27

Archer was completely calm after the teleportation to Thiers, not only because of his nature as a Servant, but also because he used to Ainz's magic and its capabilities.

"At least it's quite convenient," Archer was forced to confess to himself.

"Okay, so now the main goal is searching of the Servants, or a large cluster of enemies nearby," the necromancer had announced loudly, after that, he began issuing instructions. Archer, as expected, was chosen to be the first as the possessor of the most useful abilities in this case: long-range vision and high sensitivity to the presence of others, and therefore, after a few seconds, the Servant found himself moving away from his Master at a fairly decent speed, even for a Servant. And while it wasn't that he wanted to escape from his summoner as soon as possible, he couldn't say that he was fond of him.

Archer was watching Ainz closely for the past few weeks. Watched his actions, words, and fights. And did not find anything wrong. It was very strange.

Of course, when Ainz confessed about his necromancy - and his impressive successes in this matter - Archer was the first to suspect that Ainz was hiding something other than the sincere wish to help humanity, and he even expected Ainz to be perfect, kind, loving, all-forgiving, and all-understanding in a way that would even reassure Archer, because then Archer could pinpoint Ainz as a villain.

There are no perfect people. No one - Hero, King, Prophet and Saint is perfect. Only those who wish to be seen as ideal try to act perfect. Therefore, if Ainz turned out to be ideal, Archer would have only had his suspicions about the mage strengthened. Therefore, he hid his thoughts, watching every step Ainz made. But instead of the perfect hero who breaks all the stereotypes about necromancers to the smithereens, Ainz looked like... a humane enough necromancer?

He did not go out of his way to emphasize his heroism or distinguish his character, he did not try to stand out with traits such as a poor music choice or a love of bad jokes. No, His traits were those of a real necromancer. A sociopath and a killer, for whom everything was a resource.

Archer was not wrong in this thinking. In a sense, Ainz carried in his mind the traits that he got from Yggdrasil, a game where every NPC or monster he met was really a source of profit, materials, and valuable experience, in both senses of this the words.

During his time observing Ainz, Archer saw him inspecting the enemy with a cold mind, looking at the french soldiers as one-time disposable puppets. Archer saw what Ainz really was thinking about leaving Jeanne to her inevitable fate, because he only thought from a point of view of profit, the point of view of the person who really could rise to the heights of the art of necromancy.

And yet, Ainz did not abandon Jeanne, he really sought to deal with the problem that arose in the Singularity, and he took care of his Servants, not as a hero, nor as a Saint, but as an ordinary person experiencing ordinary human empathy.

This was the strangest.

Archer was not a true Servant, he did not ascend to the Throne of Heroes through his earthly legends and deeds, but made a pact with the world itself. However, he possessed all the knowledge bestowed by the Throne of Heroes. He knew about the Heroes themselves, he knew about their incarnations as Servants, and he understood that the Servants were the least humane of all existing creatures in the whole world, second only to creatures from outside the world. And, paradoxically, they were not human precisely because they were idolized reflections of humans.

There are no perfect people, and there are no absolutely bad people. No one is born evil or good, and even growing up, no one is able to define each of their traits as solely evil or good. A maniac's love of coffee is not an evil trait in itself, and an obsession with cleanliness is not a good trait for a good old woman. These are just character traits that define a human being.

But Servants are not human. Among the Servants, one could exist who is absolutely good, or absolutely evil, such Servants, who have only good or bad traits embodied in them, are evil or good simply by nature.

Not all Servants are like that, but, for example, a Servant called as a reflection of the legend of the "ideal king" remains the ideal king despite all his actions as a Servant. Even if he experiences human emotions, or shows traits beyond the simple description of "a Servant created from a legend", he still remains a Servant created by his legend. And Ainz was not like that.

Archer could not describe Ainz in a simple sentence. A necromancer who rose to the salvation of the world because he still retained human features, sometimes not ready for unexpected events, but still trying to help his servants because he sees them as people, but still ready to sacrifice them when needed? This was too long of a description for a Servant.

So who Ainz really was?

Archer's first guess was that he was not a Servant, but a true Heroic Spirit. While a Servant is one of the aspects of the personality of a Heroic Spirit, Ainz could be something complete. Not just a certain facet of someone's personality, but a real person. Not a Servant, but a Hero.

Probably, if Archer was a simple Servant, he would have stopped at this reflection. But Archer was not a real Servant. He was the one who came to the Throne of Heroes through a pact with the world.

Concluding a pact with the world, Archer agreed to serve in exchange for strength, to be one of the forms of the Counter-Force, even if it is one of its smallest forms. He received power in exchange for guarding this world, the lousy job to kill those who can no longer be saved for the sake of those who can still survive. And therefore, there was something in him that was inaccessible to ordinary Servants. Archer had an ability that he inherited from this type of job, which remained with him even when called as a Servant.

He could sense distortions that required the intervention of the Counter Force.

And Ainz was like that.

But, paradoxically, Archer could not determine why.

Ainz behaved as he was supposed to. Slowly making contacts, fighting, talking, smiling or arguing, he was nothing like the distortion that he was supposed to be.

This was Ainz's most unnatural feature that Archer could see in him. if Ainz was an unknowable horror from beyond the borders of the universe, there would be more logic and reason than his current behavior shows.

To some extent, this terrified Archer. It was terrifying because he possessed the mind of a veteran, a mercenary, a Counter Guardian, a warrior, a survivor, a broken hero. He collected information, made plans, improvised on the go. He hoped that he understood something about the world around him.

He understood absolutely nothing, not a single thing about Ainz.

He is a man with his problems, principles and goals? Why, then, does he distort reality? Or is he an incomprehensible evil? Then why is he so humane?

And, as if deliberately twisting Archer's paranoia, Ainz made sure that no one could collect information about him in any way. He was surrounded by the most monstrous spells and defenses that one could imagine, unbreakable walls and deadly traps. But there was nothing behind them. Deaf emptiness. Vacuum. An absolutely empty abyss...and nothing more.

The servants around Ainz could believe what they wanted, but Archer understood that a creature like Ainz was something... well..he could not even determine what he was.

Archer's gaze was suddenly drawn by the figure of two girls moving along the road. Both were extremely short, perhaps even shorter than Marie Antoinette or Serenity. From a distance, it was not possible to make out their concrete outlines, they were tens of kilometers away, but looking at them, Archer realized that they were the target that Ainz wanted to find in this place.

Reluctantly, Archer reached for a connection with Ainz. Even if he was an unknowable horror, he was still his Master. And Archer will do everything possible to follow him to the very end.

Hearing from Archer about finding two new Servants, Ainz was delighted, both by the very fact of their finding, and the fact that their finding did not take too much time. No, it couldhave been even more accurate to say that Ainz found them too quickly, he prepared at least for a few hours, but the mage believed that in this case, he needed to pay tribute to Archer's abilities and, a little bit, to his own decision to not leave him in the camp.

"Thank you, Archer," he answered his Servant, and then instantly used teleportation. The abrupt appearance of the mage near him made Archer take a step back and look at the mage with a wary look for a second, but the necromancer himself did not pay attention to it and only took a step closer.

'No, from such a distance…' - Ainz shook his head. Of course, he saw somewhere in the distance the blurry silhouettes of slowly wandering travelers, but without any class levels of an archer or a stalker - all that Ainz himself could make out was the fact of two people in the distance - 'From such a distance I can't even distinguish them as a Servants.'

Ainz could only sense Gilles' presence as Servants from a distance of a little less than a kilometer, so there was no mystery that he couldn't determine who was walking — so Ainz became even more envious of Archer's abilities.

'This is definitely extremely useful,' he nodded to himself, after which he glanced at the gray-haired guy standing next to him. He just glanced back and returned to observing the targets.

'Still, the Servants are amazing,' Ainz admitted to himself. It would not be surprising if he found among them someone stronger than himself... No, most likely many Servants should have been much stronger than him. In addition to their abilities, they were not only warriors - but also real veterans, masters of the battle, with whom Ainz himself could hardly ever compare - nevertheless, he remained an ordinary person.

The memory of the battle with Dracula came to mind. Of course, Lancer was strong... In a way. That is, Ainz would not want to meet with him, definitely if he had just started the game. Dracula was a worthy adversary for the mage of about... Fortieth level? Maybe forty-fifth. However, the mage of the fortieth level, of course, would have a few trump cards in his sleeve, which Dracula never showed - only a few abilities - but maybe Ainz simply did not see them? Perhaps the reason was that Dracula was incorrectly called up by the Witch - or did he simply consider Ainz as a non-dangerous opponent to the very end - or maybe he did not want to fight in full force? It was difficult to clearly predict why Dracula turned out to be so... Ainz did not want to use the word "weak" because he understood that the Servants were one of the strongest creatures in the universe and he probably just did not have time to demonstrate his strength - however, in any case, even if Dracula lost the battle, it only meant that Dracula was not the strongest of the Servants... No, most likely due to the fact that Dracula was a fictional character, he was simply at the very bottom of the levels of strength of the Servants - and other Servants were many times stronger and more dangerous than him.

Immediately the recollections of Tabula telling Ainz that Dracula was actually based on the story of some real person came to his mind, but the mage waved it off - it is unlikely that this had to do anything with his current thoughts.

Whatever it was, while thinking, Ainz did not notice how the travelers gradually reduced the distance - and after some time the mage could already make out that the moving ones were very short, like children - and were dressed in rather colorful clothes, which said in favor of the fact that they were Servants - and the question arose in the head of the mage. What should he do next?

Acquaintance with Jeanne happened for him... In a somewhat strange and unique way. Mozart and Marie Antoinette intervened in the battle that had already taken place, due to which the establishment of contact seemed to happen by itself. The meeting with John took place after his salvation - and also in somewhat unusual conditions - and his acquaintance with Gilles happened after John introduced him. In other words - Ainz has not yet met anyone just like that, by chance, on the street - and did not try to get to know them.

"What to do?" Ainz thought for a moment. If he ended up in his old world, then a man who suddenly met him on the street would have seemed extremely suspicious to him - although if this man, in order to appear less suspicious, suggested he go to his office - Ainz would panicked only more.

"Maybe send someone from the Servants?" - Ainz paused for a second. In his world, bosses very often dumped such work as a meeting of potential workers on the shoulders of their deputies, so Ainz could have suggested that it was still possible. However, at the same time...

Ainz glanced furtively at Archer as he continued to watch the two Servants. No, definitely not, he is not able to do this with such pressure! What if his Servants consider him an incompetent boss because of his actions, decide that he is dumping all the work on his subordinates - or even worse, what if they find out that Ainz feels uncomfortable while meeting new people?! No, Ainz definitely couldn't allow this!

Therefore, with an inward sigh, the mage smiled and took a step forward, slowly moving towards the two wandering Servants.

Approaching the people moving towards him took him a lot of time - during this time, the mage was able to imagine several possible dialogues that he could have with them - but none of these options was ideal. Ainz could find himself dozens of answers to any of the said phrases that would destroy his entire line - that is why, gradually, as he approached the Servants, the necromancer became more and more nervous.

'Good afternoon, girls…' - he said the phrase in his mind, trying to sound confident at least in his thoughts - 'Of course, you don't know me…'

'No, this is a bad option!' - Ainz felt panicked, after which the suppression of emotions calmed him again - 'Perhaps you will not believe me, but…'

'Another bad option!' - suppression of emotions prevailed over Ainz again - 'The fact is that I know you are Servants…'

Ainz also rejected this option as he did with the next one - and another one - and, before his mind could suggest the option that the mage could hold in his head longer than one phrase, Ainz discovered that he was with two Servants in plain sight.

The first thing that struck the mage's eye when he emerged from his thoughts was growth. Both girls - and the Servants were just girls - turned out to be extremely short, almost children. Maybe they were not from elementary school, but everything that Ainz could give them is fourteen years old - or sixteen, if you take into account that Ainz was always not very good at determining the age of people.

The first girl, moving ahead, was dressed somewhat frivolously for Ainz's ideas about schoolgirls. Ainz could not call her clothes anything besides a miniskirt of dark red color; moreover, this skirt did not fit her legs, but, on the contrary, held its shape from all sides like a dress, so Ainz felt like he would see something he was not supposed to see with her every next movement. Considering, however, that the girl was not dressed in a full-fledged top, but rather in leather dressings, rather emphasizing the most interesting places of her body than hiding anything, it was especially uncomfortable for Ainz to look at the girl. Fortunately for him, a detail was found in the girl's appearance that caused the magician to be distracted.

A tail.

And it was not a small tail with a tassel - but a black, rather massive, scaled tail of a reptile, furthermore, bifurcating, and therefore in a strange way similar to a snake tongue. However, this was not the only interesting feature of the girl's appearance.

Quite long crimson hair converged on her back, just below the shoulder blades, framing a childish face, barely touched by puberty, with large turquoise eyes, allowing Ainz to see the horns. And these were not the little cute little horns of the imp — no, they were massive black demonic ones — or perhaps dragon horns, rising from the sides of her head up, adding twenty more centimeters to her growth.

The girl moving next to her did look much more decent, she was dressed in a turquoise yukata with huge sleeves, additionally hiding half of her body and not showing her figure at all, with the exception of thin hands, in one of which she held black and gold fan, richly decorated with an ornament, with the help of which at the moment she covered her face. However, Ainz could see her long silver-gray hair, descending to the middle of her thigh, and the golden eyes in which the smile splashed. As the horns.

The girl, moving a little behind, also had horns - but unlike the horns of the one ahead, these horns were white and very small, neatly located on the sides of her head, so that with a quick glance they could even be mistaken for some strange decoration.

Gradually, drawing closer to the two, Ainz was able to hear their dialogue.

"...one more word and I swear by everything I have, I will kill you!" - Red one, as Ainz noted for herself, was clearly unhappy with something and absolutely did not bother to control the volume of her voice.

The White one spoke much quieter, so Ainz could not hear the response line - but he was quite able to see the reaction to it.

"SHUT UP!" - Red one unexpectedly turned around and took a step towards the White one.

"Or what?" - the White one just grinned, removing the fan for a second to show her smile, and then opened it again, hiding her face.

"ARGH!" - shouted powerlessly into the void with her head up the Red one and then rushed forward with a quick step towards the already approaching Ainz.

"Good afternoon, girls..." the magician began the prepared phrase, however, the Red one, not even listening to his words, simply crashed into the mage.

"GET AWAY!" - she snarled, then shoved the necromancer to the side. If Ainz was a human, then at the best he would have gained a several broken ribs and a couple of meters of short flight to the ground after such a collision, but he only swayed, taking a step to the side.

"Can't you stand the truth?" - moving after the girl, the White one said it calmly, just passing by Ainz, without even giving him a look.

Ainz, while finding such an action at least uncivilized, followed the Servants.

"I apologize, but..." the magician said this calmly, still forcing the two to pay attention to him.

"STAND AWAY, DIRTY PEASANT!" - the Red one, stopping in place, instantly went to Ainz, annoyed by what had happened even more.

"Oh, this is not a very convenient turn..." - the magician stopped for a second, thinking about what action he should take.

The Red one, who was next to the mage, however, did not hear his thoughts and already raised a fist to strike, but was stopped.

"Stand down, crazy," - the White one rolled up her fan for a second, after which she looked at Ainz a little more carefully.

"Shut up!" - the Red one reacted very painfully to this, but the White one ignored such a remark, only once again looking at the magician. He smiled, being glad at least of such events, and bowed a little.

"As I say, good afternoon, girls," - Ainz smiled at the two Servants, but they did not let him continue again.

"You," - the White one, finally, having examined the magician to the end, looked into his face, "You aren't from these place - are you?"

"That's right, girls," - Ainz smiled and nodded slightly, not forgetting to bow to the Red one.

"Hmmm, really?" - the White one took a step towards the magician, after which she stopped in front of him.

"Hey, what's going on?" - the Red one was indignant at the instant development of events - "Do you know him?"

"No, unfortunately we are not familiar," - Ainz smiled at the frisky girl, - "But I was going to fix it."

"Then get away!" - the Red one jumped up briskly, after which she turned to the White one, - "Damn filthy peasant!"

"You are so slow-witted that this is honestly a little bit frustrating," the White one pretended to fan out, "The fact that he does not run away from these two… things on your head already indicates that he is not just a peasant."

"That's right," Ainz smiled, after which, not finding a better option, he tried to explain the situation, "The fact is that I am on a mission to search for Servants."

"So another one from the Witch?" - the Red one instantly looked at Ainz in disgust, and then turned away - "Tell her that our answer is the same. Let her run to the four winds of heaven."

"Of course," the magician nodded. "But I am not a servant of the Witch. I am her opponent."

"Oh, really now?" - the White one reacted calmly to this, after which she looked around the mage again, - "And who in this doomed world is ready to fight the Witch?"

Deciding to add a little impressiveness to his words, Ainz said - "The French Army."

"What?" - the Red one just grinned to this - "Are they still alive? I thought they all were killed under Charite."

"During Charite, they suffered losses," Ainz was forced to agree, "However, they are still alive and continue their struggle."

"Struggle indeed" - the White one fanned herself several times, - "Hmm, in that case, as I understand it, would you like to involve us to this fight?"

Ainz just nodded.

"Yeah, of course," the Red one only grinned at this and turned around on the road again, waving her goodbye, "Not interested."

"My fellow traveler, of course, is kind of stupid," the White one did not miss the opportunity to prick her, watching how the Red one twitched from her mention, "However, she is right. We do not want to fight the Witch."

"Oh, that's how..." Ainz paused for a second. It's not that he expected he could so easily convince other Servants to fight on his side, but at the same time he also did not want to hear a negative answer, "Why?"

"And why should we?" - the Red one only grinned at it, stopping for a second, - "Your war - you fight."

"How I would not like to agree with this fake dragon," ignoring the cry "WHO DID YOU CALL A FAKE?!" the White one only sighed, "But she is right. This is simply not our battle."

"Ah, that's how..." - Ainz thought for a moment, "But, in that case - why did you end up being called into this world?"

"Who knows?" - White one only smiled, hiding her smile with a fan, - "But not for that - that's for sure."

"Hmm..." Ainz thought for a second. What could he say to them in such a way that he could convince them and force them to fight in a war that they considered foreign? What could he offer - if they were called without the Master, and therefore did not need his support to continue their existence?

Ainz lost in thought; however, no one was going to give him the opportunity to come up with the right answer. The Red one, having stopped to pay attention to the silent magician, simply went ahead, after which the White one, leaving him a farewell smile, went after her. Ainz, unconsciously, moved after them. The first one to draw attention to this was the Red one, who recognized the sound of the man's steps after the ten meters past.

"What else is not clear to you?" - the girl just sighed and turned to the magician, - "The Witch has won - you have lost. Now get out. Or should I explain it more lucidly?"

"Please don't bring this to bloodshed," Ainz tried to instantly minimize the conflict.

"Bloodshed, hmmm?" - the White one stopped after that, after which she looked again into the eyes of the magician, - "Are you not afraid of us at all? We are Servants."

"Yeah," the Red one only grinned, "I am a dragon - I can break you with one blow!"

"Dragon, pff," the White one only burst out, then closed her face with a fan.

"I know," Ainz only nodded at that, "But I have already met the Servants in our camp."

"In the camp?" - after these words, the Red one was surprised in earnest, - "Do these weaklings finally have someone strong?"

"Ah, that," Ainz thought for a second, not sure if he should tell all of it to those who had not even agreed to fight, "Yes, they did."

"Hmm, okay..." the White one thought about it, after which she looked around the magician, "And who is this - a man or a woman?"

Ainz still felt insecure about this, so he answered evasively, - "Men and women."

"Oh, there are several of them at once!" - the Red one intervened in the dialogue, finally going up to the speakers, forcing the White one to just look at that disapprovingly - "Fine! Who are they?"

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you that." Ainz just shook his head.

The White one did not react to this, clearly anticipating such an answer, but the Red one, not getting what she wanted, only looked at the magician with hostility.

"It seems you haven't understand who you are talking to, peasant!" - the girl took a step back, after which she punched her open palm with her fist - "We are Servants! Speak - who are they!"

Unfortunately, her speech would have had a greater effect if the White one's fan had not landed, immediately after that, on her head, between the horns, striking her with a soft pop-sound.

"Shut up, the fake dragon!" - the White one pulled the fan back to herself after that and looked at the mage - "Hmm... And was there someone… like a traveller among the called men?"

"What?" - Ainz pondered the question for a second. What did she mean - "like a traveller"? This definition was too vague to answer it unequivocally.

"Like a traveler," - the White one, however, tried to carefully interrogate the mage, - "Simple clothes... Slightly lost sight... Maybe he said that he once stayed in a temple…"

Ainz was only thinking about it, while the Red one was looking at her fellow traveler.

"Kiyo..." - the Red one tried to say something to the girl, but was instantly interrupted.

"Shut up, fake!" - the White one roared at the girl, after which she looked at the mage expectantly.

'Simple clothes, a lost sight…' - Ainz just thought about it. Hmm, if you consider the cloak as simple clothes, the only one who resembled this description was Archer. Of course, he did not talk about any temple - but on the other hand Ainz did not communicate with him all this time, so that he could easily just never talk about it.

"Hm, then," Ainz said thoughtfully, "Maybe this man is still in the camp..."

"HE IS THERE?!" - Ainz was suddenly significantly shaken when the White one lifted him by the chest - "WHO IS HE?! WHO IS HE?!"

"I can't tell you this," Ainz just said calmly, looking at the girl whose eyes didn't have any prudence, "The fact is that you..."

"DO NOT YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" - the White one once again shake him, and then again and again, turning Ainz into a dummy toy with a dangling head, - "TELL ME QUICKLY WHO IS HE?!"

"I can't tell you this," it was not was not very comfortable for Ainz to talk in such situation, but if he was silent, the result could be even more tragic for him.

Instantly, the White one threw him off her hands like a sack, and then hung over him. Of course she was not tall and was too pretty to be menacing - but now nothing even hinted that she was calm just a minute ago. On the contrary - there was a monster, blazing with a fury, with a fire raging in her eyes. Even her small neat horns gleamed ominously, as if they reflected the glare from her golden eyes.

"Kiyo, why are you..." - almost frightened, the Red one watched the White one's actions, who didn't even pay attention to the words of the Servant.

"I will devour you right now," there wasn't a trace left of the girl's old sweet voice — now it sounded more like an ominous growl of a Cerberus, "There will be no even bones left of you to bury - even a dust. I will kill you - I will tear off your hands and feet, rip off your skin alive and crush your head with a heel - if you do not tell me right now - WHO IS HE?!"

"Hold Species," Ainz used the best paralysis spell he could at the moment. After a second, the girl whose hand he touched froze, losing control of her body. The Red one, seeing this, took a step back, after which a long red spear, ending in a spiral top, instantly materialized in her hand.

"What did you do?!" - She demanded an answer, immediately pointing a spear at the mage.

"I just decided to stop your friend before she would do something stupid," Ainz peacefully raised his hands, then slowly dropped them, breaking the spell. Kiyo, instantly gaining control of herself, immediately recovered and slightly dusted herself off.

"Hmm, I apologize for my unexpected outburst of emotions," the girl bowed to Ainz, "However, as I understand it, you won't tell me who is this man in the camp?"

To this, the magician only shook his head.

"And you are not as harmless as it might seem," the girl just dusted herself off after these words and looked at the mage that spread his hands, "Hmm, in that case - really, I have no other choice."

Ainz prepared for the girl's new actions, but she only looked at him and bowed, "Swear that the man you mentioned is fighting on your side."

Ainz did not name a specific person, but he still decided to nod at it, - "I swear."

There was silence for a second, during which the Red one continued to nervously glancing at the two speakers.

"You are not lying," Kiyo said a moment later, a little surprised, after which her pupils dilated, "You are not lying. You are really not lying."

"Of course," Ainz nodded. He used to keeping his word - and never lie - if it was not about his enemies, or during the battle, of course, - "I do not lie."

For a second, Kiyo fell silent, after which she suddenly sniffed. This was such an unexpected action for Ainz that he blinked from the sound.

"Anchin…" - Kiyo said this, and then sniffed again, - "Anchin... Anchin, you still came back... You came back for me!"

After that, as if the power had disappeared from the girl's legs, she instantly fell off - and if it weren't for Ainz, who had caught her one second before falling to the ground, she would surely have hit her head. After that, however, Kiyo unexpectedly squeezed the mage in her arms.

"Anchin... Anchin... Anchin!" - She continued to sob, trying to hug the mage stronger. Ainz felt at this moment somewhat uncomfortable, but nevertheless reciprocated hesitantly the girl's hug, "Anchin! Anchin! Anchin!"

"Kiyo..." the Red one took a step towards the girl she had seen in such a pitiful state for the first time.

Ainz just continued to hold the girl in his arms, feeling that her tears were soaking his clothes.

So, for several minutes, the situation was stabilized, after which the White one nevertheless pulled away from the magician and brushed away the tears from her face.

"Well, I understand," the girl sighed, finally pulling herself together, after which she looked carefully at the magician, stepping away from her, "In that case, apparently, I really have no choice."

After these words, Ainz tensed for a second, but this was not required.

"I agree," Kiyo nodded, after which she looked at Ainz, a little surprised, "I agree to join you if you take me to this man."

"Kiyo, are you crazy?!" - the Red one was indignant at the decision of her companion.

"Shut up!" - But in response to this Kiyo only shouted at the girl, after which she turned to Ainz, - "Those are my terms. Do you agree to them?"

"Of course," Ainz just nodded to that, after which he turned his gaze to the Red one, "I would have brought you to this man anyway - if you become our ally."

"This whole world has gone crazy!" - the Red one clutched her head, after which she looked at Ainz - "Well, in that case - I, apparently, have no choice too."

The Red one twisted her spear, which never disappeared after the initial summoning, and then made an elegant curtsy, twisting the spike in her hands in the manner of a pole — "Elizabeth Bathory, the great countess in front of you! Rejoice!"

"In that case - even if this unsuccessful fake dragon has introduced herself - I'm afraid it would be impolite for me to remain silent," the White one made a small bow, "Kiyohime is at your service."

"Thank you," the magician also nodded in response, "Ainz. Ainz Ooal Gown."

"Well, in that case - since all the questions have been settled..." Kiyohime sighed. "Take me to my Anchin."

Ainz nodded and extended out his hand for a teleportation spell.

'Kiyohime... It's from some kind of legend, isn't it?' he thought for a second before the spell - 'I think I heard about it once... However, Elizabeth Bathory?.. This name seems familiar to me too - but where have I heard of it before?..'

Kiyohime took a step toward Archer, that looked frowningly at her in response, and then slowly moved around, trying to look at him from all sides. Archer, bound by order, only stood still, feeling how the girl was examining him as if he was a museum exhibit.

Kiyohime circled around Archer at first from the one side, then from the other one - then carefully looked him up and down, and, in the end, approached the Servant and, just in case, sniffled the air. Archer did not know how he would react if she tried to lick him or do something similarly disturbing, but before this Kiyohime pulled away from Archer and then shook her head.

"There is a slight resemblance, but..." the girl shook her head again, "You are not Anchin."

After that, Kiyohime took a step away from Archer and turned to the mage, "You could not know this - and you did not lie to me, however... This is not the person I was looking for."

Ainz nodded to Archer, that was just glad to disappear from the scene, leaving the mage alone with the girl.

"It's not him," the girl shook her head again, "it's not him at all..."

Ainz was not sure what he had to do in this situation - so he chose, as it seemed to him, the only reasonable tactic - he hugged the girl. She didn't reciprocate - but she didn't move away from the magician either, which already looked like a small victory for Ainz.

"No, it's nothing, I understand," the girl only nodded sadly to herself, "It was foolish to hope that I could meet him just by chance..."

Ainz could not say anything, so he just let the girl deal with her feelings. Kiyohime, though, after waiting a few seconds, nevertheless gently pulled away from the Ainz, wiping the traces of the tears on her face.

"In any case, you have kept your part of the deal - and I appreciate it," the girl smiled. "In that case, I suppose I have no choice but to keep my own. I will fight for your cause - and, in that case, I believe Elizabeth will too."

"Thank you," Ainz nodded to this, after which he felt a pulling feeling, which meant an attempt to establish a magical contact. The mage nodded to the girl, that she luckily understood correctly and moved away from the necromancer. Waiting a few second, until Kiyohime got far enough away from him, he took the call.

"Master," Hassan's voice sounded the same as always, "We found another Servant."

"Great..." - Ainz nodded to himself - "I will teleport now."

"Wait, Master," - however Hassan suddenly objected, "This is Chevalier d'Eon."

"Huh..." - Ainz paused for a second.

"Yes," Hassan nodded. "He says he wants to give us information about the Witch."

Physical Resistance: B+

It is difficult to name a thing from the ordinary world - even if it could hurt the Servant at all - capable of inflicting enough damage to bypass resistance at this level. Only the most powerful weapons invented by men - the weapons of the last chance and the doomsday - are capable of posing a threat to the owner of such a rank of defense; and even among them, only the most powerful, whose strength is measured not in thousands of tons, but more - are capable of reaching the body of the mage at all - however, minus the received damage, even such an attack will at best turn into a small push from a child received by the athlete. Taking into account not only this skill, but also other ways of protection - such as other skills, equipment, spells and used items - humanity is doomed in the event of a collision with such an enemy. As for the Servants - of course, there are those among them who can overcome such a level of resistance - however, due to such a reduction of damage from the attack, other abilities of the mage and his quite impressive reserves of Endurance - it is difficult to predict what physical strength the Servant should possess, so that he can be considered even a theoretical threat to the owner of a skill of a similar rank.