Momonga walked into the center of the arena, and looked into the heavens. Before him stretched a black expanse of night sky. Perhaps he might have been able to see the stars if there were no light around him.
However, this place was the Sixth Floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, so the sky here was merely a virtual imitation.
Even that imitation required a massive amount of data, but as a result the sky here could change with the time of day, even showing an actual sun with appropriate daylight effects.
Momonga could relax himself in this virtual landscape because Momonga's heart was still human, as opposed to his skeletal appearance. It was also because he felt a sense of appreciation for his comrades' hard work in building this place.
Part of him wanted to just wait and space out here, but the present situation denied him that luxury.
Momonga looked around — nobody was there. The twins should have been taking care of this place...
He noticed something.
"Toooooooh!"
After the shout, a figure leapt from the VIP box.
The figure jumped down from a height of about six storeys, somersaulted in mid-air, and landed as though it were a butterfly descending on a flower. There was no magic involved, only pure physical prowess.
It negated the force of the impact with a simple flexing of the knees, and it smiled broadly.
"V!"
It made a V-sign of victory.
A child of about eleven had descended from above. Her face bore a smile that was as bright as the sun. She was adorable, with the androgynous appeal of both a boy and a girl.
Her hair resembled threads of spun gold, and it grazed her shoulders. The light reflected off the strands of hair resembled an angel's halo. Her mismatched eyes, one blue, one red, seemed as eager and sparkly as a puppy's.
Her ears were long, and his skin was dark. She was a Dark Elf, a species related to Forest Elves.
She wore a shirt of light leather armor, reinforced with red dragon's scales. The emblem of Ainz Ooal Gown was proudly displayed on her vest, stitched in gold onto a white background. Below that, she wore a pair of white pants, matching her vest. A necklace with a glittering golden acorn pendant hung from her neck, and she wore a pair of gloves reinforced with plates of enchanted metal.
A whip coiled across her waist and right shoulder, and there was a longbow on her back. The bowstave and grip seemed to be covered in strange decorations.
"Aura, is it?"
Momonga spoke the name of the Dark Elf child.
He was addressing the Guardian of the Sixth Floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, Aura Bella Fiora. She was a skirmisher who was also able to summon and tame beasts.
Aura jogged over to Momonga. Well, to her, it was a jogging pace, but she was travelling as fast as one of her beasts at full speed, rapidly closing the distance between them.
Aura screeched to a halt.
Her running shoes had hihiirokane metal plates on the soles, and they threw up clouds of dust as they ground against the floor of the arena. The clouds did not touch Momonga's body; if she had planned that, then his skills must have been impressive indeed.
"Huu~"
Aura was not sweating, but yet she wiped her forehead theatrically. Then, with a puppy-like smile, she greeted Momonga.
"Welcome, Momonga-sama. Welcome to the level I guard!"
The greeting was filled with the same respect that Albedo, Sebas, and the maids had for him, but for some reason it felt more intimate. To Momonga, this intimacy allowed him to loosen up. Being too uptight and scary was quite troublesome for Momonga, who was not experienced with this sort of thing.
He could not detect any hostility on Aura's face, and his 「Enemy Scan」 revealed nothing.
Momonga's line of sight left the band on his right wrist and he loosened his grip on the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.
He had planned to strike hard and fade away if an emergency occurred, but it seemed as though there would be no need for that.
"...Mm. I'll be intruding for a while."
"What're you saying, You are the master of Nazarick, the Supreme Overlord, right, Momonga-sama? There's no place you'd be intruding if you visited!"
"I see… speaking of which, if you're here, Mare…"
Upon hearing Momonga's question, Aura blinked in surprise, as though she had realised some great truth and turned around, shouting loudly upward:
"Momonga-sama has graced us with his presence! How rude are you going to be by not showing your face to him?"
There was movement in the shadows of the VIP box.
"Was Mare there too?"
"Yes, that's right, Momonga-sama. He's really timid… Oi, jump down here now!"
An almost inaudible reply came from the VIP box. Judging by the distance between there and here, it was a miracle the other party could even hear Aura. However, that miracle was the result of the magic on Aura's necklace.
"I, I can't, Onee-chan…"
Aura took a deep breath and grabbed her head.
"He… he… Momonga-sama, he's just scared, he's definitely not trying to insult you."
As a member of society, one had to know when to speak one's heart and when to say things that were appropriate for the occasion. Momonga nodded and answered in a gentle way to put Aura at ease.
"Of course, Aura. I have never doubted your loyalty."
Aura sighed in relief, and then she became serious again before shouting angrily at the VIP box.
"The Supreme Being Ainz-sama has come to visit us, but you as a Floor Guardian aren't even here to meet him! You should know how disrespectful that is! If you're too scared to jump down, maybe a quick kick will substitute for courage!"
"Uuu… I'll take the stairs down…"
"How long do you want Ainz-sama to wait!? Get over here now!"
"I, I got it… e-eiii!"
Mare had gathered up his courage, but his voice still seemed unsteady. After that, a figure jumped out of the VIP box.
As expected, it was a Dark Elf. This Dark Elf was particularly wobbly on his feet, completely different from how Aura had handled her landing. However, he did not seem to be hurt. He must have skillfully dissipated the force of landing with some athletic trick.
After that, he immediately began running over as quickly as he could. However, his top speed was still much slower than Aura. She must have thought so too, because she frowned and shouted:
"Hurry up!"
"Y-Yes!"
The child who finally arrived in front of Ainz looked almost identical to Aura. They had to be twins, given the way they shared the same hair, the same eyes, and the same features. However, if Aura was the sun, then Mare was the moon.
He looked nervous, as though he was afraid of being scolded. Momonga was surprised by the stark difference between the two. However, from what Momonga knew, Mare should not have been like this. Even if one wrote a long character description for their NPCs, it would not be reflected in their personalities.
Yet, these two Dark Elf children were displaying animated emotions in front of Momonga.
"—They must be the Aura and Mare that Bukubukuchagama-san wanted to see."
Bukubukuchagama was the guild member who had designed these two Dark Elf characters.
If only she could have been here for this...
"I, I'm sorry I kept you waiting, Momonga-sama…"
He nervously raised his eyes to peek at Momonga. He wore a vest of blue dragon scales, and a small cape that was as green as jungle leaves.
His clothes had the same basic white color as Aura, but a short section of flesh peeked out below his short skirt. It was short because the rest of his legs were covered in white silk stockings. He had an acorn-shaped pendant on a necklace like Aura, but his was made of silver.
Mare was much more lightly armed than Aura, with a pair of lustrous white gloves on his dainty little hands, and a gnarled black staff in his hands.
Mare Bello Fiore.
Like Aura, he was a Guardian of the Sixth Floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.
Momonga squinted — though his eyes were merely empty sockets — and looked at them. Aura thrust her chest forward proudly, while Mare simply cowered under Momonga's gaze.
He nodded several times, musing that the two of them were indeed the incarnation of his comrade's hard work.
"I'm glad to see that the two of you are in good spirits."
"I'm positively overflowing with energy… although it's been a bit boring recently. It would be nice if we had an intruder or two."
"I, I would rather not have to meet intruders… they, they're scary…"
After hearing Mare's words, Aura's expression changed:
"...Haa. Momonga-sama, please excuse me for a while. Mare, come with me."
"O-Oww… Nee-chan, that hurts…"
After seeing Momonga nod slightly, Aura pinched Mare by the tip of one of his ears and dragged him away from Momonga. Then, she began whispering into Mare's ear. Even from a distance, one could tell that she was scolding him.
"...Intruders, huh. Well, much like you, I don't want to meet them either, Mare…"
At least, I'd rather meet them after having the chance to make all the preparations I need, Momonga thought as he watched the twin Guardians from afar.