The pile of paperwork on his desk kept growing each day, even with his ability to photoread everything.
At first, Momonga thought that his newly evolved |Dark Sage|, now called |Omniscience|, would solve most of his problems, but in reality, all it currently did was further accelerate his thinking and reaction speed than its previous lesser version. In a sense, he now had a quantum computer without an instruction manual on how to actually use it.
The shockwave following Veldora's release turned out to be a logistical nightmare, as the majority of Tempest was affected one way or another. The most glaring issue was that the only two humans living in the capital almost died from magicule overexposure.
Elyun, as an elf and a mage, was the least affected and was only knocked unconscious for a short while, but her two bodyguards were not as lucky, and slipped into a coma from which they've yet to recover.
Overall, the event showed a clear need to prepare for events of a similar nature, such as an unrestricted aura from guardians or players which could cause comparable mayhem if one of them flew into a rage for whatever reason.
Albedo, as usual, was taking the lion's share of the work. But even with that, his hands were continuously full.
The other glaring problem to solve was that he now had a named skill and that issue needed to be addressed as soon as possible, even if the skill didn't show any signs of possession or sentience yet.
Momonga took another thick folder with reports from the construction department that was recently taken over by Geld. The skill that all orcs shared, Stomach, gave them the almost unrestricted ability to transport building materials wherever at least one of them was present, thus making material transportation trivial even without the use of gate spell that now was reserved only for transportation of food and personnel.
'Hmm, the road construction is ahead of schedule once again. I am sure I warned Geld to not push his people too much. Or maybe he is getting better at using the undead workforce I gave him?' In either case, it was clear that there was a need to draw up new construction projects for the department. The network of major roads was all but finished at this point, with all supporting infrastructure in place as well.
'I guess I can send Geld in Pero's direction. He did mention a few industrial projects he would like to start.' Momonga mused as he stamped the report and put it down.
'Let's see what's next.' He picked up the next folder from the pile, but just as he was about to look through it, Albedo came into his office with a knock, carrying a handful of reports.
She bowed with a polite smile. "Lord Momonga, I apologize for disturbing you, but all the feedback from the military branch has been compiled."
Momonga looked up from the report he was reading, meeting Albedo's tired gaze. During the last week or so, her appearance had suffered some minor neglect. Her long hair was not combed for at least a day and her white dress had noticeable wrinkles. There was another detail his very sharp perception noticed; Albedo clearly was not wearing a bra.
Luckily, while his human form was not active, he had the willpower to not stare at her. Albedo approached his desk and put down the report in the pile that still needed to be reviewed by Momonga.
'She looks like she has not taken a break for days. I explicitly told everyone to take breaks no matter the workload!'
"Albedo, when did you last take a break?" He asked sternly.
"I…" Albedo looked down like a scolded child.
"When did you last take a break?" Momonga asked again.
"About… Four days ago." She mumbled quietly.
"I told you to take regular breaks like everyone else. Just because anyone above level fifty doesn't require food, sleep or physical rest anymore, it doesn't mean the mind doesn't tire out."
"But, Lord Momonga, you are not taking any breaks as well!" Albedo protested.
'I am undead… still, it is true that I have been working nonstop as well, giving my subordinates a bad example.' Momonga quickly realized that scolding her for the exact same thing he was guilty of was horribly hypocritical, besides that of setting a terrible example. "You are right. From now on, we both will take regular breaks."
Albedo straightened out and said with determination. "Of course, Lord Momonga."
"Good, I'm glad we understand one another." He replied, noticing that she was slowly inching closer to him.
"Albedo?"
She leaned in and asked with a purr. "Would you like to take a break with me now, Lord Momonga? Maybe a bath? Surely I would be a much better company than some slimes."
"Umm… that…" Momonga tried to come up with a reply but his mind went blank.
Albedo leaned in even more, her breath becoming progressively heavier. "I would be honored to help you wash."
There were limits to how much his emotional suppression could help. Albedo clearly had activated her Seduce skill which, although resistible, was slowly taking a toll on him. 'I shouldn't… she is so…'
"Albedo…" He couldn't decide whether to give in or not.
"Lord Momonga." She gave him a seductive smile, "I would be so happy to spend my leisure time with you."
Just as he was about to give in, a knock on the door interrupted them. Albedo straightened up with a snarl but quickly hid it once she saw Peroronchino entering Momonga's office.
"Ohh, I hope I didn't interrupt anything?" Pero asked.
"Ahm… No!" Momonga hastily responded, "Did you need anything?"
"It's not that important. If you two have other plans, I can come back tomorrow." Pero said, giving Albedo a wink.
In response, Albedo just bowed, "I will return to my duties." She said, then turned to Momonga, "But I'll make sure to take breaks, as I'm supposed to."
As she walked out of the office, she directed a barely hidden glare at Pero when she went past him.
{ I could just let you two have some private time, you know. } Pero messaged Albedo.
{ I apologize. I didn't mean to imply that you have disturbed anything, Lord Peroroncino.} She responded instantly.
{ Come on. I know you went for a kill, and I just arrived at the worst possible time. Have you given thought to team up with the rest of the candidates? }
{ We have few details to still agree upon but yes. }
{ Then how about the three of you strike at the same time? He will not stand a chance. }
{ Thank you for the advice, my lord. } Albedo messaged as she closed the door behind her.
"So, still resisting the inevitable, buddy?" Pero asked with a laugh.
"I don't know if I should." Momonga responded with a sigh.
"I see, same old again." Pero shook his head. "You know, she wants it and wants it bad."
"I… I know."
"Then what's the problem? You don't like her?"
"No, I do. But what if it causes problems? She is not the only one showing interest."
"Seriously man? She is a succubus! You are practically tormenting her with your indecisiveness. Either accept her, or tell her you are not interested so she can get over you." Pero said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Before Momonga could respond and defend his inaction, another knock interrupted them. Buku came in with her own stack of papers, and seeing her brother already there, said, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"No, besides the official stuff we still need to talk about, I am trying to get into his thick skull that he can't string Albedo along like he does. I fucked up a bit and interrupted her attempts by arriving at the wrong time."
"You idiot!" Buku hissed at her brother.
"Give me a break. I didn't know. It's not like she warned us."
Momonga let out a tactical cough to let them know that he, in fact, was still present.
"And you!" Buku pointed at Momonga. "Get your shit together and either accept them or turn them all down, but do not drag this out further!"
"Them?" Momonga couldn't help but ask. Angry Buku wasn't someone he could argue with and she sure looked angry at him.
"Momo, you can't be that dense. Are you telling me that the only one in the entire damn Nazarick who is not aware of Albedo, Shalltear, and Shion chasing you is you?"
"I am aware!" Momonga retorted louder than he had intended.
"Then what is the problem? Are you not into them?" Buku continued her relentless assault. 'If I didn't know better, I would have assumed he simply isn't into women.'
"That's not it." Momonga responded calmly, using the fact that the emotional suppression went off a moment ago. The whole scene started to resemble an angry mother scolding a son about his love life and he needed to get out of it. "Can we just drop it?"
Buku just raised her eyebrow and stared at him.
"What do you want me to say? There are three of them, and if I choose one, the remaining two might get angry." He faltered under his friend's unrelenting gaze.
"Then take all three. I doubt you will have any problems keeping up." Pero said with a laugh.
'What should I do? They will not leave this be.' Dealing with the aggressive advances of the three women was difficult enough on its own, but now his two friends had added more pressure as well. "But Shalltear - she isn't even fully grown up yet."
"That girl is kinkier than both of us combined." Buku said, glancing at her brother. "You should see the BDSM den she made to play with her vampire brides. Just make a decision already and don't string those girls along for too long."
"I'll think about it. Can we now switch the topic?" Momonga asked, defeated.
"Fine, fine. We will not torment you too much." Pero said, sitting down in the guest chair in front of Momonga's table, with Buku taking a seat beside him. "Sis, do you want to go first with your stuff or should I start?"
"I'm in no hurry; you can go first."
"Okay. So I investigated a few things and it turns out we might be sitting on way too much wealth." Pero said as he dropped a thousand-page manuscript on the table.
"What do you mean?" Momonga asked.
"Let's start with the gold reserves. Nazaricks treasury holds roughly four thousand times more gold than the rest of the world combined. Of course, our currency is not officially acknowledged like Dwargon's golden coins, but gold is gold. Even if we sell it under the price, we can collapse the fiscal market within a day if we so choose."
"Then we are keeping the gold in the treasury, and not touching it for the foreseeable future." Momonga remarked.
"Next thing is the raw materials. We can produce hundreds, if not thousands of tons of magisteel on a monthly basis thanks to the eighth floor, as we are only limited to the raw iron we can mine. And that is the cheapest thing among the products Nazarick creates. Beliat ore is another thing. Turns out it's so far above the rest of materials available that we are essentially holding a monopoly on the most valuable metal this world has seen. Not to mention that many denizens of Tempest and Nazarick can use Creation to produce even more materials."
"That might invite unnecessary attention." Momonga mused, "Have you noticed any problem arising?"
"Nothing for now. At least no one realizes that we have a lot better stuff piling up in our vaults. That brings the next topic: the armaments that are produced by both Nazarick's crafting department and Tempest's personnel. It's all way above anything that is available pretty much anywhere else. Not to mention all the stuff in the treasury you were supposed to sell as the guild master." Pero said, starting to get more passionate about his findings, "Do you have any idea how rare even the top-class items are here, that are considered "unique grade" by the locals?"
"But top-class is garbage. Master Guards spawn with top class items."
"Exactly. But still, here only high-ranked adventurers and nobles in human nations have stuff on this caliber. Everything above what we consider top-class is mostly unheard of. Only highly powerful beings can make anything better, by using the gear for years and letting it absorb their power."
"So you're telling me we can produce the best armor and weapons in the world with ease?"
"Not sure if in the entire world, but compared to humans in western nations, yes." Pero said and then tapped the folder on the table. "I have all the details here. Safe to say I am very careful about what we are selling."
"That's good to hear. The situation is already complicated with the upcoming Demon Lord visits. I don't want someone getting the bright idea of staging an invasion for economic reasons." Momonga said.
"That can happen. We are upsetting the balance." Buku chipped in.
"Save for some potential big hitters we should be safe, right?" Pero asked.
"There are a lot of unknowns, but Veldora being free serves as a deterrent of sorts." Momonga said.
"Don't remind me. Seems the world collectively shat their pants the moment he was out. I had to send assurances to every nation we are in communication with that he would not go immediately into a rampage." Buku remarked with a sigh.
"Were there any problems?" Momonga asked her.
"None, for now. Diplomacy is a finicky thing by itself, but there are no major surprises. I actually came to warn you that Milim and I will leave to investigate a cure for the kids in a week or so."
"Leaving with Milim, alone?" Momonga asked her.
"Yes. She is pretty much on our side and half permanently living in Tempest." Buku said casually and gave him a reassuring smile, "Trust me, I will be fine."
"Still, that is a huge risk." Momonga said.
"Please, I don't want a massive armed escort with me."
"There is something else I have been putting off resolving." Momonga started, "Remember, I said that world-class items turned into ultimate skills."
"Yes. So what about it?" Buku asked carefully.
"There are eight skills that are not bound to anyone. I was hesitant to give them out since they cannot be copied, but I might finally choose who receives them. That obviously would include you two."
"As much as I like getting extra power, are you sure it's a good idea to give me an ultimate skill just as I'm about to leave Tempest on a trip?" Buku asked.
"Sis, don't be a reckless twat. We have a lot more spotlight compared to the last time you went traveling. And this time it is with Milim of all people. That loli is dangerous." Pero said.
"I know she is, but a new skill I have no idea how to handle may just make things more difficult."
"Can't you postpone the trip if there are any difficulties in controlling a new skill?" Momonga asked.
"I could, but I don't want to drag this out. Which one do you plan to give to me?"
"I was thinking of giving the Sun and Moon to you and Pero," Momonga said.
"Those bracers that boosted stats depending on the time of the day? If I remember correctly, they were worth using only if used both on the same player." Buku remarked.
"Skills are not fully the same as the items they were in the game. Sun and Moon will likely be a lot more now as ultimate skills than they ever were as world-class items."
"Fine by me." Buku said.
"Same. You know this skill business better than either of us." Pero agreed as well.
"The only thing that remains is who will receive the remaining six. I was thinking that Shalltear, Aura, Mare, Cocytus, and Demiurge should get one but that still leaves one unused. I'm conflicted between giving it to either Sebas or Pandora's Actor."
"You think giving the skill to Pandora would be seen as favoritism, don't you?" Buku asked. She knew her friend far too well. Momonga always tried to be impartial and fair, but in this case, one of the candidates was his son.
"Yes."
"Look, if it was me, I would give it to Pandora without a second thought, but if you want a neutral opinion, Sebas has a bigger chance to be in a combat situation." Buku said.
"I am of the same opinion, but at the same time I do not want Pandora's Actor to be left out." Momonga said with a sigh. He then straightened out in his chair and added. "I can give out the skills tomorrow morning. Tonight I need to check a few things in my own skills."
"If I want to get it first I will have to wake up ungodly early." Buku said with a small groan. "Fine, give me heads up when you want to start and I will come immediately."
"Sure. I promise not to bother you before sunrise." Momonga assured her, but it was clear that she still considered being woken up that early a cruel and sadistic punishment.
One thing was sure; Momonga had a long night ahead of him to make sure he could remove names from the skills. By the looks of it, the Ultimate ones came with entity names far too often, and considering the risks, it was best to know how to remove them without damaging the skill itself.
Proofreading by Sad_Smiles, Visur Nyxan, Abysalidiot, Somnium Hypnos, and alasssandro.
AN: Thank you for reading the story, and if you have caught up to the latest chapter, you can check out my other work or join my discord server (Link is in my profile) where additional chapters are available.