Today she would stop being Zesshi Zetsumei. The once-feared secret weapon was about to flee the Slane Theocracy, never to return. Antilene walked the early morning streets, dressed in bright, loose pants with a flowery pattern, and a white vest covered with an open fur coat that was far too warm for the season, but could be excused as a rich person's quirks.
It was impractical to carry a coat meant for the winter season during this time of year, but there weren't many objects of sentimental value to pick from, and this coat was one of the rare gifts she had received from her former team. Plus, if she ever survived long enough, it would eventually become useful against the region's biting cold.
Her backpack was stuffed with non-perishable food stuffs, a few pairs of underwear, and all the gold and jewelry she could fit in it, in case she needed cash for later. For a weapon, she had a halberd she carried over her shoulder. One guard patrol did stop her and ask who she was, but once she showed her special pass that was issued to high-rank clergy and all scripture members, they quickly backed off.
Relzania was supposed to meet her at the northern gates. Would the Thousand Leagues astrologer keep her promise or try to set up a trap? She didn't know, but knew that even in the worst-case scenario, it would take the entirety of the Black Scripture to oppose her, and most were either dead or missing.
Even so, killing someone on the way out would be disadvantageous, and likely cause her former handlers to send entire scriptures to take her down. That was, if they wouldn't just decide to try to make her come back either way, through some other means she didn't know of.
The new Pontifex had likely gone insane from his recent religious experience, and could attempt to forcefully keep her as a tactical weapon for the failing nation. She was never a true believer, and he was a prime example of why.
Antilene nervously glanced around, feeling the constant watchful eyes on her. Something had been observing her from the moment she met the Dark Gods. Something was near, but none of her magic could even allow her to glimpse the culprit.
At least there weren't any guards around, and she had almost reached the city gates. Even during the night, the city was densely patrolled, so seeing no guards so close to the city border was an unsettling sight if nothing else.
She instinctively grasped her halberd and crept forward. Only a small hill separated her and the city's exit.
With suspended breath, she ascended to the top and found two figures standing in the distance.
'Is that Yvon!?' She froze. 'That bitch sold me out!'
Antilene was about to charge and kill both Relzania and the cardinal when Relzania waved her over while cautiously looking around.
'What's her angle in this? Wait, is that a backpack on Yvon's shoulder?' The whole scene was confusing. There were no guards on top of the wall or anywhere near the gate. She also couldn't see any scripture members.
"Zesshi, come on, we have to go before they figure it out!" Relzania called her over.
"Why is he here?" She pointed at the cardinal as she approached the odd pair, her blade ready to sing once more.
"Be at ease. I have decided to go on a personal journey and reach the new Gods on my own to atone for my sins. I will accompany both of you till we reach Re-Estize. But we must hurry, the distraction I caused won't keep the guards away for long." Yvon explained.
"Did you agree to this?" she continued, ignoring the old man and going on to assault Relzania with an angry shout.
"He was here before me. Look, if Yvon is leaving as well we could let him join us." Relzania raised her hands defensively.
"And you trust him?" Antilene questioned the girl's motives to just go along with one of the cardinals joining them.
"We should go right now. Guards could return any minute. If my presence is bothersome, I will go my own way once we are far enough away." Yvon motioned at the gate.
'What does he want with us? Why would a cardinal out of all people decide to run?' Antilene tried to figure out what sort of game the old man was playing as she reluctantly followed his suggestion, and walked through the unguarded gate with Relzania at her side and Yvon right behind them.
"There is a chance that the remainder of the Black Scripture will be sent to reclaim both of you and kill me," Yvon commented as he momentarily stopped and cast a spell on the small door used to let walking people pass through.
"Start explaining!" Antilene demanded loudly, nerves on edge.
"Something has made the Pontifex and cardinals into his pawns to fight the dark Gods. I don't know what that entity is, but it was not my God. The fact that you two saw through the veil on your own and decided to find a better future eases my heart." Yvon explained, finishing his spell.
"But we… they know… they know I was present when that vampire was captured," Relzania whispered as if afraid to be overheard.
"We cardinals made the decision to send you out. The blame ultimately falls upon me and my peers. Should the agents of the Dark Gods find us, I will take all responsibility," Yvon stated with passion behind his voice.
'The old man is planning to be a martyr. But the Gods already know. It must be them who are watching us.' Antilene shuddered despite the warm clothing on her shoulders, feeling the untraceable gaze intensify.
As they walked on the dusty country road, the sun was slowly rising to their right and the air was slowly getting warmer, forcing her to take off her coat and carry it in her hand.
"But would they forgive? I didn't know. I was there." Relzania grew more frightened.
"They let me live. I asked to be spared and Ainz Ooal Gown let me live." Antilene finally admitted. "I think they can be reasoned with if we know our place."
"You are not hu- Sorry. I mean the holy texts said that the Ruler of Death hates humans so I… what if they do not believe me, I am sorry for what happened?" Relzania spoke a small whimper escaping her lips.
"Antilene, is it too much to ask of what exactly happened when you met the Dark Gods? I know you omitted at least something in the report, and the other cardinals were sure about that as well." Yvon inquired. For a man of his age and build, he kept up with the pace both girls were setting even with the heavy backpack on his seemingly frail shoulders.
'They are looking for weaknesses. If they knew they could try to attack me.' Antilene glanced back at the old man whose forehead glistened with sweat in the morning sun. There was a knowing look in Yvon's gaze. 'Wait if he and others knew…'
"Are you claiming you covered for me?" She demanded in return.
"I cannot begin to guess the motives of the Ruler of Death, Ainz Ooal Gown, but I think he let you live for a reason. Maybe everything we know about the Dark Gods is wrong, and we do not truly understand their motives, perhaps something in between. I will be first to admit that how you were raised was a mistake, and that the previous generations of cardinals should have let you have a normal childhood and guided you into becoming a guardian, not a weapon."
"I know you have no reason to trust me, but do not shut yourself off from everyone. I believe you and Relzania would benefit from a genuine friendship in these trying times."
'Why is he talking like this?' An urge to punch the old man in the face intensified. He was making too much sense for her liking. Antilene stopped in the middle of the road and exclaimed. "Why do either of you care? You didn't before. I am an elf. I am not one of you. You both know I never was!"
Before she could get any response, Antilene added in, "Just because we are leaving together doesn't mean we are suddenly best friends."
Luckily for her, the conversation died down after that. Yvon was still keeping up with them, and it seemed Relzania was not that intent on pushing the old man away. 'I'll keep those two around for now.'
Worse came to worst, she could use the old man as a distraction if the Black Scripture sent their men after them. The other cardinals wouldn't want to lose their ever-so-dear flock after all.
A few of the players had gathered in a conference room to resolve a mess Tabula had caused. Albedo was made a Goddess by her careless father and the fact needed to be addressed, fast.
Ainz waited for the last of the servant staff to leave the room before speaking. "You all are already aware of what Tabula has done, so let's get to some consensus on what status we should give Albedo. I fear I can't be objective on the matter and can't make decisions on my own."
"She already is number six when it comes to rank, right? Let's just slap her with a Lord, or in her case Lady title, and be done with it. She's already second in command to you when it comes to administration," Pero suggested.
"The bigger issue is that we don't know how NPCs would react if they knew that we were humans once, and if she sits with us in our club talks, she will hear things about us none of them were originally aware of," Ulbert commented.
"This secret will come out sooner or later. It takes just one of us to be too loose-lipped." Buku glanced at the brain eater who, in his true fashion, was not following the conversion but instead scribbling something in his notebook.
"And what do you suggest?' Ainz asked.
"She's your future wife. Tell her the truth about our origins, just keep some things out of it. I mean my kids have heard me mentioning Earth before. I feel we should be more honest with them; you know." Buku flashed Ainz a reassuring smile.
"Summons know we were humans before, and they do not give a shit. More than one have expressed that they consider us newborn Gods, and our old lives mean nothing to them." Ulbert leaned back in his chair comfortably as he spoke with an air of casuality.
"Right, one of my demon girls did say that. Kinda weirded me out. Lupus was confused, that's for sure." Pero commented while mimicking Ulbert and sipping a bottle of coke through a straw.
"And what do any of you think will happen when NPCs find out they were nothing more than digital data in a game?" Ainz asked.
"Existential crisis most likely. They will have to know at some point to continue growing." Tabula mumbled without looking up.
"What are you suggesting I do? Just tell her!?" Ainz raised his voice, feeling the all-so-familiar emotional suppression kicking in as his exclamation faltered mid-sentence.
"Yes." The brain eater replied, sipping on a soda.
"Tabula dammit. Take this seriously. What if she snaps? Then what? I mean it's one thing to tell the truth about us, but another to tell her she was a freaking data file with an in-game model!" Buku raised her voice as well.
"She'll be fine. She survived deification." Tabula retorted absent-mindedly.
"It is your fault we have to sort out this mess! If you haven't made deals with who knows what and then went behind our backs, there would not be any need for this meeting." Ainz pointed his index finger at Tabula. "You are walking on thin ice here!"
That finally was enough to get through the absent-minded God of Knowledge. Tabula pushed the notepad into his inventory and straightened out.
"Albedo will be fine. All of you never cared to listen and now you want an explanation. Fine, I'll give you one!
Yes, I uplifted Albedo as part of a deal with a traveler because my wife was tricked by him. And Ainz, if you care about Albedo even remotely as much as I do for Mariposa, you won't hide things from her. We made them! No matter what, we still are the creators of the NPCs! Maybe if you all took five minutes out of your day to notice that your creations are not just some silly game monsters that became alive but living conscious beings who need to be treated as such, then you would have told them already. It is not us versus them, and if you are afraid that they would rebel against us if they knew the truth then maybe you don't deserve to rule over them!
I did what I had to because I can't oppose that entity! None of us can! If any of you cared even a little, I would have tried to explain what I know about the true scale of reality and what sort of entities exist. It was better to take a minor risk, and uplift my daughter with the possibility she would need help to get back on track, than ignore the deal and potentially endanger everyone!
Has none of you given a thought to who and how it made us this powerful, and for what purpose? We are not here to just have fun and play around. Something expended a lot of energy to do this, and likely did it for a reason!" Tabula shouted half of his speech as if he had bottled up his emotions for a while.
"I hate that he has a point." Pero was first to respond after half a minute of uncomfortable silence, as everyone stared at the panting brain eater.
"I will admit we should have sat down and let you explain everything you knew about our circumstances, but that doesn't absolve you from any fault. You still intentionally went behind our backs when uplifting Albedo." Ainz stated as he nervously tapped his fingers against the table.
"And for that, I do apologize. To be honest, I was put on the spot. Calling a meeting while a traveler was demanding I make good on a deal would likely end badly. I know I overstepped boundaries I shouldn't have."
"Next time, at least give Ainz a heads up. He is in charge and should have been present. But blunder aside, are we rescheduling the meeting after Ainz has talked with Albedo, and hopefully survived, and then decide on her status?" Ulbert asked.
"Probably. By the way, who or what the hell is that guy who forced you to do this? Shouldn't we at least plan around the fact he could be messing with us?" Pero asked.
"I don't know much, but from what I understand of them, even beings who are on a different level compared to Gods fear the travelers. I don't think we can plan anything beyond trying to be vigilant and avoid being indirectly manipulated." Tabula sat back down and took out the notebook from his inventory to resume writing in it.
"I will talk with Albedo and explain to her the truth. Tabula, I want you to write down everything we should know about our current situation. I want a report by the end of today," Ainz declared.
"Good luck, you'll need it," Buku called after him as Ainz teleported away.
Editing by aidan_lo.
Proofreading by nate051499j6, aidan_lo, clagan, LionLoverFabian, Saphire_Drake, Sluethen, Cay, x4x, and NuggetLover.
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