo's eyes went wide.