Chapter 9

Ainz posed in front of the mirror.

"No, that's not quite right. Maybe move my arm… Perfect." Ainz muttered.

Over time Ainz had become very good at assuming his practised kingly poses. However he could not reuse the same positions, he needed new ones. He was currently practising his recently developed Arrogant Pose Position #4.

The door behind him opened.

'Crap.'

Medulla, one of the two Vault Guardians walked in holding a stack of papers. She glanced at Ainz, who was unable to react in time. She then turned around and walked out.

'No, no, no. Has she lost all respect from me? Is she about to start spreading strange rumors about what I do in my spare time?'

Ainz raced over to the door, determined to chase after her and try to bluff his way out of this difficult situation.

As Ainz reached the door, the door opened again and Medulla stepped in holding a stack of papers.

"Uh, did you see anything when you first entered?"

Medulla's eyes darted left and right, then quickly shook her head.

'She's a bad liar!'

Ainz pretended to clear his throat.

"Ahem, well, pretend that you didn't see anything. Also, knock or announce yourself before entering. Understood?"

Medulla nodded nervously and started to hand Ainz papers.

Ainz skimmed through them as Medulla stood by.

"Hm, just curious, why did you two go to the Empire in the first place?"

'Wait, I shouldn't have said that. What if they already reported this and I didn't read the report correctly.'

Ainz studied Medulla's face, which betrayed no hint of emotion.

"Ah, well, uh, regardless, good job on handling the situation in the Empire."

Medulla smiled and gave a light bow, which surprised Ainz since she was normally as expressionless as CZ Delta.

Relieved, Ainz returned to flip through the documents. But Medulla continued to stand by, as if she was waiting for something.

"There is no need to wait for me, you may take your leave."

Medulla looked slightly confused, she walked over and took a page out of the pile and pointed.

" 'Request for more operational freedom' I see, you want me to sign this."

Ainz read the document closely.

The document seemed pretty innocuous. All it really did was request that Azirim and Medulla could operate on the same level as Demiurge and Albedo.

Ainz stamped the document.

"Next time you can just ask. Something like this doesn't need to be so formal."

"Lord Ainz signed off on it?"

"..."

"Perfect. First stop, Re-Estize."

"..."

"Ah, right. I'll deal with the nobles and you can open discussions with Blue Rose."

"..."

"Demiurge had mentioned it, Lord Ainz wanted to build up the Adventurers Guild in the Sorcerous Kingdom and what better way to do it than to recruit an Adamantite adventurer party?"

"..."

"Fine, how does the commander of the Fourth sound?"

Zanac fidgeted nervously as he recalled the news messenger delivered a week ago. A Minister of Interior and Exterior Affairs has been appointed in the Sorcerous Kingdom and they planned on a state visit to the kingdom.

It is very clear this statement was a sign that the Sorcerous Kingdom was to continue to operate, with or without its king.

The news of the Sorcerous King's death caused waves in the royal court of Re-Estize. Nobles of all factions united and demanded action, many of whom demanded that the crown reinstate conscription in order to retake E-Rantel. Eventually the demands died out when Ramposa himself was forced to intervene.

Zanac personally did not believe that the Sorcerous King was dead. It was almost absurd to think that someone who could destroy an entire army with a single spell could even be killed.

"How dare they? Who do they think they are ordering us around like this? They are just a tiny city-state without its king. Now they think this empty gesture will frighten us? We should strike off this 'minister's' head and send it back to the Sorcerous Kingdom!"

The words of Count Iselk seemed to resonate with others in the court as they added their voices in support.

"And what will we do once they invade?"

"Ha! Invade? They lost their king, what can they do? The people of E-Rental would not fight for them and any military units they have are likely dealing with the undead creatures created by the Sorcerous King as they are surely rampaging now that their creator is gone."

The two sides began to squabble; one side advocating for war and the other advising caution.

"Enough! Those who suggested we betray our hospitality should be ashamed. We will show courtesy to our guests and I will hear no more. " Ramposa's voice cut through the shouting.

"We will end it here for today. I hope cooler minds will be brought to the next discussion."

The day the minister from the Sorcerous Kingdom arrived was tense. Many citizens of Re-Estize chose to stay indoors. The normally bustling city was eerily silent as mothers hushed their children when the carriage flying the flag of the Sorcerous Kingdom rolled by and people peeked out of their windows to catch a glimpse at the adamantite armored knights escorting the carriage.

Just like when Prime Minister Albedo had visited, Zanac awaited the carriage dressed in ceremonial armor and surrounded by the royal guard.

He stared in mute shock at the eight knights that served as the minister's escort. Each was outfitted in full enchanted adamantite plate armor. The Kingdom would bankrupt itself attempting to purchase such equipment.

'Must be the elite guard.' Zanac thought as the carriage stopped and two figures emerged.

The first person was a knight in shabby armor while the second was a beautiful snow white woman in strange leather armor. It was clear to Zanac that the woman was the envoy while the knight was her personal guard.

"Welcome, my lady, to Re-Estize. I hope your journey here was comfortable. We have prepared a modest gala to welcome you to our kingdom." Zanac bowed.

He waited several seconds for a response, but none came. When he raised his head he saw that the woman was pointing to the knight beside her.

"Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am Azirim, newly appointed Minister of Interior and Exterior Affairs."

"M-my apologies, I seemed to have made a mistake my lord."

The envoy ignored him and began making his way to the palace.

Zanac swallowed and ran after him.

"I would like to meet Princess Renner. I believe she is the real power within the palace." said Azirim casually.

Zanac hesitated as he struggled to think of a response. He could not deny that Renner held a surprising amount of influence within the royal court despite her lack of allies, but Zanac wouldn't go as far as to describe her as 'the real power in the court'.

"Of course, let me move ahead to deliver the message so she may have time to prepare."

Climb eyed the knight and the woman nervously as they sat across from Renner.

"Tea?" the Princess offered.

The pale woman raised her hand and Renner poured her a cup.

"May we speak alone?" Azirim's tone did not match his polite request.

Renner gestured for Climb to leave. Climb hesitated for a second and left the room.

"[Room of Whispers]" muttered Medulla.

"I suppose I am to report to you instead of Prime Minister Albedo from now on?" Renner asked timidly as she sipped from her own cup.

"Do not bother with the act. It wastes both of our time."

Renner continued to smile, but the warmth drained from her eyes.

"I am here for a very simple reason. I would like to remind you that service to Ainz Ooal Gown is eternal and anything short of complete servitude is punishable by death."

Azirim stood up.

"That is all."

Azirim moved to leave the room.

Medulla quickly finished her tea and followed after him.

"Huh?"

Renner just watched in confusion as the pair left. She had expected to be transferred under the command of the new minister or given an important message. She wondered if she was being tested somehow and continued to ponder on the issue long after they left.

Azirim was bored. It was the second hour into the gala that the Kingdom had 'held in his honor'. He could leave whenever he wanted since he had already finished his business in the Kingdom. Unfortunately he had to maintain the act that he was here on a diplomatic visit.

He had to endure many glares and whispers. Despite many nobles showing open hostility and insulting him, he was particularly annoyed by a noble who pestered him about being introduced to Albedo and how powerful of a noble he was. Even now, the deranged noble was going on about how he would marry both the princess and Albedo and how he would take over the Sorcerous Kingdom.

But Azirim held back the urge to kill the annoying nobles. He did not want to ruin the many months of preparation it took for Lord Ainz, Demiurge and Albedo to set up the downfall of the Kingdom.

Azirim continued to count down the seconds until he could leave.

Legatus followed Guardian Medulla down the streets of Re-Estize towards their destination, a fancy inn located in the upper districts of the city.

He was a Warforged, a higher tier of the Automaton race. Legatus was a massive figure being almost 8 feet tall and wearing bulky Ancient Roman style armor. Legatus would be smiling if he could, as he looked around him, almost giddy with excitement as he imagined the generosity of Lord Ainz being brought to the ignorant masses of the Kingdom.

The pair reached the entrance and entered. Legatus struggled to enter the building without destroying the doorway. Medulla watched impassively as the hulking metal monster tried to enter the doorway at different angles before eventually crawling sideways through the entrance.

Once inside, Medulla took out a sheet of paper confirming their reservation and showed it to a worker in the building and they were escorted to one of the many private rooms that the inn rents out.

"I don't like this." Evileye muttered as the members of Blue Rose entered the establishment.

"We've been over this, we know nothing about the Sorcerous Kingdom. We pulled every favor, tracked down any person with even the small bit of knowledge on the undead; and how much more do we know of this Ainz Ooal Gown?" Lakyus responded.

"I agree with our demon leader, if we can get any information at all, it would be infinitely more helpful than the past several months of information gathering." said Tia as she surveyed the room.

Evileye remained silent as they were led to the back room. In the room were two figures; one who was much larger than the walking mass of muscles that was Gagaran, the other was a woman whose sculpted beauty reminded Evileye of Nabe.

'Why is she the first person that I think of? Our leader and the princess are also very good looking.'

Lakyus approached the woman and offered out her hand.

"Greetings, I am Lakyus of Blue Rose."

The woman stared at the hand and beside her.

"This is Guardian Medulla. I, Legatus will be speaking on her behalf as it would be quite bad for weaklings like you to hear her voice." spoke the mountain beside her in a cheery voice.

Gagaran bristled at the comment while the twins looked uncomfortable.

Lakyus, likely due to her noble upbringing, showed no signs that she heard the comment.

"Of course, may we sit?"

Legatus simply nodded.

All members of Blue Rose except Evileye sat down.

"Let us get down to business, we would like to understand this request for Blue Rose." Lakyus seemed slightly unsure as to who she should be speaking to. She eventually settled on speaking to Medulla.

"The request is very simple, we would like to extend an invitation to Blue Rose to join the Adventurers Guild in the Sorcerous Kingdom."

"What!?" Gagaran exclaimed in surprise.

Legatus continued as if he did not hear anything.

"We want you and your team to help train the next generation of adventurers and-"

"No."

Legatus stopped talking and looked over at Evileye who stood, arms crossed. He then looked at the rest of Blue Rose.

"Does she speak for all of you?"

"My apologies, we would need to discuss amongst ourselves."

"Of course."

Legatus and Medulla stood up and left the room.

"I kinda feel like we should have been the ones to leave, kinda rude of us huh?" Tina said in a joking manner.

"Maybe the room is being watched?" Tia began to pull items out of her pockets and investigated the room.

"Nope, nothing."

"So, are we going to take this request?" ask Gagaran.

"No, there shouldn't be any sort of debate. There is no way in hell we are joining the Sorcerous Kingdom." The anger was evident in Evileye's voice.

"I agree with Evileye. Helping the Sorcerous Kingdom in any capacity would be a betrayal to the Kingdom. Besides, how do we know that it is not a trap?. I do not think we should accept this request. Any objections?" Lakyus looked to each member of Blue Rose.

None of them objected.

Tia poked her head out the room and gestured to the envoys to return.

Legatus and Medulla sat back down.

"And? Will you join us?"

"Unfortunately we must respectfully decline."

Then for a split second the atmosphere in the room suddenly became heavy and in that fraction of a second Lakyus gasped as she saw Legatus stand up and hit her so hard she flew through the solid wall behind her.

But a moment later she was back in the room, completely fine. Lakyus breathed heavily as her heart raced and sweat flowed down her temples. The vision she had was so real, yet she was completely unharmed. Her party members could be seen visibly trembling and pale. Tia and Tina's hands were on their weapons, Gagaran tensed up as she prepared to lunge, and Evileye readied her hands in preparation to cast spells.

"That is unfortunate indeed. Well, we have a final request. We wish to speak with Evileye alone." Legatus now spoke in a neutral tone.

"What!? No!" Evileye shouted uncharacteristically as she took a step away.

"I assure you we have no ill intentions. We simply want information and-"

Legatus paused and looked to Medulla. He remained silent for several seconds.

"In order to gain your trust, we will allow the rest of Blue Rose to stay and we are willing to offer information in exchange."

The members of Blue Rose glanced at each other. Each of them knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, first hand information from one of the Sorcerer King's close servants.

"We accept these terms." responded Lakyus.

"You get three questions. I will refuse to answer questions that may threaten the security of the Sorcerous Kingdom."

"Who is the Sorcerous King?" Evileye blurted out.

"Lord Ainz is our supreme overlord. He is the leader of the 41 Supreme Beings and master of the Great Tomb of Nazarick."

"41 beings?" muttered Tina, with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Who are these '41 Supreme Beings'?" asked Tia.

"The 41 are our Gods and creators. They are the creators of the realm of Nazarick and we are its sentinels"

"That leaves us with more questions than answers..."

"What is the Sorcerous King's goal? What does he want?"

"Our Lord has proclaimed that he wishes to create a utopia, a perfect society."

The members of Blue Rose did not look particularly convinced, doubt clearly written on their faces.

"Now it is our turn. We will question Evileye through the use of [Message] to ensure privacy."

"Have you ever associated with any members of the Thirteen Heroes?"

"Maybe."

"Was Rigrit Bers Caurau a member of the Thirteen Heroes?"

"Maybe."

"Does the name 'Landfall' mean anything to you?"

Evileye hesitated before answering.

"No."

"What about the name Keno Fasris Invern?"

Evileye jumped backwards and prepared to launch spells at the large figure.

"Where did you get that name!? ANSWER ME!"

The two figures stood.

"Thank you for your time. We have obtained all that we needed and we will take our leave."

A large black vortex appeared near them and they disappeared along with it.