To date, Mornin never marveled at setting foot in the treasury, although now that he could actually touch the gold coins, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, and even smell the lingering scent of metal and wood, he couldn't help but marvel at such wealth.
Crouching down, he picked up a handful of coins, trying to estimate their weight, but as his body was no longer the same, what should have been heavy was just a mere featherweight.
"Sebas, do you think melting a part of this gold would be a good idea?"
"Allow me to be as sincere as possible. I do not reckon reshaping the money you and your comrades have dutifully and hard-earned is a great idea, Mornin-sama. I do believe it is the price of your efforts. It should not be tinkered with."
"I mean… Yeah, they're already stamped, shape and all, so that makes sense… And all the feeling attached to it." He pondered while gold coins cascaded from his hands as he stood back up. "The fact is, I think something happened to Nazarick, and it would break my balls if the value of gold coins weren't the same. That's why I'm considering smelting these bad boys to make some ingots. Gold's value has remained the same through age, but not the coins themselves… The guy's face isn't the same on the coin as the one these peeps worship, and wham! Your gold coin is worth shit… Sometimes, a small sacrifice is necessary..."
"I see. Your thinking is wise, Mornin-sama. I failed to understand your main goal, but now that you've expressed your concerns, I can appreciate that motivation of yours." Sebas addressed, bowing slightly. "Should I inform Chief Blacksmith and the maids that we need them to transport raw material and help at the forge?"
"Please do so. Come back here after to help them, too. Gold isn't light; your strength will probably be needed, haha!"
"Very well, Mornin-sama." The butler bowed, smiling discreetly. "Then, I shall depart. Call me if you need anything."
Waiting for Sebas to leave, Mornin moved forward into the vast room, trying to find something to catch his eyes, something to prove another something. Gazing at another pile of loots were never-before-opened chests, gemstones, and more exotic materials like noble hübnerite and gilded obsidian…
Leaning over to pick up the volcanic gemstone, he removed his gloves and took it in his right hand before willingly cutting the tip of one of his fingers to maybe wake up in case all this was a dream, but nothing happened except a tingly ache and… blue blood.
Turning self-aware from the slight pain, whose cut had already closed, he let go of the gilded obsidian and looked down at his left arm. Pristine white, his arm was made of antique ceramic and engraved with various golden designs coming as far as his shoulder. The joints were made of refined golden gears and bolts and made an almost inaudible clicking sound when he made wide motions. For an instant, he could sometimes see underneath the ceramic pieces, his own ceramic bones, occasionally ringed with gold.
Checking his body, his right calf up to his knee was made of the same high-end alloy and seemed even sturdier than his whole left arm. Considering that he felt no pain, discomfort, or any difference whatsoever compared to when he was still in his original body and that he couldn't tug these ceramic pieces apart, he surmised that his current body was simply made that way, with magic-robotic parts and that it was not the result of an amputation.
Hopping as fast as he could onto a pile of gold to fetch a mirror lying further up, he laid eyes on his own face. Aquarelle pink hair, with a hint of white and some golden hair made of ceramic. A blue-grey eye, the other red with a cross instead of a pupil. A scar under his eye, on his right ear, one running along the corners of his lip, and a large one at his neck, bandaged and not really healed.
These were the damage of a divine weapon named [Samael's Faith], a multi-bladed scythe that could slow down the healing of the damage it dealt and propel its blades. A World Item boosted it, and because of that, the weapon could impede instant healing and reduce healing speed by 99.999% indefinitely.
Only one person could be affected by this curse, and it was Mornin who took the brunt of it since quite a lot of players and other guilds despised him for trolling them and winning with what they believed was a troll build.
So even if his healing spells were the best and his own regeneration was more than enough to regenerate, it was still under the healing process… after all, his head got pierced by one of the blades, the other cut his ear, another split his jaw open, and the last one actually beheaded him.
He only survived thanks to his spell [Phoenix Flame] bringing him back to "life," giving Touch Me and Peroroncino enough time to retreat and help him. However, since he was like a full-on kit, they had to stitch up the missing parts of his body while he healed. It's been five years.
—I look exactly like the character I've built up over the years, huh… Wha-
Cutting through the room's stillness came a clatter of coins tumbling on each other. A large skeleton mage stood there wearing a cloak, half-hidden behind a pile of coins. Seeing that he'd been spotted, he made a chassé step to reveal himself fully and joined his legs together before saluting militarily.
"Ooooh, here I am! A supreme being pervaded the treasury other than Momonga-sama! I am beyond moved!~"
"You… you are…"
"Yes, I am! Pandora's Actor, the sole and only creation of Momonga-sama, you dear friend!" He exclaimed, almost yelling before undoing his doppelganger power, showing his true self, and rushing toward Mornin, making some theatrical move he had never seen before. "For what reason, for what joy, for what scheme have you come here, O dear Supreme One?~"
"—Can you please shut up and calm down first?"
"Yes!" He yelled, coming back to a military standing and salute as the energy overflowing from him became sadder and sadder. "Was this Momonga-sama's last wish...?"
"Huh…?"
"He left like all the other Supreme Beings, isn't it…?"
"We… Even as close friends, we had to fight for the throne, but he decided to withdraw before we could both really hurt each other. As I've told everyone, I'll keep my promise to look after you all. That also means you, Pandora."
"So that's what happened! Should I shake your hand and ask for your autograph, given that you're the proud victor?" He exclaimed, still bummed out. "Please do!"
"Haha! No, no, that's all good. Plus, in this whole battle fiesta for the throne, not everybody wanted to partake in it. If Touch Me desired to take over, he would have without fail, b-but I had to…"
The web of lies he had to weave because of Albedo and Demiurge's misunderstanding grew larger by the minute. His heart was screaming at him not to lie, but for everyone's sake and his own, it was better that the truth didn't come out but also that they didn't believe him to be the inveterate killer of the other supreme beings. It didn't seem like they would betray him or anything, but he was better safe than sorry.
Plus, as he said before, they were all his friends, so he couldn't imagine killing them just to claim the throne, even in a new world.
"May I know why you had to do all that, Mornin-sama?"
"It was a talk we had a few years back, Momonga and the other… We believed something could happen to Nazarick, and our theory proved right as time passed. We didn't know why, how, or when, but as we knew it grew closer, the strongest of us decided to fight to see who would win and so... who would best defend Nazarick and its residents."
"Oh! Oh! And both Momonga-sama and yourself were the last ones standing! Wie es sich für zwei Götter gehört, die sich als Brüder sehen!!"
"W-What?"
"Wie es sich für zwei Götter gehört, die sich als Brüder sehen!"
"Are you speaking German…?"
"Absolutely, I am!"
"Alright…" Mornin sighed with a smile; this dude was way too chuuni. "By the way, how d'you know Momonga left? The whole treasury is like a mini pocket dimension, right?"
"Yes, it is! I wouldn't have known if it wasn't for Momonga-sama's avatara to appear in the Mausoleum, and his World Item, which he always carried with him, his red orb, came directly back to me… His legacy."
Pulling out the round and red gem from a bottomless bag, Pandora showed it to Mornin, who remained tight-lipped for a moment before coming to his senses. An item like this, a World Item, was still present in this possible new world. This meant that he had ten more at his disposal besides his own World Item, including two of the Twenty.
If that was the case, then it was possible for other people to have some of them, too, as YGGDRASIL had a whopping two hundred World Items in total; it was entirely possible.
Aware of a potential danger, he reached from his back pocket, where he put his latex gloves and put them back on. As a World Item, the [God's Hands] were a bit weak compared to others, but its powers were ideal for Mornin's kit.
It allowed him to enchant his own fists and even body but also apply enchantments to unenchanted weapons for a while and give a huge boost to already enchanted weapons, so since it was the perfect combo with his [Blessed Touch] racial skill, he tried to wear them on as much as possible. On a side note, the gloves give a buff to divine and healing magic in general and could also infuse life into inanimate objects, items, weapons, golems, etc., in exchange for 75% of max mana. It also increased his Blacksmith's job class by 10 points, making it possible to create far more elaborate, refined, complex weapons, armor, and enchantments.
What's more, thanks to this, he was immune to the other World Items and to mind control. Now, the problem was what to do with the rest of these items… Some of them had been hanging around here for years, and who knew what they were? Some of them were even unknown to him.
"Actually, I came here for a single reason at first, something I already discussed with Sebas, but now you have my attention. Can you sort of all of these World Items and list them for me?"
"Of course! So soon said, so soon done!"
"Wait! Don't rush outta here just now!"
"Oh! My bad, Mornin-samaaa!~"
"Do you know how much gold we have here? Gold and treasure, like gemstones included."
"Would you like to know the weight of all of it? The number of coins and stones? Or the overall value of all the treasures?"
"...the overall value?"
"Then, I would need to do a complete counting of everything; it may take a bit of time. My expertise is magical items, not riches, after all!~"
"Items? Do you know how many items are lying around here?"
"Around one thousand, but only a small portion of iiiit is really worthy of your attention, Mornin-sama!!"
"Well then… You can keep the Red Orb for now... Take care of it. It's your father's final gift."
"My father? Does Momonga-sama see me as his child!?"
"I'm pretty sure he did."
"To think that he…! That you…!" Bending the knee in front of Mornin, Pandora's Actor made a grandiose gesture and yelled. "I shall forever be grateful for you two, Father! Uncle! I'll cherish this orb as my own child!~"
"T-That's good to hear." Mornin stuttered, raising an eyebrow before turning toward the door, ready to exit. "Oh, and please keep the door open for now. Sebas and a few maids will come to take some gold to the forge. He'll tell you when it's gonna be enough; after that, shut the door and let nobody enter until you finish your task."
"Wenn es meines Gottes Wille!!"
"See ya."
Honest with himself, he was scared. The fact that a single NPC had access to all those World Items, to all those Avataras, each wearing the armor of former guild members and a whole host of other items, was rather worrying, especially given that everyone believed he'd battled Momonga... and that Momonga was the creator of Pandora's Actor. Thankfully, everyone around here seemed to be loyal and give him high respect, but his human psyche urged him to stay on his toes.
Even if he was tempted to go to his room to find some peace and quiet, it wasn't a wise decision. He only had one last thing to check before not knowing what to do anymore. He had neither the mood nor the drive to do so, but he felt he needed to take a look at the library, Ashurbanipal. Given that he no longer seemed physically restricted by YGGDRASIL's game mechanic, perhaps he could learn something from the panoply of books.
—The librarian might have some answers, too.
Rushing there with the use of his ring, his teleportation brought him near the entrance. Miscalculating the exact distance he had to reach, he collided with something as a thud echoed through the large corridor of the 10th floor.
He was close to the library's massive double door, but not as close as he expected.
Turning toward what fell over to the ground, his eyes met a blond woman with spiral curls looking straight at him, a worried expression on her face despite her apparent sparkless irises. Straightening back up in one quick motion, she closed her eyelids and bowed, bending a knee.
"My sincere apologies, Mornin-sama. I didn't mean to bump into you. May you forgive me?"
"Nah, it's alright, Solution," He answered, giving her a hand to stand back up, having enough people bowing to him for the day. "Just get up. No need to overdo all that; I'm the dumb fart who literally teleported into you."
"D-Dumb f-...?" She almost yelped, wide-eyed. "That is not true. You are absolute, my Lord. I appreciate you joking with me, but I will never accept such words, even if they come from you. You are the being to whom I pledged my allegiance long ago at the request of Herohero-sama, my creator."
"Oh? Did Hero really do that?"
"Yes, my Lord. Never it would cross my mind to lie to you."
"Why did he do that, though?"
"From the data he gave me, he believed that both our powers could be complementary during a fight, as your divine attacks and strikes could pass through my body and be enhanced by my own powers."
"Huh…? Divine and fire magic are both my go-to areas. You'd be vaporized into a slime cloud if I weren't careful during a fight. Seems like a good synergy, for sure."
"—! My Lord, please." She chuckled, remaining composed despite containing a hearty laugh. "I may not have a lot of job classes, but my racial classes allows me to regenerate freely as long as a single protoplasmic cell of my body survives and remains close to a water source. I shall be able to come back to what I am right now."
"'Kay, I guess I'll remain open-minded about tag-teaming with you." These words brought a broad, happy smile to the face of the maid, whose head was still bowed in respect, not seeing Mornin still extended his hand to her. "Take my hand and stand up; it's starting to annoy me."
"My apologies, my Lord."
"Shut up, stop apologizing, and take my hand, for fuck sake."
"Thank you for your help. I'm just behind you if you need anything; for now, please do what you wished to do when coming here."
Heading inside the library, the scent of vintage paper tingled his nostrils. The book-filled shelves were at least a good fifteen meters long and stretched over fifty, with five rows extending out from each side. A space intended for storing all types of scrolls, mainly summonses, but also classic books whose copyright had expired, as well as YGGDRASIL's own encyclopedias devoted to the study of magic, plants, and so on.
Advancing toward Titus Annaeus Secundus, the chief librarian who read a book behind his desk, Mornin saw some books the skeleton had close to him fly to arrange themselves on their shelves.
Hearing footsteps, the librarian raised his skeletal, horned head.
"Oh, my… Mornin-sama, isn't it a rare occurrence to see one such as you visit the decrepit resting place of an elder lich such as mineself." Turning toward the girl behind him, he bowed his head again. "I see you're also accompanied by Solution-dono, quite the fair lady indeed. It feels like eons since last I saw you, lady."
"Sebas-sama asked me to protect our Lord since my skills weren't needed for the task at hand."
"Mm… Yes, yes. I'm sure that with you as his bodyguard, Mornin-sama wouldn't even have to worry about a soul approachin' him; it would decompose within a second. A shrewd choice." Rubbing his chin, the hooded short skeleton stood up, looking at some of the shelves before doing a movement with his hand, telepathically bringing up a few books toward him. "I believe such books were the ones my Lord sought, indeed?"
"...How did you know I searched for this book particularly?"
"Mine ears are my forte if one decides to put aside my manufacturing classes. 'Tis I believe to be a gift from the Supreme Beings." He said, opening another book without touching it. "Plus, I know you're quite fond of Iris, your creation. A tome about fairies should be the one you wanna look at, mhm."
"Well, this is handy." He answered while looking at the book, as Solution frowned hearing the name of the 4th floor guardian. "As a skeleton mage, have you felt any shift in negative energy recently?"
"Mm… Now, to be quite candid, I've been worried about that. I'm pleased you noticed it, too. The surroundin' negative flux became much more potent in the last twelve hours, as if corpses worldwide became quite numerous. Mhm, indeed. Disconcertin', I must say."
Hearing a shuffle behind him, he turned toward Solution, who widened her eyes. She seemed genuinely appalled but regained her composure in no time before facing Mornin as if to announce the worst news he could ever hear in his entire existence.
"Mornin-sama, Narberal, and CZ-chan just finished their exploration of the surroundings… They have captured a giant creature from deep within the forest… and it seems like the exterior of Nazarick is not the same as before."
"Ah, yes. I'd pretty much already figured that out."
"O-Oh. As expected of the Supreme One."