107

Ainz shook his head and took a slow shuddering breath, with a slow surety he dispelled the nostalgia that had consumed him. It was like surfacing from a deep slumber, Ainz is slowly becoming aware of his surroundings again.

Hmm, he was still in Leo's workshop...

Ainz looked around him to look for the Servant he had shared food with, but Arthuria was no longer around. Apparently, she has already managed to shake herself from her memories and go about her business...

Ainz shook his head and looked at the empty workshop around him.

Da Vinci's workshop... A place where, it would seem, there was everything except for Da Vinci herself.

Although - Ainz thought about it for a second - indeed, if he were to think logically, then Leo was probably looking for him all over Chaldea right now… Considering that Ainz did his best to avoid her, Da Vinci would not have thinked to look for him in her own workshop.

Ironically, the best place to hide from Da Vinci was inside her abode.

Ainz sighed and shook his head.

It would be even more ironic now for him, in that case, to go in search of Da Vinci in Chaldea only to find that he himself could not find her...

Ainz ended up thinking about his future plan of action. Should he go look for Da Vinci, even though it is more likely than not that he would just be lost instead of finding her? Or was it simply better and easier to just wait here? Or maybe ask Olga to call Da Vinci...

Ainz imagined how that conversation with Olga would go for a second and shook his head.

Okay, that last option is clearly not viable. In that case… Well, speak of the Devil…

"What an extraordinary bad luck", - Leo's voice full of some real childish resentment, could be heard behind the door to the corridor. - "How could he?! I tried so hard, and he…"

A second later, the door that leads into Da Vinci's workshop opened slowly. After which the owner of the workshop herself appeared on the threshold of the room.

Leo's gaze immediately rested on Ainz, who blinked, surprised, in response and slowly raised his hand in greeting.

"Oh my! My mood just suddenly improved at a rapid pace!" Da Vinci, who a moment ago looked like a kid who just missed the ice cream truck, instantly cheered up as soon as she saw Ainz. She was all smiles as she approached her target. "Ainz, what a fortuitous meeting!"

"Yes, indeed… how fortuitous." Ainz exhaled, "So… I assume you wanted to ask me some questions?"

"Absolutely, yes." Leo immediately nodded vigorously. She then started moving closer to where Ainz was sitting, as if to box him away from the door. Satisfied, Da Vinci then carefully analyzed the seating Necromancer, as if fearing that he was about to disappear, - "I admit... I even started to think that you were avoiding me…"

"What?" Ainz instantly feigned surprise, and judging by the way Da Vinci calmed down, was successful in his deception. "No, no, perish the thought! It was simply happenstance that made us miss each other!"

Unlike the two Servants he just met before, Ainz has perfected his ability to convincingly lie even to the most perceptive of Servants. So, Da Vinci, even if she could find something suspicious about Ainz's excuse, she could not trace a drop of lies in Ainz's answer.

"Hmm, it seems so, apparently", - Da Vinci smiled, - "Those are some coincidences…"

"Definitely," Ainz smiled back.

Da Vinci, slightly frowned at Ainz's reply. Finding nothing in Ainz's face that would indicate that he's lying, moved to an empty seat opposite of Ainz. The very one that Arthuria had recently occupied, which for a second gave Ainz the impression that he was going to be interrogated. The small coffee table, completely covered by reams of papers and various junks, between them dispelled that illusion quite quickly.

"Well, since you have ended up in my modest workshop anyway," Leo smiled at Ainz, "You won't refuse to answer a couple of my questions, would you?"

Ainz was absolutely sure that he would not find a single answer to Da Vinci's questions that would satisfy her curiosity, but at the same time...

"Of course", - Ainz nodded. Okay, he'll have to do his best to come up with something that would sound believable.

Da Vinci took a deep breath, she then opened her mouth only to close it a moment later, Da Vinci frowned, - "Wow... Honestly, I didn't expect such an answer, ha... Honestly, my thoughts are in disarray, I'm not even sure which question I want to ask first…"

Ainz nodded slowly. Great... With her being so ruffled, it is likely that Da Vinci will forget to ask some of her questions if she were so unprepared as to be speechless. And the fewer questions Ainz has to answer, the better.

"Okay, to start with I'll ask, probably the most important question I have at the moment," Da Vinci smiled and leaned closer to Ainz, looking at him like a predator choosing their first bite. Perhaps she was expecting Ainz to answer some devilishly complex question? Ainz gulped nervously. "Whom will you choose?"

Ainz blinked, - "What?"

"Medusa, Serenity, Olga", - Da Vinci began to lift her fingers one by one, - "Kiyohime, Jalter, Cainabel, and if you try a little - then Jeanne, Drake and Arthuria. In the future - Medea and Altera... Or, are you more about handsome men like Archer and Cu Chulainn?"

"No, definitely not." Ainz shook his head, as if he wanted more confusing thoughts about the male Servants... - "Hah... You definitely know how to ask difficult questions, don't you?"

"I am a genius who has comprehended all the sciences of the world.", - Da Vinci smiled, -" Of course I do."

Ainz exhaled slowly.

Haaaahhh, of all the questions that Da Vinci could ask him, this was the only question that Ainz could give any intelligible answer to. And was probably one of the few questions that Ainz didn't want to give the answer to.

But on the other hand…

Ainz shook his head, "I… I have decided not to choose anyone yet."

"So you're leaving yourself room for maneuver?" - Da Vinci smiled, -" I can't say that I don't understand why you want to do that…"

"No, I..." Ainz shook his head. Definitely, if not for his heart to heart with Hector - such a question would have knocked out his mind. But now, he could still give out at least some intelligible answer "I just don't want to rush into it yet. I would not want to offend the girls, but the proposed option for me is... Unusual."

"If I were in your place, I would take it without doubt", - Da Vinci rolled her eyes, - "But at the same time - at least I could see why you are in your place, and not me."

Ainz exhaled. Yes, that's right, there was no need to rush...

"Okay, then I should tell Olga that she will have to move on the attack, preferably on the bed." Leo nodded sagely, and before Ainz could internalize what Da Vinci just said, she continued on. "Alright, I'm satisfied with that answer. The second question!"

Da Vinci happily clasped her hands in front of her, after which a smile, bright as the Sun, lit up her face and she looked at Ainz with almost material joy, - "What the hell did you do in that Singularity?!"

Ainz froze. Definitely, such a pose, along with such words he definitely did not expect. Which is why he immediately tried to determine whether Da Vinci was angry with him or not.

"Oh no," Leo instantly realized what Ainz was thinking, and waved her hands dismissively. "I'm not angry! On the contrary, I am fascinated to the very depths of my soul! It's just amazing - I've never seen anything like it, ever! Tell me, was it the mystical 'Supertier magic'?!"

"Yes", - Ainz just nodded in reply. Okay, so far no explanations were required from him, that was already good… Only for his hopes to be crushed almost instantly later.

"Awesome!" Da Vinci folded her hands in front of her like a prayer, and then moved even closer to Ainz. Her face, now only a few centimeters from Ainz's, felt a little uncomfortable, "Simply amazing! Sumptuous! Phantasmagoric! I can't find words to describe how amazing this is!"

From up close, it was easy to discern the unhealthy glint in Da Vinci's eyes. Rather, it seemed to Ainz that it was too difficult to see anything else in her eyes, or in the voice filled with strange admiration, or in Da Vinci's strange posture. For a second, Ainz even felt some danger coming from Da Vinci, from what he can't be too sure. It is as if he was face to face with some unbalanced maniac. Or even worse, like interacting with a drug addict who thought that you have some kind of amazing drug.

"Just great!" Da Vinci, to Ainz's immense relief, finally pulled away from Ainz. As she pulled herself back, she threw her hands up triumphantly, and she burst out laughing.

Da Vinci's laughter was ringing and melodic, but at the same time loud and volcanic. Ainz froze for a second like a trapped animal, wondering if he was really going to be 'assaulted' by Da Vinci.

Da Vinci's laughter lasted for almost a minute or two before she regained control of herself and sat back down, still giggling a little. Ainz wondered for a second if he should have used some kind of spell on Da Vinci right now to strengthen her mind, or perhaps a sleeping spell so he can run away… No that wouldn't do any good. She would just chase him again when she wakes up… Maybe a permanent sleeping spell…?

However, in the end, Ainz did not need to take such desperate measures. Da Vinci, after sitting on the sofa for several minutes, was able to calm down completely.

"Okay, I'm calm", - Da Vinci slowly ran her hands over her face, wiping the tears from her eyes that came out with the laughter, she then smiled a huge smile, looking at Ainz, - "I admit, the last time I couldn't get a specific answer to my question, 'what is Supertier Magic?' - I was even somewhat offended by your reluctance…"

Ainz clicked his tongue inwardly. Apparently, contrary to what he believed, the last Q&A session with Da Vinci ended on an unpleasant note.

"But, I confess, it was much better that way", - Da Vinci's eyes started to glass over, - "Indeed, seeing it with my own eyes for the first time was much better than just having it described to me."

Ainz finally couldn't bear it and asked the question, "Was… was it really that impressive for the… Local magi?"

"O-ho-ho," Da Vinci chuckled a bit dementedly, "Ainz, there are not many people in the world who know more than me. And I have never seen ANYTHING like what you did!"

"Hmm..." Ainz replied thoughtfully.

Supertier magic in Yggdrasil was a powerful, but by no means unique, ability. Every magician, priest, or similarly built player at level 71 could choose one Supertier magic to their repertoire reaching a total of thirty Super tier magic when they are level 100. Therefore, in any clash of maximum levelled players, it is very common to see Supertier magics being the cornerstone of their strategy. And so the list of the most powerful and most commonly used supertier spells was mandatory knowledge to every high-level player who intends to participate at all in PvP. Of course, there were also unique Supertier spells and many other unique abilities available only to certain unique classes, the use of which could greatly surprise opponents or even allies. However, Creation was an extremely popular spell for any magician that can use supertier spells. It was so popular it was possessed by more than half of the high-level magicians. In other words… It was nothing special.

'Well, this is not Yggdrasil. Can't judge it by the same standards.' Ainz shrugged inwardly. Indeed, he had already encountered so many discrepancies between this world and his favorite game that there was no point in being surprised at finding another one. Yet, at the same time, if Da Vinci said that it was a completely unique phenomenon for her...

Ainz frowned, then it would be difficult for him to explain to Da Vinci its nature and strength... Especially considering that Ainz himself did not fully understand how his powers now worked.

"But, ok…" - Da Vinci exhaled and plopped down on the sofa, looking at Ainz, - "Ok, I won't even ask how it works…"

"You will not?" - Ainz looked at Da Vinci in surprise. He definitely expected that Leo would be trying to learn everything he could about the unknown ability by badgering Ainz relentlessly, but instead...

"I want to ask only one thing", - Da Vinci nodded, - "Why did you do it?"

"Hm?" Ainz blinked. Surprisingly, to this question, Ainz had a simple and clear answer to give - "Well, the Singularity began to collapse and I…"

"No, I understand and already know that," Da Vinci easily brushed aside Ainz's words, and then added further, "Rather… Why exactly did you choose to resolve the Singularity's collapse in that way?"

Ainz thought about it for a second.

If one talks about theoretical possibilities - then, of course, he had several other options that he could choose to fix the Singularity. If he were to say, take a risk and just the Grail to fix the Singularity, it is probably able to do so. After all the cause of the Singularity's collapse was the Grail, so perhaps by using the Grail he could also fix it. Or, perhaps, he could use a different Supertier magic, Wish Upon A Star comes to mind. Even some of the World Class Items from his inventory could also do it. Or, if he really wanted to… his Noble Phantasm, could also work quite well.

If the question was - why did he choose that particular spell to resolve the crisis - then the only answer Ainz could give was that 'I thought it would work'. The only question was, could Ainz say that his whole plan was essentially based on tossing a coin?

No, but Ainz didn't need to say that. Without resorting to telling outright lies, Ainz could easily put his reasoning in a much 'better' light.

"It was simply the first on a list of possible solutions. It was simply the one that also worked quite well barring the need for further action.", - Ainz nodded, - "If it didn't work, I have other stronger abilities to fall back too."

"That is, the 'Super Tier' Spell called Creation was simply the smallest caliber, figuratively speaking, that you had?" Da Vinci looked at Ainz in surprise and admiration at the same time, before raising her hand up, "Bingo!"

"Leo?" Ainz looked at the girl with some measure of concern.

"It was nothing, I was just simply rejoicing at the horizons that I could see now," - Da Vinci smiled, then after a while she nevertheless lowered her hand and toned down her excitement, - "Well, in that case, my next question... What are your plans for the island in that case?"

"Island?" Ainz blinked in confusion.

"Yes, the island you created", - Da Vinci nodded as if what she was saying was obvious, - "In the history books they write that the island is a very picturesque place, albeit uninhabited."

Ainz blinked again.

And so, abruptly, he lost the train of thought of what Da Vinci's talking about. Well… it's not like he could follow it well before, but now he had completely lost it.

Of course, Ainz could pretend that what Da Vinci was telling him now was clear to Ainz - but that was the problem. Usually, if he was asked 'what is your plan for this event' - if he did not have a plan, then he at least knew about the event itself. Or, if he did not know about the event, he had a rough plan for the general situation. In general, he at least had minimal context and understanding of the situation of whatever they were talking about. This time there were none.

Ainz had no context at all in how to answer Da Vinci's question. He had no plan - and he had no idea what 'island' she was talking about.

So all Ainz could say in this case was the truth… as close as he can to anyway. "I have no plan for the island."

"Ha?" - Da Vinci blinked, - "Why did you create it then?"

"Tch..." - Ainz felt that the ground suddenly became unstable under him - and he was sitting. Only the suppression of his emotions saved him at that second from cursing. Trapped, Ainz then simply had to resort to telling the truth. - "It was... an accident."

"An accident?" - Da Vinci blinked in confusion, then raised one eyebrow in surprise, - "That is, with the help of your Supertier magic, you stabilized and changed the correct history of mankind, the landscape and the maps of the world... By accident?"

'It sounds like too big of a mistake even for me.' Ainz could only curse silently.

That his Supertier magic would have a special effect in this world, Ainz clearly understood. However, the fact that, apparently, it somehow violated - or changed - the history of mankind and even the map of the world until that moment, was way out of what he could imagine.

'How... How exactly did I do it?!' - Surprisingly, in this matter, Ainz's thought was similar to Da Vinci's more than ever before the suppression of emotions left him calm again, - "Yes... It was an… unforeseen accidental effect."

Da Vinci blinked at Ainz. He answered her in kind.

"That is, let me see if I got this right." Da Vinci slowly reiterated, - "You used magic of such grand scale that it corrected the Singularity in such a way that you rewrote human history... But you did it by accident. Is that right?"

Ainz felt that his image and authority as a powerful and not at all mistaken titan of intellect tremble. But there was no escape route for him. How can he, even now, deny Da Vinci's conjecture?- 'I was just joking, in fact I have a secret and very complicated plan for that island, but I won't tell you about it.' Great! It even sounded pathetic in his own head!

Therefore, with no way out, Ainz grit his teeth and said slowly, "Exactly. It happened as an... Accident."

Da Vinci looked at Ainz in surprise. After which, when Ainz was preparing to hear her outrage, he instead heard... "Wow..."

Admiration?

"Ha?" - Ainz glanced at Da Vinci, who was leaning back on the back of her sofa as if she was just struck.

"Just amazing…" - Da Vinci blinked, after which, as if a light bulb lit up above her head, She shouted and lifted a finger up - "Aha! So that's what she meant! Of course that's how it is! Too big for this world. Yes! Now I understand everything... If it was the weakest of his abilities - and an unpredictable result from it changed human history itself... Of course, how could I not have thought of this earlier?!"

"Leo?" Ainz looked at the girl, worried.

"No, nothing, I was just struck by my own geniusness and awareness!" Da Vinci rose from her seat so abruptly that Ainz staggered back, "I understand! I understood everything now! I understand why you needed the Servants!"

"Ha?" - Ainz could not follow Da Vinci's thought.

"Of course, if a giant wishes to take care of his garden - he could not do it with his own hands as he would simply destroy his own garden," - Da Vinci's smile spread all over her face, exuberant, glittering, manic, insane. - "Ordinary, lesser people are better suited for the task! Those that cannot accidentally break something important or simply step over and crush the plants. Of course, when all you need to do is trim a bush, you don't use industrial machinery. You need something much subtler, something much smaller in caliber."

"Leo?" Ainz asked the girl, looking at her in confusion.

"I just finally realized the reason why you need, nay, use Servants, and not just solve all the problems by yourself" Da Vinci was ecstatic, she was like a zealot who had just found god.

'Oh no, she isn't talking about my collection is she…' Ainz gulped, nervous.

"Indeed, when you have too much power, there aren't less problems than when you have too little," Da Vinci smiled, and then burst out laughing once more.

Da Vinci's unreasonable fits of laughter frightened Ainz.

'I must obviously have scrolls of 'cure madness' somewhere in my inventory…' Ainz looked at the girl in her manic exuberance.

Thankfully, Da Vinci was able to calm down even faster than before. She slowly exhaled, regaining her calm and looked at Ainz with a mood so joyful that Ainz could swear that she was a cat who had caught a whole van filled with canaries.

"Well, I understand", - Da Vinci nodded to herself, - "In that case, I suppose, your current... State was also because of what happened in the Singularity?"

'What state?!' - Ainz felt his emotions being suppressed again - 'I just washed myself, so I shouldn't smell... And I'm already sober, so - there should be no problem, right?'

"Yes," Seeing no way out, Ainz used his most precious skill, LIE.

Although, to be honest, Ainz has already started to get tired of what is happening. He, of course, had long been accustomed to not understanding what was happening around to him, it seemed to be his usual state of being in this New World. But, at least when it came to his own self, he still felt some displeasure from not knowing what was happening.

"Surprising, impossible and absolutely incomprehensible!" - Da Vinci raised her hand in a victorious gesture, "How I love it!"

Ainz sincerely wanted to ask Da Vinci what she saw as changed in him, but at the same time he was somewhat afraid. Not only of the answer, but also of Da Vinci's thoughts regarding his own ignorance to it… On the other hand, when he said that the effect of his previous action was accidental and was not at all planned by him - Da Vinci only seemed to be more happy instead of being angered. So perhaps she would too in this instance of ignorance? Ainz exhaled and steeled himself to ask that question, - "Da Vinci... How exactly is my... 'State' manifesting at the moment?"

"Hmm?" Da Vinci blinked at Ainz's question, then shook her head, "Oh yes, exactly... Of course, such changes for someone of your level may have been so minute as to be completely invisible…"

It seems that the strange feelings he felt in the Singularity after using the Supertier magic might not be so insignificant after all.

"In short, right now, I feel that your aura is slowly 'filling' my workshop," Da Vinci smiled at Ainz, and Ainz choked on these words internally.

"I see..." Ainz blinked.

Was it all due to him using Supertier magic? It was all because of it, wasn't it? Of course it was all because of the damn spell!

Ainz felt how his mind, seemingly only now having relaxed a bit after the kerfuffle with the girls, is now inundated by a new problem. A problem which he will analyze, agonize, for the next couple of days without break for lunch and sleep. Mainly because neither the first nor the second was something that Ainz normally did.

This means that his Supertier magic not only turned out to be some absolutely impossible act in the new world, not only did it change human history, but it also somehow managed to change his body and how others perceive him...

All Ainz could say to that...

'Great… ' - Ainz sighed.

It was not a joyful exclamation, but rather a defeated one.

It's funny, as soon as he began to be proud of his achievements in this world, it immediately turned out that his achievements had several undocumented additional negative features...

On the other hand, Ainz tried to console himself, these were not strictly negative traits, of course... Well, that is, he had an aura now - that was good, wasn't it? More precisely, a cool aura is cool...

And the created island - was it not that bad either? Well, if the history of mankind did not turn out to be irreversibly harmed by it, then in that case it was not such a big mistake… After all, what's an uninhabited island going to do?

Ainz exhaled, trying to calm his mind.

"So, such changes happen every time you use too much power for this world…" - Da Vinci mumbled to herself and shook her head, - "Great, just great! And you can't predict exactly how your actions will affect this world?"

"No," Ainz shook his head. Definitely, if he could not 100% understand how his abilities work in this world or in the Singularity, then he also could not predict what side effects they might have.

"Hmm, I see", - Da Vinci nodded, got up from her chair and then smiled, - "In that case, I think it's time to bring our relationship to a new stage!"

"Ha?" - Ainz blinked. Oh oh oh… Don't tell me that she's going to…

"Initially, I was summoned by Chaldea without a Master and my fate should have been quite sad and short indeed.", - Da Vinci smiled genially at Ainz, - "But, as befits an omnipotent genius such as I, I found a solution to this problem. I then created something that could be called a pseudo-master. He became my anchor in this world, but, as expected, I couldn't get much mana from the pseudo-master. Because of which my fighting skills were greatly limited - so much so that there was no point in going to the Singularity for me. However…"

Da Vinci held out her hand to Ainz, "Do you agree to become my Master?"

Ainz blinked and looked at Da Vinci's hand.

Hah, this is what Da Vinci's new stage of the 'relationship' she was offering him...

Ainz exhaled, greatly relieved.

On the one hand, it was a good deal. Da Vinci was very strong - by the standards of this world at least… Besides, she was smart and her advice on the Singularity would greatly help Ainz. And, additionally, it also expanded Ainz's collection.

And at the same time, on the other hand... On the other hand...

Well, Ainz could not imagine what kind of counterarguments Ainz had against Da Vinci becoming his Servant. Other than that 'she was a woman', but at the same time - it would be just ridiculous for Ainz to be afraid of all women Servant. That they could potentially want some kind of romantic relationship from him… Ha, how ridiculous.

Therefore, there was only one answer. - "Of course."

"Okay", - Da Vinci felt a surge of mana after the contract was sealed and shook her head, - "Oh, what unusually large reserves... Well, in that case, I suppose I am required to introduce myself as a Servant!"

Da Vinci took a couple of steps to the left of the table and coughed into her fist, after which she bowed, - "Once again, I'll be in your care. Servant Caster, Leonardo Da Vinci. Right - from now on, I'll be your very own personal Da Vinci-chan just for you!"

Ainz blinked and smiled.

"By the way, this is an accidental and not at all important question", - Da Vinci suddenly smiled enigmatically at Ainz, - "Have you decided how many girls you are going to recruit for your harem yet?"

"Um," Ainz choked, "Um, um... No?"

"Excellent", - Da Vinci smiled at Ainz, - "In that case, hmm... Oh yes, exactly, please forgive me, Focalor is waiting for me! I promised to make her a wonderful new body!"

"Her?" Ainz blinked once more, "But Focalor is… A man?

"That's not a problem," Da Vinci smiled mysteriously at Ainz, and then instantly disappeared behind the door in the back of her workshop, leaving Ainz alone.

The man blinked slowly before...

"Wait, what was she talking about a harem?!"

Name: Leonardo Da Vinci

Occupation: Commandant of Chaldea (self-nominated) \ Servant of Ainz Ooal Gown