Normie

- How did things end up like this?

Suzuki Satoru's mind trailed off into his own world to protect himself while his body auto-piloted on the shortest route. Occasionally he noticed when he passed by some men, their stare told him that they wished he would go to hell. It took awhile for him to come to the realization that when bystanders saw him, they would immediately label him as a normie. It was too late for him as whenever he looked at Albedo, he could tell she was happy and he couldn't bring himself to shatter that.

They were holding hands, their fingers interlocked. Right when they left the apartment, using her genius intellectual brain, she persuaded him that they should hold hands with convincing reasons. Hoping her aggressive assault would end, he had jokingly asked if she was a kid who was easily lost, to his surprise she took his suggestion seriously and acted like a kid who would easily get lost. He couldn't allow her shameful act to go wasted.

- Whatever. If she's this happy with something simple as this then it should all be fine. We're almost there.

The muffled voice under the mask was a bit hard to hear but communication wasn't impossible.

"Albedo, what you see before you is how the rest of this world is. This world isn't as beautiful as yours. I feel a bit sad to think that you came to this world that has nothing good to offer you. I mean it's cool you're here with me but that's my own personal feeling. To give up being in a place like Heaven to come to a place that's like Hell, that's either bad luck or foolishness. Well, you couldn't possibly have known but, the situation still sucks."

"Yes, It's true that this world doesn't have much to offer but it does have just one thing that makes it all worth coming to."

"Hooh… I can't think of anything worth it. What could that be possible?"

"You, Satoru."

Skeptically, he turned his head to look at her. He couldn't see her mouth and nose under that mask but knew from her eyes that it was her cool usual smile underneath.

- I played right into that trap, I should've expected that. That was super cringy... Like something straight out of a B-movie. Not like you would know what that is Albedo. We'll watch one of those later so you can go reflect on your words!

It could be considered idiotic to see someone bring their hand to cover their mouth when it was already covered, just so they could cough. He had done that idiotic thing to help his mental state recover himself.

A thin homeless kid caught his attention. The kid had a cup placed in front of him and he was too poor to have a sign begging for money. Satoru could tell that the naive kid was probably new to the streets. That kid would not live past a week if he continued to live like this. It was a sad situation but he felt nothing for him.

At that age, Satoru was already working. His mind drifted to the past when he listened to Yamaiko's anger at the world. Her detailed explanation how she firmly believed that child labor and the way this world worked was wrong. It was an ideal that was appeasing but he also understood the harsh reality. Maybe if he was someone from a hundred years ago he would feel sorrow for the boy. He was not such a generous man to give out free handouts.

- Hmmm, now that I think about it. All the creations in Ainz Ooal Gown are mostly heteromorphic races. I wonder how Albedo feels about humans. This isn't like Yggdrasil, there are no intelligent creatures other than humans.

"Albedo."

"Yes?"

"What do you think of humans?"

"They're extremely weak and fragile. They exist solely to be crushed under my heels like the insects they are."

"U-um is that so."

Even with the sun being blocked out by the darkened clouds, the temperature was still hot. Satoru was used to these high temperatures but he could feel himself sweating from hearing Albedo's answer.

- I guess we did make all of them except Aureole Omega as non humanoid beings. So that answer would kind of make sense for them to have but… The world is filled with them, would you be okay in this world Albedo? My stomach hurts thinking about the possibility of you doing something rash. If only we knew you and the rest would come to life. Is this something like bad parenting?

Satoru realized he didn't do well in hiding his dissatisfaction towards her answer as he could feel her thumb toying in his sweaty palms. She squirmed knowing she screwed up and looked for a way to please him.

"But-but Satoru is a different case! You're special! If you wanted to crush me under the heels of your foot, I wouldn't be displeased with that!"

- What is this? An S&M play!

"Ah I get it, it's because I'm like family. Like how in rare cases where predators regard a prey as a part of their family. A bond different from prey and predator establishing between them. Something like that."

- Uwah, what a lame analogy. Can't be helped, I needed to dispel this perverted situation.

"I never knew that was such a thing. As expected of your wisdom."

- Nn-no, I've never seen it. I've only heard it from Blue Planet!

The sidewalk they tread on was filled with potholes. It would be like a mini game to swerve around the many holes without falling into them. The acidic water inside the potholes hid it's depth. From experience Satoru knew the depth of these holes were not to be regarded as cute or be laughed at. It would take too much money to repair these constantly and the government that had responsibilities to repair these could not afford such things. The government was just like an empty husk that just existed to be pretty.

The buildings they had passed on their way were all corroded. There were a few that weren't but it was obvious that those buildings were owned by the mega corporations. The building that Suzuki Satoru was headed towards was one of those owned by a mega corporation.

"Would it be better if I held onto you and flew to where we are going to?"

"Well certainly it might be easier but… I'm not so sure if it's a good thing. I don't know if it would be considered as unlawful travel in airspace without registration... That was a joke. We shouldn't do that because there's a lot of wicked people out there. If they knew you weren't human… I'm afraid I might not be able to stop them from dissecting you or using you for their own personal greed. I will never forgive them, but I also wouldn't forgive myself either."

"Satoru... You've mentioned something like this before."

Their fingers were already interlocked but she firmly gripped his hand as if she wanted to ease his worries.

"They take the same form as you, would it trouble you to see them die?"

"Mm, It depends. If you're talking about guts spilling everywhere and flying onto me then yeah that would be troubling. If you're talking about them dying, then no, not really. What's with the question?"

"If they're as strong as the humans I'm thinking of then I'll just kill all the foolish worms that would dare think of threatening our way of life. They couldn't possibly hurt me, they're too weak. If they tried to lay their dirty hands on you then I'll give them a death that even Neuronist would feel awed by. If there was such a human that could rival me then, I'll put my whole body on the line to protect you."

- So now they're worms instead of insects huh. It doesn't matter if you could defeat thousands, millions, billions, if you die then that's it! No matter how many dead bodies you stack, for me this would be the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals, maybe ever. You should think about how I would feel, you idiot!

"Idiot!"

- Did I just blurt that out?

Albedo's face was just the same as Satoru, surprised. He didn't mean to actually say that out loud. He was confident he could separate his inner thoughts and actual voice since he was an office worker. He would need to reevaluate himself later, right now he needed to correct himself before he unintentionally hurt her and ruin the whole point to this date.

"Uh, well if you retain all your stat and skills from Yggdrasil, it could be true that you're super powerful in this world's scale of power but… What if there's a chance you get maimed or possibly killed? Especially just to save me, I would be responsible for it. Yeah it's painful for you if you get hurt but it's also painful for me to see you get hurt. So don't ever think about throwing away your life! In the end, I don't care about them. To me you're irreplaceable Albedo, don't put yourself at unneeded risk."

"Yes! I am confident in my regeneration abilities but as you said, it isn't impossible for me to be killed. Fufu~ To hear that you would feel concerned if I departed this world, I am extremely lucky to have you care about me. It is such an honor to be in love with you."

- What? Oh yeah, she's right. She could regenerate. Haah~ I keep thinking this world's law applies to her. Come on Suzuki Satoru, get your head together and stop saying such embarrassing things.

"I- I guess so."

From this distance, he could see the top of a dome building. It was impressive as it seemed properly maintained from outside. The walls were reflective and would reflect the sunlight in a beautiful manner if the sun wasn't constantly blocked. Suzuki Satoru with his entire freehand, pointed towards it.

"That's where we're going."