Elias Brandt Dale Raeven stepped off his carriage, only to find himself dumbfounded, frightfully staring at the scene in front of him.
Spread out in front of his eyes was a mountain of rubble.
It was hard for him to believe that this was the capital. It would have been more believable if someone had told him that this was all an illusion, but that was not the case. The scene in front of him was the truth, the conclusion of a battle.
Marquis Raeven's expression contorted at the sight of the tragedy in front of him.
How much manpower and time would have been necessary to ruin a city as large as the capital to this extent?
Either quantity would be unimaginable to him, the only one with the power to realize this was the Sorcerer King, who could only be described as inhuman.
The footsteps behind him got closer as a voice began to speak to him.
"Marquis..."
It was a noble from his own faction, one that had accompanied him on his way here. Although he was a mere baron, Marquis Raeven held his abilities in high regard. It was to the extent where he had planned to raise this man's title before anyone else.
For that reason alone, when asked by the Sorcerer King's subordinate which of the nobles were outstanding enough to spare, this man was the second person he named. Not even such a distinguished man could bring himself to speak, because he too could not hide his fear, and so they quivered. He must be experiencing the same emotions as Raeven himself upon witnessing the scene in front of them.
Marquis Raeven looked back and confirmed that all twelve nobles had descended from the ten carriages.
"Our audience awaits."
No one objected and that was to be expected. They had been summoned to this place by the Sorcerer King so there was no way they would still be able to say things along the lines of "let's not." They could not even muster that much courage in the first place — no, it was more accurate to say that none of them were so foolhardy.
The problem now was, they had been told to come to the capital without a specified location.
Marquis Raeven took a look around to discover a still-standing structure far away: the palace. The castle grounds, meant to serve as the palace's defence, had been rendered to rubble too.
The reason why Marquis Raeven could spot it from where they were was probably because they had cleared out the rubble around it on purpose.
A sole structure amid a mountain of rubble. Raeven had not given this proper thought beforehand, but this was no salvation. On the contrary, it had become an item that inspired an unspeakable and violent disgust in those who saw it.
"Let us proceed."
Marquis Raeven's entourage was currently at the ruins of what used to be the capital's walls, so the palace was quite a distance away from them. While it might be faster for them to ride over, they had to avoid being seen in their carriages for fear of disrespect. They were there early for the scheduled time for their audience anyways, so they could make it there with plenty of time left even if they walked the entire way there.
Marquis Raeven stumbled around as he walked forward.
"Was this that street...?"
He heard someone behind him mutter.
The main street towards the palace was free of rubble. It was so clean that it was probably swept before this.
In other words, the only thing that remained intact here was the street. None of the houses nor the walls to the sides of the street remained. It seemed likely that they were demolished and then burnt clean. On their way to the capital they had seen villages and cities that were destroyed too, yet none of them matched the extent of destruction on display in the capital.
"Marquis, the capital's inhabitants..."
"—speak of this no more."
They must have been worried about the safety of this city's residents. However, Raeven had not heard of them being relocated nor had he seen refugees outside of the capital. Given that was the case, there could be only one fate for them.
Marquis Raeven looked to the ruins to his sides. How many people were buried underneath? He even felt as though he was walking through a giant graveyard.
Raeven no longer used his nose to breath because he did not want to smell the pungent smell of corpses. But, miraculously, there was no such scent at all. The only smells that lingered in the air were the unbearable scent of burnt items and ashes.
They had walked for some time now, but were still far away from the palace.
Were their hearts weakened by the sight of such tragedy? Raeven heard someone mumble.
"—mad king"
(TL's note: 狂王, a reference to Fire Emblem's Ashnard, who has the same VA as Ainz)
Marquis Raeven immediately turned around and yelled.
"You bastard!"
His sharp gaze circled around the nobles, of which there was one whose complexion was pale and whose face was constantly twitching.
Those who had lived long enough as nobility would have learned to subdue their emotions just to hide their expressions, yet the sight in front of him still made him yield internally.
He could empathize with them, but even if he concurred with that thought, they were {here}. It would not be advised to make an enemy out of {them}, so he had to vocally rebuke them.
"You all are phenomenal talents, that was why I chose to save you...so try to avoid squandering my efforts through such gaffes... There is no need to apologize to or thank me. Just please try to understand where I am coming from."
No responses, but he had faith that his intentions were well-conveyed.
"Marquis-sama. Umm, if we just walk without talking, our minds would naturally become occupied by depressing thoughts. How about we speak of some positive topics as we walk along?"
"...that is a good suggestion. Then...shall we talk about the birth of my second child?"
The nobles congratulated him in unison. In these past few miserable months, to Marquis Raeven, this was the only good news that triumphed over all. That was why he had spoken to them of this topic multiple times already.
He would praise his child for hours on end, but what he talked about was mostly without substance.
However, considering the fact that it could alleviate the mood a little, he still spoke of his child. When he snapped back to reality, they had already walked halfway on the long road to the palace.
Perhaps he might have said a bit — indeed, only a bit — too much.
Though he still had so much more to say, he knew it was time for him to stop. Raeven purposefully faked a cough.
Everyone who had tuned him out already tensed up at this.
"Well then, we shall speak more of my child when we return. What should we propose to the Sorcerer King so that our children may live happily in the future?"
They had discussed this topic many times before arriving here, but it was about time that they reached a conclusion.
Marquis Raeven surveyed their surroundings to confirm that there were no soldiers from the Sorcerous Kingdom around.
"While this is a question we have to face straight on, His Majesty the Sorcerer King is undead after all. Unlike living beings like us, his rule will be everlasting. Will our grandchildren and great-grandchildren forget this scene and do something to enrage His Majesty?"
"That is highly likely. Though our grandchildren may do fine, those that come after them worry me."
"After all, idiots could inherit the role of family head."
"...Honestly, we do not have to take that much responsibility. If push comes to shove, why don't we just allow them to perish? Grant them a quick death?"
A speech that would shock anyone who took pride in their noble bloodline, was made by a female lord whose family had only ascended to landed nobility during her father's generation. She was here as a representative of her sick father.
Because it had come from someone whose roots in nobility did not run that deep, many had put on displeased expressions.
"Look at what is in front of you, things would not end with just one's family being slaughtered." Raeven's words made her cast her gaze to the ground, "...so that is why these are the only things we could do: Have this tragic scene drawn for posterity and tell our children of what happened here. We will have to beg His Majesty the Sorcerer King to preserve this scene."
"Were we not supposed to build a new city on these grounds?"
Raeven heard a question from his right, which was met with a rebuttal to his left.
"Rebuild this when it has been ruined to this state? Do you not find that a bit hard to imagine?"
Marquis Raeven agreed with the latter. However, the Sorcerer King possessed power that neither he nor the entire human race could muster. Perhaps he wished to build his ideal city from the ground up, and that was why he had done what he did.
But, if they lingered on this thought, they would get nowhere.
"Also, what about the hostage situation? Marquis?"
This was the topic he hated the most.
Raeven bit down on his lower lip.
They were not sure if the Sorcerer King would demand hostages from them, but, compared to the other party suggesting this, it would be more favourable for them to propose this idea. Marquis Raeven racked his brain and arrived at a conclusion.
"I will be the one to suggest the proposal to the Sorcerer King."
In order words, he was advocating that they actively hand over hostages. Many of the nobles probably disagreed with his decision in their hearts, but none of them spoke up nor changed expressions.
After they had made their final decisions on a number of subjects, the palace finally came into view.
What Raeven and the rest saw was a mountain of rubble that appeared to be blocking the entrance. Perched atop it was an undead being.
The undead was conversing with the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Albedo. Perhaps they had detected their presence, because they turned to face them.
There was still a bit of distance between them, but Raeven and his entourage began to sprint.
Once they got closer, they finally figured out the true form of the mountain of rubble the Sorcerer King sat on. Well, it would be incorrect to call it a 'true form' because it was indeed a mountain of rubble, yet from a different point of view it was not.
Placed on top of it was something radiant: the crown of the Kingdom.
That was a throne made out of rubble, an art piece symbolizing the end of the Kingdom.
It was hard for them to imagine that the rubble that constituted this throne was from this city. Perhaps it had been transported over from some enviable place.
Terrifying.
A monster who was capable of conceiving such an idea and could also execute it as is, was terrifying.
They ran with all of their might and took a knee in front of him almost as if they had tripped over. 'Hooo, hooo' they heaved, terribly out of breath.
"We are here to pay our respects to Your Majesty the Sorcerer King."
Marquis Raeven bowed and felt the Sorcerer King glance at the back of his head.
"Raeven, correct? You made it here just in time. That said, umm...how should I put this, regulate your breath first...? You have worked up quite a lot of sweat after all."
"T-to have shown such a disgraceful sight to you, I must profusely apologize."
His voice was laced with so much familiarity that it shocked him. That was exactly why he was terrifying.
His brain screamed the word 'trap' to him. Their situation would only worsen if they kept up their unkemptness. Raeven pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
"...I summoned you all here after all, etiquette would dictate that I greet you first. However, I dislike meaningless chatter, so let us be prompt."
"Understood!"
Was he about to speak to Raeven and the others about something they had not discussed before?
"My — the Sorcerous Kingdom's army had destroyed the land of the nobles to the West and to the South of this city. They will be returning soon. You all should administer to your lands as usual. Although we might alter territorial designations in the future, we have not planned to do so yet — am I correct, Albedo?"
"Yes, it is just as Ainz-sama had surmised."
"That is about it. From now on, Albedo will notify you of any important changes we might make to your demesnes. You should follow the same laws you have been up to this point."
Not just Raeven, but the other nobles piped up to respond too.
"Do you have any questions or things that you are confused about?"
"None at all! It is just that, to prove mine and my fellow nobles' loyalty, your servant I would like to make a few proposals."
Marquis Raeven spoke as though he was coughing up blood. After he had said these words that gave him depression, he saw that the Sorcerer King had turned his head to look at something distant. He might be thinking something along the lines of "mere humans dare to speak to me other than to answer my questions? Such arrogance."
Had he displeased him? Raeven felt as though his stomach had been filled with lead. If he was about to be done with gruelling work, only to have his subordinate add more documents to the pile, he would probably be making a similar expression to the one the Sorcerer King had on right now. Raeven thought about these things in a vain attempt to escape reality.
After what felt like an eternity had passed, the Sorcerer King lazily spoke, "Hmmm, is that so? Just speak to Albedo after this."
"That concludes this conversation then... Right, to allow people to realize how idiotic it would be to oppose me and my country, this place will be left in its current state. That said, if some plague were to be born from this, it would be quite troublesome. For that reason, we will be applying magic here after burning it through and through. To avoid getting caught up in that, remember not to allow anyone near here."
"Understood!"
"—Albedo, summon Guren here and burn it all to the ground. However, the palace's beautiful exterior must be preserved. Move the furniture and whatnot inside to E-Rantel."
"Understood."
Although he wanted to know who Guren was, it was probably something not meant for his ears. If he had to categorize things into 'should know' and 'should never find out', everything surrounding the Sorcerer King probably belonged to the latter.
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"Now then, although the Kingdom had been utterly destroyed — Raeven, I must ask. The true extent of how moronic it would be to oppose me must be common knowledge by now, correct?"
"Yes... The fact of how foolish it would be to oppose Your Highness the mighty Sorcerer King will surely become common knowledge for aeons to come."
Because his head was bowed, he could not tell what expression the Sorcerer King had — of course, the Sorcerer King did not have any skin and thus no expression to speak of — but, he could sense a hint of joy in his response.
"Is that so? Then what we have done here was worth it. I am rather satisfied because of that."
Hearing the opinions of the Sorcerer King, one who had slaughtered eight million of the Kingdom's people, gave Raeven an intense urge to vomit. He could not help but pray.
That one day a hero would slay this demon king.
----
"I did nothing wrong"
Philip repeated the same phrase he had already repeated multiple times throughout this week.
Indeed, his actions definitely did not spark the war. This was all a ploy by the Sorcerous Kingdom. If he thought about it that way, everything would finally make logical sense.
He was exploited.
There was a chance that the reason why his lands did not produce an abundant harvest and why his proposals never seemed to pass was because of the schemes of the Sorcerous Kingdom.
{They must have either paid those guys off or spoke ill of me. I knew they did something against me. Of course, that had to be it!}
Philip got off his bed and extended his hand towards the nightstand. He picked up the bottle on it and swirled it around, but he knew from the weight alone that it was free of water already.
"Pfff"
Philip clicked his tongue and looked around his room.
Scattered all over the floor were empty bottles of liquor. Although the room might be filled with a strong scent of alcohol, Philip's nose had long adapted to it so he would not be able to tell the difference.
He randomly chose a bottle from the ground and held it to his lips, but not even a single drop went down his throat.
"Fuck!"
He threw the bottle.
At the sound of the bottle shattering, he became even more frustrated.
"Oy! I'm out of booze!"
Even if he yelled, no one would serve him alcohol anymore. Usually there would be maids — Hilma's people — on standby in this room, but now that he thought about it, he felt like he hadn't seen her in a long time.
"Bring more booze!"
He yelled once more.
His body wobbled around. 'Oww' he winced as he supported himself on his bed. Rather than his drunkenness, his body was probably more sluggish due to the fact that he had not left this room for many days now.
Philip walked slowly to the door.
"Oy! Where the hell is everybody!?"
He yelled while kicking the door with all of his might. He did not use his fist out of fear that it could hurt.
No response. He clicked his tongue, opened the door, and yelled at the top of his lungs once more.
"Are you all deaf! I said I am out of booze! Bring more!"
Still no response.
Philip angrily left the room.
The house was quiet.
His father and his older brother's family had all moved elsewhere because Philip wanted to make use of the main house. Only servants remained here other than him.
While it was a noble's mansion, it was only one befitting a mere baron. He could easily reach the dining room from his own room.
As he opened the door to the dining room, Philip's eyes widened.
That was because he had noticed a woman in white, sitting upon one of the chairs.
"Hoooh, are you awake now? You took so long that I was almost about to head over to get you myself."
That was the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Albedo. Her smile remained unchanged from the first time he had met her. She did not appear to be mad at Philip for what he had done. Suddenly, the thought that the Sorcerous Kingdom probably did not even give a damn about what he had done surfaced in Philip's mind.
Indeed.
If they were truly mad with him, they would have begun their invasion with Philip's demesne first. They had not done so however, so in other words, they were not mad at him. On the contrary, they should be grateful to him for giving them a reason to start a war with the Kingdom. Perhaps she was there to express their gratitude.
No, no. Maybe she had not found out yet. Maybe they did not know that it was Philip who did all of that.
Albedo's smile was infectious, causing Philip to smile at her too.
"T-Thank you for coming over to such a wretched place, Albedo-sama. I cannot believe that you had to wait here! I will definitely scold those servants later."
Albedo was stunned for a moment, before smiling wryly.
"To have reached this extent is honestly impressive. I am somewhat in awe...fufu, I am here to finish what must be done, but before that, I have brought you a present. Do you wish to open it?"
Placed on top of the table was a white box at least fifty centimeters wide.
Philip regretted that he had stayed in bed for so long as he lifted the top of the box. A wonderful floral scent made his nose itch. With bated breath of what valuable item could be in this box, Philip opened it up and took a look inside.
It was Baron Delvin and Baron Rokerson's heads.
Had they experienced unbearable pain before they died? Their contorted expressions made him feel intense revulsion.
"—Eeeek!"
Albedo calmly spoke to Philip, whose body stiffened.
"To have the galls to besmirch me? We had planned to prepare an idiot, but never in my mind would I believe that someone as stupid as you could exist."
'Woosh', that was the sound of Albedo standing up.
Her face was all smiles, but now that things had progressed to this point, even Philip knew.
She was absolutely furious.
If he did not escape this place, things would not end well for him.
Philip turned around to run, but in his panic his leg tripped over the other, causing him to fall to the ground with a loud 'bang'.
'Clop, clop', the sound of footsteps got closer. She had already made her way to him.
"Now then — let's go."
"No! No! I don't want to go!"
Putting up the minimal amount of resistance, he curled up into a ball.
"Do you seriously believe that acting like a spoiled child could get you out of this situation?"
He was pulled along by his ear, which sent pain to his brain so intense that he began to question if his ear was about to be torn off.
"It hurts! It hurts! Stop!"
"Then walk. Here, stand up."
Philip wanted to push Albedo's hand, which still held on to his ear, away. However, even though her hands were thin and delicate as expected of a woman, her grip strength was far stronger than his.
"It hurts! It hurts!"
He was pulled into a standing position by his ear.
His vision was blurred by his tears, yet Philip still punched towards Albedo's face. However, his fists were easily caught midair, and then—
"Hiyaaaaah!!"
A force strong enough to crush bones was applied to his fist, which began to make crunching sounds.
"...If you just walk, I will not crush your hands, how about that?"
"I got it! I got it! I will walk! Please don't do that again!" The force on his hand was lifted. "Why...? What have I done?"
Philip's sorrowful tears streamed down like a waterfall.
He had tried his best at everything, but not only was he not met with success, he had never been treated like this before.
Why was he victim to such violence?
Why had nobody come to help him? Had he been sold out to the Sorcerous Kingdom for others' safety?
They were all cowards.
The whole lot of them, cowards.
Albedo did not react to Philip crying for his fist and ear's sake. She just walked forward as if he did not exist at all. Philip followed along without resistance, since his ear was still in her hand.
They walked outdoors from the main entrance.
"—Eeeek!"
Philip shrieked at the sight in front of him.
A forest had popped up in front of the mansion.
But unlike a normal forest, this one was not made of grass and trees.
A large amount of strangely shaped trees were there.
They were like stakes with hands and feet.
Impalement.
The villagers had all been impaled.
Men, women, old, or young were all impaled on stakes. Not a single one of them was spared.
All of them were impaled from the rectum to the mouth.
All of them told of their sufferings through their expressions, no exceptions. Blood spilt out from every orifice and puddles of blood formed at the base of the stakes.
When had they done something like this? It was impossible for Philip to not have noticed this going on.
"This...is not a dream. I used magic to soundproof your room. It must have been really silent, was it not? Haaah, if you were even a smidge smarter, you might have noticed something wrong...but from what I have seen, you were completely clueless up till now."
Philip tried to put all of his strength in his hands to release his ear from Albedo's grip again. Albedo reacted by punching his face as she said to him.
"I had considered letting the villagers execute you themselves, but that would be boring. That which I admire, Ainz-sama, had placed heavy emphasis on practical experience and training. That is why I wanted to test out some intel-gathering torture methods on you. You should be — of some use to me."
Upon seeing Albedo's expression, which was a smile that looked like it could tear her own face off, Philip lost consciousness.
"Haaah...this man, really...? Haaah, fine. After all, your father had requested me to, 'let that idiot taste everybody's pain!' I shall keep my promise to him."
Philip could no longer hear what she had said.
----
Since Albedo said she had to put an end to some matters, he was separated from her halfway back to this place. Ainz returned to his room alone and said in a solemn tone to the maid in charge of taking care of him today.
"I will be reviewing the strategies the Sorcerous Kingdom should employ in the future. Stay here and do not allow anyone else past this point."
Ainz saw that the maid in charge of accompanying him had turned her gaze towards the side of the door to his room, towards the maid in charge of his room today. She was probably about to tell her, "I will leave everything here to you then, I shall be the one to wait on the venerable Ainz-sama." This was how they usually operated after all.
Ainz knew of this in advance, so he made a move before they could.
"I will have to consider things on the scale of years into the future. Any form of movement could disrupt my train of thought, do you understand?"
"Yes! I will try my best to completely erase my presence from now on!"
While Ainz wanted to say that he did not mean it in that way, was this not fine too? In all honesty, the more he thought about this, the less he wanted to think about it.
"Good. Well then, seeing as you could not erase your presence for now, you should just stay here."
"Yes, Ainz-sama."
The maid in charge of attending to him stayed behind in the office. Ainz himself made his way straight to his bedroom.
His body was fine, but his mind was absolutely tapped out. Ainz leapt into his bed as if he was diving into a pool.
The soft bed gently accepted his body.
A magnificent dive.
If one was to consider the hang time, the distance he had leapt, the location he landed on, the pose he was in when he landed, et cetera, his diving motion would garner him praise that was objectively well-deserved.
This was a skill he had gained through practice and experience, because he had dived into his bed every time he was mentally exhausted.
"Haaaah!"
Ainz breathed a sigh of relief the same way a middle-aged man would. That sigh was beautiful too. A perfect thousand out of a thousand people surveyed would say that it was truly how a middle-aged man would sigh. The reason for this was the same as before, Ainz had practised his sighs multiple times before too.
Ainz rolled around in his bed after that. Sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right.
He had been at the ruined capital until now, so his body was covered in dust and dirt. While he knew that it would be best for him to take a slime bath first, he did not have the mental capacity for that anymore.
{So tiring...}
Was he successful in acting as a villain? Had he dealt with that fellow in the platinum armour correctly? Although there were multiple points that warranted consideration and review, they had finally sorted out a big issue.
—No.
This was just the first successful step in their grand scheme, one could say that things were only going to get more difficult for them from now on. With that said however, they had gotten the mindless destruction out of the way, one of the simpler parts of the plan. What was to come were destructions on a smaller scale, in other words, precision work. What was truly troublesome, was the rebuilding efforts that would come after that.
Up till this point, the Sorcerous Kingdom's territory had been tiny — excluding the Katze plains — yet it had giant nations as its vassals. However, things were different now. They had just gained a large amount of territory, the problems that could arise from this was obvious.
Of course, the one who had her hands full with internal affairs was Albedo, but if something serious was to arise, she would definitely consult Ainz on it. The problems that could occur in the future were sure to be even more critical and difficult than they were now. He had absolutely no faith in himself that he could resolve those issues appropriately at all.
Also, he could not figure out if he had messed up somewhere back then. Now, not only was there Albedo and Demiurge, the two geniuses of Nazarick around, that mentally compromised woman named Renner had also been added to Nazarick's ranks too. She had nothing to do with Yggdrasil, was purely an outsider, someone not bound by flavour text, and thus could analyze Ainz from a purely objective standpoint. What was more troubling was that her intellect was easily on par with the two geniuses of Nazarick.
Could he truly act out and act well the Ainz Ooal Gown he had been building up till now in front of someone like her?
"—I want to run away"
This was the truth — the wholehearted truth from the depths of Ainz's soul.
Ainz spoke like a true wageslave who had committed a major error that would probably be found out the next day he came in.
{I thought I had reached my limits back then. Is it not time that I let everyone know that I was a talentless hack this entire time? Have I not mentally prepared myself for this way back?}
But—
{The moment I think about that moment approaching...I get scared of what kinds of reaction they would have...fuck. Would that not be enough to trigger the emotional suppression...?}
It was as though Ainz's abilities were telling him that this was nothing to worry over at all.
Ainz pondered and pondered some more to arrive at a conclusion.
"—alright, I'll run away."
However, that was easier said than done. There was no way that leaving everything behind to run away would be acceptable. It was like if he had not handed in the documents for his replacement yet wanted to use up all of his paid leave for a vacation a month before he resigned. That was definitely not an acceptable way to quit a job.
While he could just say, "alright, I'll run away" and actually run away, he would be looked down on for that.
He would need an appropriate reason for his absence.
Did he not have anything at all?
Ainz racked his nonexistent brain.
{Right!}
An idea flashed in his mind.
He had considered multiple paid leave plans in the past, but they all went to waste. If that was the case — how about he set an example for them by taking a vacation first?
To be free from the shackles of Nazarick for even a little while, to hand over the work required to Albedo, would definitely be a safer bet than leaving the work to him.
But there was a chance that she would say that Ainz, as the supreme leader of Nazarick, had to be included in the planning process. If she said that...
"I already used the excuse that they should train to be self-sufficient should I pass away, so this could just be a variant of that. I'll tell them that should I become uncontactable, Albedo would be in charge of everything — that's the plan I'll run with."
Ainz clenched his fist.
It was just that—
{Where should I go?}
He could improve their relationship with the Empire and his with Jircniv by touring the Empire.
Or he could investigate the mountain chain that contained the Dwarven nation.
The Holy Kingdom—
{—that's a no from me since there's nothing of value there anyways.}
All sorts of dreams manifested in his mind as they grew more and more elaborate.
And then, Ainz was suddenly reminded of something.
{How about I send those children away to make some elf friends?}
Aura and Mare. He had thought about this before, about whether or not he was pushing too much work onto them. Although this was well within the norm back in that world, Yamaiko had repeatedly ranted to him that their way of doing things was wrong. If that was the case, he should probably be more lenient to those children.
So, what should he do? Should he take those two on a tour?
{That sounds nice...no, wouldn't that be an excellent plan? If I did that, it could both set an example to the Floor Guardians about paid leave, but it would also be an experiment to see how well Nazarick would fare without them.}
He had noticed the problem of the increasing workload on the Floor Guardians long ago. Perhaps he could figure out a solution to that problem through this.
"Alright!"
After he completes a certain amount of work, he should take those children to the Elven nation to make some friends.
Ainz stood up and walked out of the room with that plan firmly set in his heart.
-x-X-x-