108

Six days. Six days spent in Chaldea… Six days where he did his best to not interact with anyone.

Ainz took a deep breath and shook his head.

In total, almost a whole week, spent hiding in his room. It must be enough time for his Servants to rest, right? Enough time to reconnoiter and prepare to move to the new Singularity, right? Was a week enough time for Ainz himself to sort out the quandaries that were occupying his mind? Hahahaha… No.

His reluctance actually has a much more complex reason than anyone would have thought.

Of course, his conversation with Hector helped Ainz to sort out some of his reluctance. It even gave him some hints as to how to tackle his 'difficulty' with his… 'admirers'. Did that mean that he had marched to them and declared his intent? He wouldn't currently be doing his best imitation of a turtle if that were true.

Archer's cooking also helped him a lot though.

The thought of Archer's cooking made Ainz smile against his will. Indeed, the other Servants did not exaggerate his ability to cook. Ainz was even feeling a little upset that he only just now started eating his cooking... Although, he must admit, Ainz even felt a little unusual eating something delicious, natural and prepared personally by a professional chef. It made him feel like one of the megacorporations higher ups... Which was, in itself, not a bad feeling at all, but extremely unusual for Ainz. At least he was sure that there was nobody dying just for him to enjoy the delicious food.

Khm, anyway. To move back to the thing that has been occupying his thoughts lately.

Women, ha... Truly, the source of all problems in this world!

In the end, even after a week of careful thought, Ainz couldn't say something as ridiculous as 'let's make a harem!'. His psyche was really confused just from contemplating such thoughts... But, just the thought of simply denying all the girls, and making them sad was… Ainz wasn't sure why, but just imagining such an outcome made him angry for some reason. And Ainz, although he did not consider himself a smart person, was not so stupid and blind as not to understand where such thoughts are coming from and where he would sooner or later end up with such reflections.

So in the end, although still with some trepidation in his heart, Ainz could at least admit to himself internally that in the end everything would most likely come to... Um, it was awkward for Ainz to say that word even internally.

To, ahem, make a harem...

Ainz sighed and shook his head again. He really wished he had someone to ask advice from! Hector again? No, he doesn't want to look like a needy friend, maybe some other time. Cu Chulainn? No, that sounds like a very terrible idea. Hassan?... Actually Ainz hasn't seen him in a long while, as expected of an Assassin? How about Archer? He seemed like a very worldly person… But, for some reason, his sixth sense is telling him that nothing good would come from asking Archer such a question, strange.

Oh how friendly advice from his guildmates would be so useful to him now! Tabula could probably give him a couple of interesting topics that he could use to converse with a girl. Though the topics might be a bit esoteric. Touch Me could tell him how to interact with girls in a gentlemanly fashion, he was married after all. His experience would help him immensely in dealing with the girls. Punitto Moe would probably be able to help him with the eldritch secret of the correct distribution of time so as not to offend any girl and how he should act in order to pay attention each. He would probably be a bit overzealous about it though…

But even as desperate as he is, he absolutely would not listen to any of Perroroncino's advice! Well, it's not that Perroroncino could give him much advice anyway. He, upon learning about Ainz's situation, would probably just start cursing or even yelling at Ainz something like 'how dare you steal my dream?!' all the while crying from resentment. He would probably laugh when Ainz committed errors and get the girls mad at him. Why must his life be so complicated...

Shaking his head, Ainz shook off the fugue he's in.

Okay, okay... No need to think about it anymore. In the end he will end up at that position anyway, no need to fret about it... But not now. Now he needed to relieve himself a little of tension and clear his mind.

And what was better for clearing his mind than another bout of saving humanity and a couple of cool battles set in some beautiful historical era?!

But as soon as Ainz thought about the Singularities, a discovery he recently made, made him exhale.

The 'unreal history of mankind' turned out to be not so unreal after all... Apparently, Ainz's actions in the Singularity would have a real impact on the normal history of mankind. Of course, it was worth saying that to make a large very noticeable change, like creating an island in the middle of the ocean, Ainz had to use Supertier magic. Still, the very possibility of such frightened Ainz.

This means that, for him, there were still certain restrictions on his abilities, what he should and should not do. And worst of all - these restrictions were not real 'restrictions', in the sense of things that he physically could not do. They were restrictions in the sense that he, if only by accident, could cause some absolutely thoughtless amount of destruction that could have extremely far reaching consequences.

Thankfully, Ainz had managed to avoid such large changes in the past Singularities. Still, that didn't mean that he wouldn't do anything like that in the future. Rather, with this realization, Ainz has to be more reliant on the Servants to make the chance of such eventualities happening as low as possible. And this, in turn, meant that henceforth he had to refrain as much as possible from using any Supertier magic. And, more importantly, he has to do his best to avoid any situation that could lead to such.

However, even if he were to do his best, there are still other problems for his jaunt in the Singularity.

What if it wasn't just his Supertier magic that could affect history? It might even be that his weakest spells could have adverse effects that even Da Vinci couldn't foresee. Or what if he were forced to fight with someone strong enough that he will have to use Supertier magic? After all, should he lose, Humanity is done for, so some damage might even be excusable. Or what's even more worrying. What if he was far from the only such unique person? Baal - or even Cainabel - while they were vastly inferior to Ainz in regard to strength, but if one would limit themselves solely to comparing their abilities with Ainz's Supertier magic. Then they would have found more than one or two abilities of such a level usable by them.

In other words, the problem of solving the Singularities suddenly became complex again, even more than ever. This time, however, the question was not about strength. Ainz was a very modest person. But, after a long time spent observing the Servants, he could declare without false modesty that he was one or two steps stronger than any Servants - so he was not particularly afraid of a fight with Servants... at least with most of them. However, now Ainz was faced with a contest of a different sort. A contest concerning not his personal strength, but the strategies and ingenuity of his opponents. After all, even if Ainz can somehow fix all the Singularities no matter what his opponents do - if he accidentally mutilates the history of this world solving it - it will create just as much trouble. After all, what happened in the last Singularity was still fresh in his mind. He was able to steamroll the Demon Gods with ease, but their plan for the Singularity still forced his hand to use a Supertier spell.

So now Ainz had to not only limit his powers in order not to destroy his false body - but also in order not to accidentally sabotage all his attempts to preserve human history... And at the same time decide on the Servants to bring with him carefully, in case that it was not only him that could cause a similar disruption in history.

Anyway that's all in the future. The first thing to do was announce his intent to go into the Singularity in the first place. It wouldn't be funny to trouble his mind with planning what to do in the Singularity, only to find that the journey must be delayed. Plan in mind Ainz left his room and went to the meeting room.

Upon reaching the meeting room, Ainz knocked politely before opening the door and going inside.

Frankly, he has already begun to get used to the sight of the meeting room. A coffee table, a couple of armchairs, a windowsill with some pot of flowers...

Roman sipping coffee from his signature mug with some sort of idol print. Da Vinci, comfortably seated on the windowsill. And Olga, looking at some sort of documents.

Ainz was a little nervous when he noticed Olga, but in the end he gathered his courage and entered the room, it's not like Olga will do anything with other people around. Closing the door behind him, he sat down in one of the empty chairs, looking at the other people in the room.

"Hmm, Ainz," Olga noticed his seating form, put aside the papers, and then looked at him. Still, unable to keep the mask of detachment, she averted her gaze, feeling her cheeks start to redden slowly, "Hmm, yes, right. The New Singularity…"

Ainz sighed and then looked at the girl who had confessed her love and kissed him not a week ago. Okay, since he was even able to convince himself of a certain conclusion, then he should at least tell Olga what decision he came to, - "Olga, I…"

"I know", - Olga slowly exhaled, then threw a glance at Da Vinci. Ainz shifted his gaze toward the eccentric scientist, noticing the knowing smile on Leo's face, "I have already been told about it and I… I… I don't mind it."

"Hmm, am I missing something?" - Roman, looking up from his mug, glanced at Ainz, and then tried to look at Olga. Well he tried, the paper that smacked his head in Olga's hands a little before he could turn his face, made him recoil "Hey, why?! I didn't even say anything!"

"And you'd better be silent if you know what's good for you!" - Olga threw a glance at Roman, then exhaled, calming down, - "Okay, ahem. The New Singularity…"

Ainz prepared to listen to the introductory data, but before that another voice butted in the middle of the conversation, "No one dares to ignore Da Vinci!"

"Leo?" Ainz looked at her carefully, "Did you want to say something?

"Yes, before starting the briefing, I would like to tell you something", - Da Vinci's peculiar actions attracted the attention of the two other people in the room - "I think everyone here is already aware of the changes in the World that happened after the last Singularity?"

At this, everyone present, including Ainz, nodded. After which Da Vinci continued, "Okay. In that case, I will save time for everyone present, scratch the exposition and get to the point. The problem is much deeper than we might have initially thought."

"Hm?" Ainz blinked at the girl. Oh no, could some uninhabited island in the middle of the Ocean create another incredible legend that Ainz did not expect?! Damn it, why is it always like this...

"About a week ago, after... Talking to Ainz", - Da Vinci glanced at him, - "I managed to meet Hassan. And he, in turn, drew my attention to some 'features' in the Singularities that he had figured out…"

"Get to the point", - Olga exhaled.

"Most likely our previous findings as to how the Singularities relate to the real world was not entirely correct. Of course, many anachronistic things and things that violate human history too much will be corrected - by Chaldea, Alaya or Gaia somehow, it does not matter... However, the complete deletion of history, or even a complete correction of history takes a lot of energy - an irrational amount of it" here Da Vinci took a deep breath.

"After all, even Alaya cannot let real history have such events, such as, say, a supposed-to-be long dead Romulus returning to Rome and gaining control of the city with support from the Roman Legions. Such an event would disrupt the course of true history no matter how you slice it and no matter how it is 'fixed' it would still destroy the correct course of history. And yet some things, such as the destruction of Rome - or about Romulus being in Rome - or even the deaths of the many legions of Rome in their 'battle' with the other two factions must be 'resolved' somehow." Da Vinci looked at the room to see if the others were following. Satisfied, Da Vinci continued.

"In the end, even Alaya will be quite pressed to try and rewrite the history of a month and a half of Human existence even when confined to such a small space. The consciousness, memory, and the fate of millions of people is chaotic even at the best of times. Not to mention to 'fix' tens of millions of square kilometers of change in topographical history due what change that wasn't 'supposed to happen'. All this must be done with biographical accuracy, restoring the actions and thoughts of each person, the position of each speck of dust and the fall of every stone that shouldn't have happened in reality if it were to try to 'fix' the timeline change completely."

"In other words…" - Olga held out, hoping that Da Vinci would take the hint and move on to her point.

"In other words - any of our actions in the Singularity would need to be reflected in the real world somehow. Although not by forcing it to 'remake the historical path of mankind' to include the things that happened inside the Singularity. But, rather, by forcing history to make 'unusual turns' in an attempt to rationalize what had happened in the Singularity. For example by turning some of what happened into 'rumors', 'events that do not mean much in the general picture of the world' and the least likely of all into 'things that are forcefully fitted into the picture of the world'." As Da Vinci finished, she took a little glance at Ainz.

"For example?" - Olga looked at Da Vinci carefully.

"For example, Nero's madness is a well-known fact or well, a widely believed rumor,", - Da Vinci nodded, - "Therefore, if you were to add to this another rumor that Nero heard the voice in her head that called himself Caesar and believed that the legendary First Emperor was actually talking to her and advising her - it will not change human history too much. Although in reality this is simply a pale reflection of the Singularity, where Caesar was a very real being that affects his surroundings and is an adviser of Nero."

"Ah..." Ainz blinked, oh... okay he got the gist of it… he thinks.

The gist of what Da Vinci is explaining is that, how he's supposed to act in the Singularity has just become more confusing.

That is, even if he doesn't do anything special in the Singularity, one way or another, history will still be changed... And all Ainz could do was just try his best to reduce the number of such unexpected changes in history - so as not to find at the end that somehow, the Knights of the Round Table or something as equally bombastic had taken part in the Crusades...

Ainz shook his head.

In other words, in addition to being careful of the level of power he could use in the Singularity, how to 'solve' the Singularity and a certain King and his Demon Gods planning against him in a corrupted timeline of human history, he also need to worry that he could completely accidentally change reality in some absolutely strange and unpredictable way by literally doing anything!

Oh, and he thought he had a lot of problems before!

"In general, that's all.", - Da Vinci nodded, and then climbed back onto the windowsill, - "And now you can continue the briefing."

"Yeah…" - Roman blinked, then exhaled, - "After such news, my findings will definitely sound even worse…"

Ainz felt his stomach twist in a bad feeling.

"We have managed to establish the place and time of the Singularity", - Roman exhaled, - "It's in London, the nineteenth century."

"Ho?" - Ainz blinked. The nineteenth century... It was quite close to the current era.

"Yes, this is the closest Singularity to modern times", - Olga nodded, - "But in the end, Singularities normally arise at the time of turning points in history. The Hundred Years War of France, which cemented France as one of the strongest states in Europe for centuries. The reign of Nero, the dawn of the Roman Empire. The Golden Age of Piracy that elevated Britain to the largest empire of humanity. And well, the nineteenth century, the time of the industrial revolution that changed the world, also fits this criteria quite well."

"Ah, is that so..." Ainz blinked, why the nineteenth century though... is it really because of the Industrial Revolution then, hmm? Ainz, of course, could not specifically name the year in which it was agreed the period began, but he had heard about the period itself. Well at least he knew that the industrial revolution itself was a relatively recent event when compared to the past Singularities. Anyway Olga's explanation fits well with that template, and with no other explanation for how the Singularities appear, he's forced to agree with Olga's conjecture. Though if that were the case that Grail War must have been a very important one to rank alongside events that decided an entire country's history.

"Yes, but I'm afraid all our successes end there," Roman frowned. "We were unable to obtain any information about what or how many Servants are there or even if there are any magical signatures in the Singularity at all. Which is an absolutely nonsensical possibility."

"Hmm?" Ainz blinked, "So there are no Servants in the Singularity?

"No, we are absolutely sure that there are Servants in the Singularity it wouldn't make sense for these 'Demon Gods' to let a Singularity go to waste", - Olga exhaled, - "That is the problem. We cannot even determine if there ARE Servants there, even though we know for sure that there must be some. Simply put, you are going in blind. It is as if someone especially concealed every opportunity for Chaldea to observe the Singularity."

"If I can say something", - Da Vinci interrupted - "I would say that someone or something definitely did deliberately obstruct our ability to observe the Singularity. Moreover, I can say with almost complete certainty that they had used a special spell to do it…"

Well, that sounded unnerving to Ainz.

That is, the fact that someone or something deliberately hid the possibility of observing the Singularity from Chaldea reminds him of that time in Rome with that pillar of light that bars entry and observation. A trap in other words. At the same time, the fact that the Singularity itself took place in the middle of a city, an almost modern one at that, presents a large problem for Ainz personally. After all Ainz had to be careful somehow, so as not to accidentally create a large disturbance in history… the fact that he had to do so in a congested city is giving him a headache.

Ainz exhaled and shook his head.

Just great. Truly amazing.

What did he say there about problems? Now he was definitely in trouble!

"In other words, we are absolutely blind when it comes to reconnaissance and preparation," Roman shook his head and looked at Ainz, "The plan of action… Well, that's up to you."

Everyone in the room's eyes was focused on Ainz. Ainz swallowed.

Huh... So now he has to make a decision...

Ainz really disliked making decisions, especially important ones. Back when he was the Guild Master of Ainz Ooal Gown he usually just left it at the mercy of majority vote and in general it worked well. But now, especially now, he was deprived of such an opportunity. He was the Master, he was the chief operative, and he was the only one to travel to the Singularity itself barring the Servants of course. No one could give him advice in this case - and no one could decide for him what exactly he needed to do.

Ainz took a deep breath. Okay Ainz just think of this as another dungeon raid… A very difficult, permadeath dungeon with no scouting. This is giving him The Great Tomb of Nazarick flashbacks

So, a raid to an unexplored dungeon... In which Ainz also needed to comply with stringent yet unknown conditions and not create even more distortion with this Singularity, or even more destruction with his battles...

In this case, the selection of Servants was pretty damn difficult.

Cainabel and Baal... In light of the latest news, someone so destructive, having to operate in close quarters in a metropolitan city, would be too destructive with too much potential for 'collateral' damage. And Ainz would hate to read in a history textbook that in the mid-nineteenth century London was overrun with vampires and demons… Or probably some other bizarre event as history is 'corrected'.

Altera, hmm... Separating the Kouhai from her very tsundere Senpai seemed like a seed for a problem to appear. The very fact that Cainabel would probably remain in Chaldea already aroused some amount of fear in Ainz. And although Ainz believed that Baal would behave anyway without him. Cainabel, left without her kohai, might do something really... destructive out of sheer boredom.

Of the other Servants... If Ainz was limited in his actions, then Servants would be especially necessary now for him to carry out many things. And if in the current Singularity even the approximate level of opponents was not known, he needed strong Servants.

So, the three strongest Servants of Ainz besides the ones listed above were... Da Vinci, Nobunaga and Medusa...

Ainz glanced at the parameters of Medusa, just in case, after she absorbed the Grail. Although he did not meet with her in person, judging by all the information available to him, she had grown significantly in terms of her capabilities. So Ainz could conclude that she was currently in the upper echelon of Chaldea's forces.

Three... Only three Servants - no, that wasn't enough.

So, strong Servants... Arthuria, Jeanne and Jalter.

Six Servants ready for the Singularity...

Ainz frowned.

No, something didn't fit... Da Vinci - she was smart and strong. Nobunaga - she was strong - and although Ainz was not sure if he could make her obey so easily - she was clearly not the type to do stupid things just out of her bad mood.

Medusa... Ainz believed in her completely.

Arthuria will at least follow orders. Jalter was also a good option...

Jeanne, hmm...

Of all the Servants listed, only Jeanne caused him some trepidation. Not in the sense that she would rush into battle at will, ignoring any plan planned beforehand...

Although no, it is indeed just that.

Of course, Jeanne was not a mad berserker who wanted a fight. However, she was a Saint. A singularity close to modernity in one of the largest cities of mankind...

Ainz frowned.

It was easy enough to imagine the horrific impact that the Singularity - or even their possible enemy - could have on a modern city. Taking hostages, having streets overflowing with corpses, or even just the inevitability of having unlucky victims of random attacks... Ainz, of course, should try to affect the Singularity as little as possible. But, he understood that in such conditions, where he has to fight in a crowded city with enemies that while are not really that hard to deal with, could cause an untold large amount of destruction. There would be collateral damage, and innocent people might get caught in the crossfire. Did Jeanne understand this?

Of course she understood this… She had fought a war after all. But at the same time, she would not agree with Ainz's arguments and would do her best to rescue everybody.

Ainz could easily imagine how, even when given obvious signs that it is a trap, Jeanne would charge forward to save a hostage from the enemy heedless of Ainz's warnings and orders - or something like that...

Ainz shook his head.

So Jeanne would not fit…

Ainz thought about another candidate in that case.

Mashu, hmm...

Ainz blinked.

Mashu sounded... Not as bad an option.

After she leveled up, Mashu rose significantly in the Servants ranking for strength... Of course, she was not the strongest - but stronger Servants were not suitable for Ainz right now. Without confidence in the character and mental state of the Servants, Ainz would have avoided taking them to the Singularity, the starting conditions of which were literally screaming 'trap' to him. Mashu, on the other hand... Was not a bad option - Ainz was sure that even if she did not accept his orders, she would understand the need for his actions if it comes to... Decisive measures.

Ainz exhaled.

"Then I think I'll take Arthuria, Jalter, Mashu, Nobunaga, Medusa and..." Ainz looked at Da Vinci, "Leo."

Da Vinci blinked, then smiled a huge smile, - "Do you understand that this is a Singularity, and not a picnic with all of your harem?"

Ainz exhaled and forced a reply to Da Vinci, "I also named you among others."

"I know what I said," Da Vinci smiled back.

"Well-well-well!" - Olga rose from her seat abruptly, - "Let's discuss this later, when Roman is not around!"

"What about me?" - Roman looked up at Olga only to get a rolled-up paper tube to the head, - "Good Lord, why are you doing this?!"

"I said that you had better be silent!" - Olga threw a threatening glance at Roman, before sighing and shaking her head, - "In any case, hmm... Okay, I understand. Roman, set up the transfer machine!"

"And what if I refuse, are you going to hit me again?!" - Roman looked at Olga chalengingly - for which he immediately got hit on the head again with the paper tube, then again and again, - "Okay, okay, I understand, I'm going!"

Ainz threw a commiserating look at the retreating Roman and sighed.

"Ainz…" - Da Vinci caught Ainz's attention, forcing him to turn around in order to...

'Deja vu…' Ainz blinked, feeling Da Vinci's kiss on his lips before she pulled away.

"Come on, we have a whole Singularity ahead of us together," Da Vinci smiled at Ainz and winked as she walked past him.

Ainz blinked and exhaled slowly...

NOW HE CERTAINLY HAD ENOUGH DAMN SERVANTS!

"My King", - Barbatos would have tried to bow to his King if he had a head or a neck - but without them he was forced to express his respect exclusively in the tone of his voice, - "How unexpected that you wished to visit my humble Singularity…"

"Barbatos, hmm", - the King's gaze touched his Servant, - "Come back to the Temple. Your presence here is no longer required."

"Of course, my King", - Barbatos answered respectfully, - "In this Singularity I succeeded in…"

"I don't need any information," But the King dismissed him, "I know the plan of this Singularity, and I don't care about the Servants you have summoned. In the general picture, they are insignificant and serve no more than lackeys who welcome the guests... Although, if they can get rid of the enemy, I will be somewhat disappointed."

"Of course, my King," Barbatos bowed again, after which a second later the King's power made him disappear from the Singularity.

The King was left alone, his gaze thoughtfully shifting to his surroundings.

Underground caves, huh... How uncivilized.

The King sighed and smiled.

Well... He had prepared a surprise for his enemy. He had hid information about his arrival. Now all that remained was to, hmm, meet face to face with this 'enemy' of his...

Excerpt from the scientific work "Analysis of the life and death of Marie Antoinette":

"As expected, the life of the last monarch of France is filled with various myths and rumors, created mainly after her death. In particular, the legend of her ring engraved with the words 'Flower of Versailles' given to her by a group of peasants during her engagement to King Louis XVI - is a fairly widespread myth. A myth created, probably, during the tumultuous time of the Great French Revolution in order to display the supposedly great relationship of the last queen of France with the people.

Another famous story is of Marie Antoinette's obsession with horses and riding. Although such a thing does not have concrete confirmation for its veracity, there were a lot of instances where the personal mare of Marie Antoinette, 'white and shining, like pure crystal' is mentioned in some passage in some books about the last Queen. Historians were unable to find a specific source for this rumor even after a thorough analysis of the historical documents. But most likely such a story originated with how royalties are often associated with the heraldic image of a horse. The horse is used as a symbol of many of the best qualities of humanity - courage, dexterity, strength, will and sagacity. If this were the case, it's quite probable that in the rumor the color white is used to symbolize the purity of Marie Antoinette herself. Such a possibility would also date the most likely period where this story originated from, the Great French Revolution. It seems that the Queen's legend is intrinsically linked with that period of history..."