"Care to explain yourself?!" Ainz addressed the brain eater who was trying to appear lost in thought, albeit subtly leaning away from him.
Lately, it started to become a habit to send everyone out of the room before he talked with his friends, and today was no exception. Ainz paced back and forth in front of his friend, wanting clarification on what had just happened.
Tabula was known for disregarding guild rules and doing whatever he wanted in-game, so uplifting Albedo without as much as notifying anyone wasn't that out of the norm for him. However, that was different now since Ainz had to control all of Nazarick intensely since there were no takebacks in a non-virtual world, no redos or saved files.
'What the hell was he thinking by doing that? Can Albedo even handle it? He said himself that NPCs might not be able to withstand such change without serious side effects.' Only his emotional suppression prevented Ainz from trying to strangle the absent-minded God.
At first glance, the Guardian overseer was perfectly fine, but there were some changes in her he couldn't put his finger on, and he needed information.
"I had to do it." Tabula, uncharacteristically, gave a nonanswer.
"Had to do it? I distinctly remember you telling me that all three of your daughters are my responsibility and you didn't even warn me! We planned to raid Slane today! Or did you forget that as well?" Ainz raised his voice as his aura of dread washed over Tabula like a dark tide, filling the room.
"Ainz, she is your future wife. She deserves to stand by your side as an equal. Besides, I wanted to give you this to learn before we move." Tabula hastily pulled a stack of papers out of his inventory, handing them over to Ainz. The stack was thick, as if on purpose.
The Overlord snatched the papers out of the brain eater's hands, "You think you can distract me with this?" He waved the stack near Tabula's tentacle-clad face angrily.
"That isn't a distraction. If we are to face dangerous enemies, the ability to extract power and talents can come in handy. Just read through it and stack up on empty data crystals. I needed to make Albedo a Goddess for all our sakes. I can't properly explain why as of now, but I will when more is revealed in time." The brain eater doubled down on not explaining his actions, leaning further into nonchalance.
"Fine, I'll go through it. But the plan hasn't changed, be ready! And if you try repeating something like this again, I WILL lock you inside your laboratory and leave you there!" Ainz started to go over the information, seeing no point in further arguing with Tabula.
"I'll be ready. And I have no plans uplifting anyone else, just Albedo being a Goddess was required," Tabula retorted and promptly teleported away, leaving Ainz alone in his room.
'He is hiding something. That guy usually cannot shut up for the smallest of things. She should be here any moment.' Ainz decided to put his attention on the papers given to him by Tabula while he waited. Even if they were a method of distraction, he could still sort through them and read up on Nazarick's advancements.
The maid of the day and the guards once again entered his office, assuming their positions without making a sound. Their presence had mostly become a background decoration when nothing of importance was discussed, ever ready to attend to his nearly-nonexistent desires should he have them. Getting Rubedo off his back was a tiny bit more difficult, but she did agree to be in twenty-meter proximity and not invade his personal space. She was still paranoid from Shalltear's attack on him, refusing to leave him unprotected.
With slow deliberate steps, he paced back and forth on the soft carpet covering the entirety of his office space, pondering what he had read.
The information Tabula had provided, as usual, was very useful despite his eccentricities. And this time it was surprisingly easy to learn. However, some parts used esoteric concepts outside the tier system magic, which was expected to eventually happen considering this world wasn't bound by game rules.
'I see, if I open a channel in a soul, I can extract its power. Hmm, but the target needs to be either weak or incapacitated. Now copying requires… just copy an item and that incantation…sounds too easy. Oh, he forgot to state that I should lean on the divinity I have for better results. Still, only minor talents could be copied… There are few in the Tomb to test this on, I hope at least one of those talents proves to be copyable.'
"Uuh, cherries! Where did you get those?" Buku's high-pitched voice interrupted him from his internal monologue.
Ainz pushed the rest of the papers into his inventory and flipped around, finding his friend munching on the treats left on the table by the maid. And Buku wasn't exactly exercising any manners, not that he cared much. With feet on the table and the plate boots left on the floor, she was slouching on the sofa without a care in the world. By grabbing a handful of cherries with one hand and holding the bowl with the other, the slime parading as an elven woman had her face and chest plate covered with red smudges.
"I think the maid put that bowl there. Did you find out anything?" Ainz asked, taking note of servant staff leaving the room as they were instructed to do when players conversed. Secrets were secrets, especially since all NPC servants were now at least quasi-sentient.
"Mariposa was reluctant to speak and lied to me at first for her husband, but she does fear making any of us her enemies, so she spilled eventually. Things are kinda strange. There is some sort of entity that helped her find Tabula and in exchange, the said entity asked for Tabula to uplift a target of his choosing. When Tabula agreed to it, he didn't know it would be Albedo. Why she was one to be made into a God like us, neither Mariposa nor Tabula knows, but the deal was enforced," Buku explained while loudly chewing, spitting out a seed.
"Tabula refused to explain anything," Ainz remarked.
"You know, maybe there isn't anything we can do and that's why he didn't say anything. I doubt the tentacle face is working against us."
"Even if he isn't, he might have exposed us to something dangerous that is moving us towards unknown goals, goals we cannot control or plan for. But at least Tabula is doing his job now. He gave me information on how to extract power and talents." Ainz glanced at his friend, who had finished pigging out and was unsuccessful in trying to clean her face with a pink handkerchief.
"Then start putting your foot down more. We agreed for you to lead us. And if you now know how to gather power, maybe use the opportunity to grow power in secret, and if shit hits the fan one day you can be beyond our touch and capable of handling the entity Tabula made a deal with," Buku suggested.
"Aren't you afraid I might become some sort of uncaring tyrant? I am an undead after all," Ainz inquired. This question was something he was constantly worried about. To his overlord side, ruling came naturally, and there was no telling what would happen once all of his human side was gone and only the God of Life and Death remained.
"A pretty girl like me? Nope, not at all. If you decide to rule us with an iron fist, I'll just convince Albedo to be the second one and parade around like a trophy wife," She giggled, tossing aside the used handkerchief as she reached for another one.
"I am serious," Ainz grumbled, not amused by her antics.
"Do you really see yourself becoming a tyrant? I know you Momo, you think about those you care for more than about yourself. And Albedo isn't exactly silent about how nice you treat her either."
"What did she tell you?" Ainz asked, a sip of worry in his voice.
"I wanted to see if she has changed as you feared, and she has. Albedo does believe herself to be equal to us due to her relationship with you, even though she tried to downplay it, and she sure as hell has her priorities right. I know you're treating her like a queen and she, more than everything, wants to be a worthy wife for you. Oh, don't pout, I didn't ask for details about your bedroom fun this time."
"Aha…"
"Albedo has just grown more confident, that's all. There weren't any negative changes I could see. And the fact that you even worry about becoming a tyrant should be enough, meaning you aren't too far down the path of the ends justifying the means. By the way, has the goat finished the planning?" Buku switched the topic and pulled out an instant self-cleaning item to make herself presentable again, having given up on handkerchiefs.
"He did. We're doing the raid this afternoon," Ainz replied.
"Good. I'm ready to go."
"I'll issue a gathering in one hour. Just in case, take backup items in case the vault guardian has sundering abilities."
"Not my first raid, boss. I am prepared to kick ass and steal shit," Buku proudly announced before teleporting away.
The monotony of guarding the vault rarely changed. As almost every day for decades, Zesshi stood by the heavily secured door and played with the cube while holding her scythe in her right armpit. On her rare days off, it was the captain who replaced her, but those were almost exceedingly rare due to the importance of the contents within the vault.
With her sharp hearing, the girl could tell who walked in her direction and today it was the Captain. With mild curiosity, she turned her head to study the approaching figure.
'What does he want? I didn't request to be relieved.'
"No changes?" The captain questioned once he was close enough.
"Why would there be any? No one has gotten even close to this place for decades? Did Clementine show up?" Zesshi asked. The former Black Scripture member was the only one that she could think of to be both capable and stupid enough to try to rob Slane Theocracy's most defended location, not that she wouldn't be able to bring down the thief and constant troublemaker.
"So they didn't tell you." Captain leaned against the wall and turned, glancing in both directions as if making sure no one was snooping on them.
"Told me what?" Zesshi placed the cube in the pocket of her sweater that was weaved from unknown materials harder than steel. She leaned the scythe against the wall and faced Captain, her arms crossed.
"I shouldn't be telling you if the Cardinals didn't inform you."
"When did they tell me anything? Just tell me what's going on. Is my father coming?" Zesshi's face twisted into a snarl.
"No, much worse. Kaire and half of the Black Scripture have gone missing," Captain paused before answering.
"Do I have to beat answers out of you? I know the old crone had the artifact on her," Zesshi reached for her weapon.
"Just don't tell any of your frie… right, sorry. Kaire took control of the vampire when we were on a mission to find the new players. The one from the holy texts. From what the beast reported, the entrance to Nazarick exists and the Ruler of Death now walks this world. We think they came to reclaim the vampire, taking Kaire in the process, and there is a chance they could come for the vault as well. If they do, take them seriously," Captain spoke in hushed tones.
"I am not careless. So are the stories true? How strong was that vampire?" Zesshi questioned.
"I'm not sure, but she moved faster than I have ever seen you move."
"I didn't go all out on you. But thanks for the warning."
'Players might be coming. Maybe one of them is human enough. If a humanoid male defeats me, our children could be stronger than us combined! I better not risk it and leave it as the last resort.'
Finally, something exciting would happen, and she could prepare for the hardest battle of her life. And if she won, it was all the proof she needed that she could defeat her father and enact the long-awaited revenge.
As the hours passed by, her excitement slowly faded. No attackers came that day, or the next one. The possibility of attack was constant, but there was no telling when the monstrous players could strike.
Zesshi never truly believed that players were Gods. All six had died and what sort of God could just die? That simple fact was true for the monsters described in the holy texts. They did die and were resurrected afterward, the same as strong mortals, but they still died in the process.
Editing by aidan_lo.
Proofreading by aidan_lo, Saphire_Drake, clagan, LionLover, Lightflan, x4x, and NuggetLover.
Link my discord server (https://discord.gg/WmGKVU3XG2)