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Leonardo Da Vinci was, is, and will always be an unparalleled genius. Whether a few seconds have passed since the last mention of this fact, or even a thousand years, Da Vinci never tired of repeating that she was a genius among geniuses and the greatest scientist that could and would ever be born on Earth.

There was no such topic in the world that would not be included in Da Vinci's circle of interests and in which she would not excel in at the level of at least the leading scientists of the world. All the sciences of the world, each of which Da Vinci understood and knew at the highest possible level, were ranked in her mind according to their 'interesting-ness' at the moment.

Ranging from subjects like astrophysics, sexopathology, and even linguistics, were for Da Vinci comparatively equal in terms of intellectual value and level of knowledge of subjects. All differing only in the level of their interest for Da Vinci by the moment.

And Da Vinci was not just satisfied, no, she was certainly pleased with such a reality. Truly, the 'God of the Gaps' served as an endless conveyor of new questions and riddles, the solving of which Da Vinci considered her meaning for life.

Da Vinci's passion was guided towards answering questions and scientific theory…

Therefore, the current situation that she had found herself in was so unusual for Da Vinci.

"What should I do next?"

It was unusual for Da Vinci to need to even think about something even remotely scientific in such a manner. Not from the position of 'which of these questions is more interesting for me to solve at the moment', but from the position of 'which of these questions can I even solve?'.

Da Vinci was simply unaccustomed to not knowing something. It was an alien feeling. Like a person that is blind from birth, would just be overwhelmed if their blindness was unexpectedly cured. There was simply no such concept in her picture of the world. She might be familiar with encountering something that she might not know. It was a pleasant experience even. More things to study!

Now she had actually encountered something that she didn't even have a possibility to understand.

That is why, the great mind of the genius of geniuses, is currently occupied with the question of a truly incredible scale. What to do next?

The things she had learned at the previous Singularity…

It was almost like a spiritual revelation, the kind of revelations that created religions and cults and ones that caused empires to collapse from the inside out.

"What should I do at the moment to achieve the desired result?"

It was a stark change in paradigm. Da Vinci was not used to such a strange phenomenon as 'not understanding' something. Worse, she fears that there's not even a place where she could start to unravel the mystery.

Even when she first met Ainz, his skeletal frame and the strength he exuded so strange and alien, Da Vinci was still confident in unraveling it. It was only a matter of time, she thought. She was confident that it was simply nothing more than one more question that she would solve in due time. Another theory that, while exotic, in the end ultimately grew out of the same principles that Da Vinci had learned in her life.

Just as any science about the physical world, in one way or another, comes down to physics, mathematics or even philosophy, Da Vinci was confident that she would be able to understand the mystery that is Ainz. And in the end, like the curious cat, she would receive satisfaction.

Never could she imagine then that she would face something so amazing, so new and strange that it made her really think… That there might be something that she couldn't understand.

"What should I do in this case?"

Da Vinci, a little eccentric and always having either an answer or a theory to any question, felt… lost. She had no idea how to react to the mystery that had arisen in front of her, but the feeling in the forefront of her mind was a sense of loss… and perhaps ecstasy.

"Can Baal tell me more about it maybe? How much does Angrboda know? What was the chance that Cainabel would accidentally drop any information on this matter? Will Ainz perhaps answer a direct question?"

Da Vinci was… Lost.

It was such a strange and unusual feeling. She felt as if the ground beneath her would fall under her. Such carefully constructed theories, such verifiable facts have led to…

Nothing.

Da Vinci, the genius among geniuses, doesn't know how she should feel about this fact.

She was lost.

Da Vinci felt herself hanging in a literal void, where not a single fact, which had seemed obvious to Da Vinci herself, was real. No, that was wrong, it was real, but not in the way Da Vinci herself had assumed. It was like learning that 2 + 2 really does equal 4, but not for the reason she had understood.

It was… strange and unusual. So unusual that Da Vinci's eternal passion for solving mysteries seems to have… disappeared.

Her almost morbid obsession with secrets did not motivate Da Vinci to explore this mystery. For that matter, Da Vinci could even say that this part of her personality was no less surprising than all the other parts of her.

Instead of the exuberant joy of a researcher, in place of Da Vinci's emotions there was only…

Confusion, a loss that is so strange and alien.

Da Vinci is used to being the foremost expert in most things, the greatest and the most brilliant.

'If you have a question, ask Da Vinci, she always knows the answer' is a simple truism. Now, that was no longer the case.

And so, for the first time in her life, Da Vinci herself had a question, a lot of questions, the answer to which she didn't even know where to start finding.

Who is Ainz? How does his magic work? What is Yggdrasil? Where did this Yggdrasil, Ainz and the other strange Servants come from?

The theories she had created that had previously interested her, and she had obsessed over, simply could not answer Da Vinci's questions.

And that was… strange. It was so strange and unusual that Da Vinci could not even say whether or not she liked this feeling. It was so strange for her… No, not just strange, but alien, completely foreign.

If before, the mysteries surrounding Ainz only pushed her forward with irrepressible curiosity, causing Da Vinci to happily seek answers and theorize, what she had just learned… broke her.

No, rather, it broke her will to explore and resolve the puzzle.

'Ainz is just is. Yggdrasil is just there. These strange Servants that seem to exist out of the Thorne of heroes are just there. It is just as it is, trying to find the reason why it is a fool's errand'. What a contrary point of view for a Scientist.

Da Vinci was not used to accepting any assumptions, she was driven to find the truth to anything. Even axiomatic statements could be verified and easily proven with Da Vinci's knowledge and understanding. And therefore to take on faith things that literally contradicted all the essence of Da Vinci as a scientist… She simply could not do it.

And yet, at the same time, Da Vinci simply did not see any other way of solving the puzzle.

How was it possible for her, a genius among geniuses, to describe something that literally had nothing to do with anything that Da Vinci knew?

How was it possible for her to even imagine something that was inherently unknowable?

Was it the famous existential horror of the unknowable that normal people were so afraid of? Was this the reason why people were afraid of the dark? Absolute unknowability, things that are impossible to understand. Things that Man are not meant to know… perhaps it is fitting that Da Vinci was the one confronting such things?

With that last question, Da Vinci finished drying herself off. Though, before she put on clothes, she took a look at her naked self in the mirror.

Da Vinci's appearance was the physical ideal, the most pleasing and perfect that her understanding of beauty could have created… But in the current conditions, this did not please the scientist very much.

For the first time since she had inhabited this body, she felt like was inhabiting an alien body. For the first time in her life and existence, Da Vinci had encountered a riddle, a mystery… and had retreated.

Perhaps this fact was the most frightening thing for Da Vinci. During her long existence, Da Vinci got used to the fact that any puzzle she stumbled on was nothing more than a means of entertainment, solving it as a simple hobby for the fun of the mind. Da Vinci was not used to… solving actual puzzles.

Any 'puzzles' she had encountered before, was like an adult solving the simplest math problems for first-graders. Nobody would actually call summing single-digit numbers a puzzle. Da Vinci had gotten used to looking at any tasks assigned to her like a simple addition, the solution of which she did not need teachers or textbooks.

And therefore, faced with the first real question that Da Vinci has no way to even start sussing out, she was confused. She was taken aback, perhaps even scared, as people were afraid of everything that did not fit much into their picture of the world.

For the first time in her existence, Da Vinci truly understood what it means to fear the unknown.

Magic, magic in which she knew so much, felt alien to her now.

Her assumptions and thoughts, so perfectly verified and cataloged, raised to the level of scientific law by the very fact that they were created by Da Vinci, had become non-existent.

The only thing she truly knows now, was that she knows nothing… A pithy saying, but how was she supposed to live with that?

Such incredible stupidity and strangeness. How should see herself now, when everything that she is now so violated. How could she be a scientist, when she did not understand anything?

It was… it was really like a religious revelation.

But, it was not a revelation that could make the believer cry with happiness or relief. It was a revelation that destroyed the familiar picture of a person's world, making them question everything that they know, literally driving them crazy from the realization of their own… insignificance.

When a person looked at the approaching tornado, they could only look on in powerless defeat, at their powerlessness to avert their approaching fate. Just like Da Vinci, who could only gaze in puzzlement at the riddle that is Ainz. A riddle she cannot solve… How mortifying.

It was a miracle and a curse at the same time.

Da Vinci had always smiled at the thought that one day she would face a great mystery which she would not be able to solve. She couldn't have ever imagined how finding one actually made her feel.

Was this her pride talking? Perhaps. But now she finds that it was nothing more than the naive pride of a child who believed in their invincibility. All to be so cruelly crushed by reality.

Da Vinci found herself walking towards her office, still filled with dozens of drawings and blackboards, books and odds and ends. Her target was none of these things, but a particular desk cluttered with books filled with the priceless knowledge that she had gathered.

A notebook covered end to end with her neat handwriting. Dozens of pages filled with blueprints and theories, reflections and hypotheses, something that all the magi of the world would sacrifice anything just for acquiring a page of.

Next to it was a metal glove, a mock-up of the Matter Analyzer that Da Vinci had used in the Singularity.

On another part of the desk there is a large reference book, each page's margins marked with supplementary materials for a clearer understanding of the subject therein.

Next is a sketchbook, each page filled with wondrous inventions, any of which could revolutionize any industry.

Below the reference book, was a small piece of paper marked with abbreviations, the meaning of which could only be understood by Da Vinci, something that marked her clear understanding on many subjects.

All these things were crowned by a small mug nestled on the very edge of the table. The mug's inside walls were blackened from being constantly filled with tea.

Da Vinci paused for a second, glancing pensively at the table stacked high with the sum total of everything she knew. Before moving her gaze to the chair next to it, then to the sofa, and to the shelves… All of which was cluttered with the same things.

Everywhere she could see, the picture that was painted was the same. Books filled with her scientific findings, artifacts she enjoyed playing with… All rubbish and a useless waste of paper, proof of her hubris.

Da Vinci was silent for a second, before closing her eyes, exhaling slowly…

And in one swift motion, she brushed everything on her desk aside with a crash.

It was a cacophony of sounds, a flutter of pages, the thumps of fallen books, and the sharp sound of a shattered mug. And then, silence.

A silence that greeted Da Vinci when she opened her eyes and gaze at the absolutely empty table in front of her.

"Good… " Da Vinci grinned. "A clear slate has been made."

The sound of a door opening made Da Vinci, always ready for any problems, never relaxing and forever perfect, shuddered from surprise. Worse, she knows who had just entered, the subject of her current state of mind. "It seems that I, apparently, came at the wrong time…"

Da Vinci was frozen for a moment before turning to the source of the voice.

Ainz Ooal Gown stood at the entrance to her office staring with eyes wide open at Da Vinci. Though why he looked so surprised, Da Vinci wasn't sure…

Da Vinci watched as Ainz's gaze, barely able to stay in place, slowly drifted downwards. At that moment, an errant breeze told Da Vinci the reason for Ainz's surprise.

"I forgot to get dressed again." Da Vinci rolled her eyes at the stunned Ainz before turning around. She knows that her body was perfectly beautiful, but she guessed it's nice to have some affirmation. "I'll be right back."

Ainz, left alone, just stood there uncomfortably at the entrance to Da Vinci's office before sighing, taking control of his emotions.

Huh, what is with his life lately? He just came to ask Da Vinci for the progress for the supplies Tesla needed. And instead of that he came across… a naked Da Vinci.

And she's likely emotional… Shock? Explosion? What term should Ainz use in this case?

Ainz's mind finally calmed down. Maybe he's become inured to a woman's naked body now? As the image of the naked Da Vinci flashed in Ainz's head and almost made him stumble on one of the books littered around, he had to conclude that he hadn't.

And so with careful steps, he tried to get around the things that had fallen on the floor, and towards one of the empty sofas he could see to wait for Da Vinci.

Luckily, before anything else could happen, Da Vinci entered the room. Thankfully, for Ainz's state of mind, she was dressed this time. Though she was dressed as she usually was, there was something different… A short red skirt ending well above her knees in front and turning into a kind of hem from the back, a blue-purple blouse, blue stockings and two long gloves of the same color, rising to the very shoulder.

However, contrary to Da Vinci's usual appearance, her expression was unusual. Was it expressing some kind of discomfort? Instead of the usual relaxed smile of an all-knowing genius, Da Vinci was practically emotionless, and her smiling face was almost gloomy.

Something monumentally wrong must have happened.

The suppression of his emotions made Ainz breathe out calmly, not succumbing to the outbreak of panic that had arisen. But, the atmosphere of the room still did not change. And therefore, instead of the seemingly inappropriate phrase of 'by the way, Olga told me to take a couple of coils of copper wire from you' Ainz asked another question instead.

"Did something happen?"

Da Vinci, hearing Ainz's question, slowly nodded before walking to a chair where a pile of papers lay. "Yes, something had happened."

Then without a word, Da Vinci abruptly struck the tower of papers, letting them fall to the floor, before throwing her hands down and throwing off everything that was still on the chair. "My theories are all meaningless, insignificant and useless."

"Huh… " Ainz, whose surprise was under control, if barely, just exhaled slowly, "Why is that?"

"Why, hmm!?" Da Vinci reacted to Ainz's question only by casting a heated glance at Ainz.

Ainz suddenly tensed a little, but Da Vinci, after glaring at him for a few seconds, only turned away. Instead of attacking Ainz or something else, she instead took a step towards a rack filled with various odds and ends that looked very complex. And just as abruptly as before, tore everything on the rack to the floor, crashing in a cacophony of sounds. "Indeed, why!? What is the reason for me asking this question?"

Ainz, upon hearing such a reaction, doesn't know what to do.

'What do I have to do with that?!' Ainz wanted to shout out, 'I didn't do anything, did I?! What am I to blame for again?'

"I don't understand, Leo," Ainz sighed, trying to look at Da Vinci as calmly as he could. But, as if fearing provoking her to react negatively, stayed seated.

"I suppose so," Da Vinci just nodded. "As I do not understand you, so you do not understand me. How can a creature of a one-dimensional world understand the existence of the one living in a dimension above it? How can beings of a higher dimension fit their perception of the world in a lower dimension? It's really impossible…"

Before continuing to speak, however, Da Vinci shoved another shelf full of books to the ground, then another and a third.

Ainz was now convinced that Da Vinci was suffering a nervous breakdown… he's seen it happen before with his colleagues at the black company he had worked in before. He needed to do something!

"Leo, do you need help with anything?" Ainz, not sure how to deal with people experiencing a nervous breakdown, did what he did best in such situations, kept a calm and serious expression on his face, hoping that the problem would go away by itself. "Your behavior… Are causing concern."

"Don't worry," Da Vinci, however, ignoring Ainz's thoughts and words, only continued to dump all the results of her life's work on the floor. "I'll just need to empty my office of the useless rubbish, and then I'll be fine. I have allowed myself… to be proud, hmm, and was forced to face reality."

Finally, having freed all her cabinets from records, books and artifacts, Da Vinci looked around again with a contemplative gaze. As she glanced at her office, now cluttered with dozens of things on the floor, but with completely empty tables, shelves and cabinets, nodded in satisfaction.

"Indeed, the slate is cleaned. Ok. Ainz, I beg your pardon, one second please."

Ainz didn't have time to ask her for anything before the papers lying on the floor, books and artifacts burst into a bright flame and immediately extinguished, leaving nothing behind.

Not even ash and metals survived the flames, nothing remained on the floor of Da Vinci's office, just an empty table and bare walls.

"Um, Leo," Ainz, instantly aware that he was just inches from a burning flame, looked at Da Vinci carefully. Not really sure on how to calm someone who suddenly decided to start burning the contents of their office. Slowly he rose from his seat, internally preparing to use one of his spells… Maybe he should get the 'Cure Madness' scroll?

"Hmm?" Da Vinci, noticing Ainz's actions, however, only smiled before making her way to the now vacant chair and sitting on it. "Don't worry, I didn't go mad. Perhaps even more, for the first time in a long time, I feel like my mind is free…"

"I see…" Ainz, not taking Da Vinci's words on faith, nevertheless sat down again, looking at the girl carefully. "Will you tell me about it?"

Da Vinci slowly drew in a breath, and then looked at Ainz with a look that Ainz himself could only regard as 'you yourself know'. But after a few seconds of silent gazing, Da Vinci still started speaking. "If you want to…"

After these words, Da Vinci slowly closed her eyes and looked at Ainz again attentively and even curiously, before smiling and looking away. "I have never met anything that was beyond my understanding. Any question and any task were always obvious to me, and… I guess I was overconfident in my capability. I'm… hmm, outdated, not in terms of my theories, but in my way of thinking. The longer one method works flawlessly, the more you rely on it. Instead of looking for new ways to solve a problem, you start looking for an opportunity to reduce each new question to fit the old answers. Even my Noble Phantasm…"

Da Vinci suddenly settled down before slowly nodding. "Yes, my Noble Phantasm fits such a flawed understanding to the highest degree. The ability not to find a new answer to a question, but to use any of the hundreds of ready-made answers to brute force a question's answer. Problem-solving… I have always considered it my main mission, entertainment… finding answers to new questions, a way of self-affirmation. But…" Da Vinci looked downwards, Ainz wasn't sure what expression she had on her face. Was it sadness or happiness?

"If you think about it, in a certain way, I have never actually found new answers." Da Vinci suddenly smiled. "Solving hundreds of mathematical problems, and then only compiled according to a single template. It is possible to find 'new' answers, but are the numbers themselves the purpose of the search? Is there a need to infinitely calculate different numbers according to a single pattern? Can this be called 'searching' for new answers? All my life, my whole mind was fascinated by this process. I have deceived myself," Da Vinci grinned.

"Perhaps I liked to think that it was these actions that were a demonstration of my genius. As if having learned to count the addition of hundreds of numbers, I suddenly became smarter, and had learned something new… But it's not so," Da Vinci suddenly shifted her gaze to Ainz and smiled… almost. Ainz could not even find words to describe her expression.

"And you helped me understand my folly. It was a cruel lesson, but I understand the need for cruel lessons in a way that no one else understands them." In Da Vinci's eyes, Ainz could see a storm of emotion. A little condemnation and adoration, love and resentment, interest and recognition.

"You showed me that my actions… they were not worthy of the genius of geniuses and I… I should not have taken on this title. I was simply a frog living in a well… and now… now I have seen the sky. A scientist, a genius, is someone who discovers new laws, new horizons, new facets of this world." Da Vinci suddenly looked away. "And if this is so, then I cannot call myself a scientist, let alone a genius…"

"But," before Ainz could say anything, Da Vinci continued again, literally jumping up from her seat. "This is how I will become the greatest genius of all time!"

Looking at Ainz, Da Vinci broke into a wide smile. "Thank you. It was thanks to you that I was able to realize my mistakes and my weakness, in order to surpass my vices and get… No, to actually deserve the title of genius of geniuses!" Da Vinci excitedly exclaimed.

"I know my words don't mean anything to you," Da Vinci continued to speak, and Ainz suddenly realized that Da Vinci's eyes… was not seeing him. Not in the sense of sight at least. Da Vinci was too immersed in her thoughts to let anything as mundane as sight distract her.

"But I also understand that this is exactly what you wanted all this time. All these conversations and theories, such 'random' meetings and riddles, omissions and hints. All of it was for my sake."

"Every Servant under your leadership becomes something more than they were before." Da Vinci nodded, looking at Ainz thoughtfully. "Servants, something that was supposed to be only parts of the whole, have become whole. They acquire names and friends, communicate and fight, perish and return again, the cycle of changes is, at the same time, an unchanging reality. As if a broken sword must be reforged, each Servant must search for the answer themselves in order to become something more than what they are. Be it death or the Grail, care or hatred - each of the Servants changes again and again… And all of it is thanks to you."

Da Vinci glanced at Ainz who was silent. Da Vinci's gaze saw confirmation in Ainz's silence - or even more like a silent affirmation, as if saying 'naturally, how could you think of anything else?'.

However, from Ainz's side, his silence was not a sign of confidence or a slightly dismissive patronizing tone… it was from pure confusion.

'I don't understand what she's talking about at all.' Ainz was lost, totally lost.

But Da Vinci saw what she wanted to see, and therefore continued talking again. "Every action has a meaning, every decision is justified - right? Tell me, Ainz Ooal Gown, how far have you been able to predict all this? How far do these plans go?"

'I didn't even know that this conversation would take place, what are you talking about?!' - Ainz screams internally.

But in reality, he just silently looked at Da Vinci, before making, seemingly, the only correct decision in the current situation and answering it. "Isn't that what you want? You just have to find it out."

"Huh?" Da Vinci smiled in euphoria, leaning back. "Is that so? Of course, of course… The desire to study you will serve as a guiding star for me, it is by trying to understand your plans that I will be able to move further. After all, simple logic is not able to study your actions. By trying to understand your plans, I will have to climb much further than anyone else could… As if testing me for compliance with the title, a genius of geniuses. Isn't that right, Ainz Ooal Gown? After all, you knew from the very beginning that it would be so?"

Hearing these strange words that he had trouble believing was actually a language of sorts, Ainz closed his eyes, exhaled, and then replied calmly. "Of course. Exactly. This is all part of my plan that I foresaw…"

"I knew it," Da Vinci smiled like a cat that had caught the canary. "Every movement, every action, every word has a meaning… Okay, of course, then I'm ready to tackle this riddle. For the first time, before me there was a real problem, a real mystery, the solution to which does not lie on the surface, an answer that cannot be found by a lazy enumeration of options. The greatest mystery of my life. One that I would solve, for I am Leonardo Da Vinci! The genius among geniuses!"

At her excited words, Ainz only looked away before sighing, almost defeated, "Exactly. Of course, Da Vinci. This is exactly how it is."

"I knew that," Da Vinci grinned, then turned around, "In that case, forgive me, Ainz, my workshop is too empty for my liking, and I hate emptiness. Therefore, I will start a new research right now. The kind of research that will make even you recognize me as a genius."

"I already consider you a genius anyway… " Ainz's words, however, sounded so quiet that Da Vinci did not hear them, as she walked away from the room… To look for fresh paper, he guessed.

Ainz, sitting silently on the sofa, only slowly raised his hands, putting them to his face… A facepalm if you will.

He exhaled forcibly, then clenched his head in his hands, perhaps hoping that if it burst now, he would never have to participate in such a confusing scene ever again in his life. Unfortunately, his head didn't burst, and after sitting like that for a few seconds, Ainz got up from his seat.

Did he understand anything from Da Vinci's monologue?

Nope.

Besides the fact that he was somehow again a great and omnipotent invincible genius… What a blunder. Why?

For some reason, everyone always decided to see him that way, and Ainz had no idea how they could mistake him as one. He didn't even have a college degree, for god's sake!

Now, he has to act like a genius, Machiavellian master of intrigue if he wants to keep his prestige as a boss. Ainz was not sure if he even had a chance of succeeding. And even if he somehow by a miracle did, Ainz was completely unsure of the consequences of such a subterfuge.

Therefore, with no comfort in sight, Ainz shakily got up from his seat before heading out of Da Vinci's workshop.

Tesla could do without his wire, after all.

Leonardo Da Vinci changed class!

New class received: "Grand Caster Candidate"!