As they walked along the city streets following the supposed 'guide', the two, Tesla and Angrboda's thoughts, were worlds apart. But, on the whole, they surprisingly agreed on some things.
For example, the fact that they were barely holding in their annoyance and murderous impulses at the sights they see in the city, albeit for very different reasons. Angrboda, for instance, was annoyed by the people surrounding her. Being surrounded on all sides by humans made her feel like countless bugs were crawling all over her body, but had to fight the impulse to squish them like the bugs they are. On the other hand, she really doesn't care about the mechanical contraptions around her, though this Edison guy really loves to put his name on every thing.
Tesla on the other hand, as a person who lived in the 19th Century, the mass of human bodies was nothing unusual. But, seeing every building on both sides of the street, every lamppost on the road, and displayed almost garishly on every tag on clothes not yet sold visible through the windows of boutiques marked with Edison's name almost made him unleash System Keraunos damn all subtlety and the casualties it may cause. The fact that doing so would make Angrboda go on a killing spree, thus making them fail Ainz's objectives, was the only thing keeping his anger at bay.
Tesla knows that Edison has a bloated ego, but how is he not sick of this much vanity!?
Also, both Tesla and Angrboda agreed that their… 'guide' was someone that is not at all suitable for their role. He was very strong, so strong in fact that, for a second, Tesla even felt sick at the thought that Edison had managed to get himself a Servant such as this! Angrboda, however, was just as sickened as Tesla, though again for a wildly different reason. No, she was upset by the fact that the Servant, this wonderful child, that was just in her arms' reach, was forced to reside in this city full of (parasites) people, forced to spend his time in this disgusting place.
Tesla knew which Servant's back he was following behind right now, Angrboda too, although for her, her knowledge of his identity came from a different source than Tesla's. Tesla, as an enlightened man, knew the history of the Servant before him, and nothing as base as hiding his name could hide his radiance. Angrboda on the other hand knew of the Servant's essence, and the both of them were not happy to see this Servant in his current role.
Albeit, again, for different reasons.
Tesla understood that in the event where he had to fight the Servant, it would not be easy, even for him, to secure victory. But, if he also had to fight him along with Edison at the same time, then he would have no choice but to retreat.
Angrboda, her reason for being upset as she watched the figure in front of her, was simply saddened by the fact that her dear wonderful child was forced to be among, she dreads to imagine how her child had suffered, humans!
Angrboda wanted to brush her teeth at the thought that she had uttered that disgusting word, even in her own head… Which just makes it worse, now that she thought about it.
However, the guide, even if he somehow became aware of the thoughts of the two Servants behind him, did not betray his thoughts in any way. With a measured gait, he simply continued to obey the order given to him, that is to escort the two Servants to meet his master. Following orders, as he always did in his life.
Then as they reached the largest and most ornate building of the city named most originally - Edison City - Tesla gritted his teeth when he first heard about the name - the Servant that had guided them stopped before turning around. As the Servant turned, Tesla and Angrboda could see his beautiful, aristocratic, sharp featured pale face, framed by white hair, a polite neutral expression on his face, before he started speaking. "The Eternal President, Thomas Alva Edison, will receive you now."
"I'm just trembling in anticipation…" Tesla grunted through gritted teeth, as he looked at the tall and thin figure in a black suit, whose arms and legs were covered with golden armor.
Karna.
Of all the people and heroes that that insignificant worm, Edison, could have acquired, he got Karna, the Hero of Charity, Hero of the Poor, and Child of the Sun.
Perhaps one of the greatest heroes of India and one of the greatest heroes of humanity, Karna. The son of the Sun God, Surya, the invincible Karna, endowed with all gifts, all abilities and who have received a spear capable of killing the gods themselves from Indra. A weapon that was too strong even for Indra himself to use. The invincible, powerful and, what was most disgusting for Tesla - loyal Karna. He is a Servant that would obey all his orders and would never even consider the concept of betraying his Master, whoever he was.
Of all the Heroes that Edison could meet or summon - of course he got Karna… It wasn't as if Tesla was hoping for something good to happen in this life!
Angrboda, too, was somewhat embittered and saddened by the Servant's visage. Although not because of a particular hatred of Edison or anything like that. The reason for this was simply because she literally could not bear watching her little child, the lesser deity of the Sun, being forced to walk among humans!
It was hard for her and almost sickening for Angrboda to bear looking at how some unreasonable squalor that calls himself the 'eternal president' was making fun of her dear child by making him do such a menial job!
Well, yes, he's not his child by blood. But in essence, the Servant in front of her was still her child!
Angrboda barely suppressed the urge to growl in anger, calming down at the last second. For the sake of her beloved, She will make any sacrifices! Even if such sacrifice took the form of having to bear watching how these… these lowly creatures mock her child, forcing him to be in this pigsty!
Still, it doesn't mean that she wants to prolong her stay in this god-forsaken place!
And so with a huff, Angrboda barreled forward, after gently pushing Karna aside of course, then with one push that almost broke the ornate doors, she walked inside the large building that was apparently the headquarters of the local government. After which, without listening to the words and warnings of the various (bugs) guards trying to accost her, she quickly walked forward, forcing Tesla and Karna to hurry after her. Though whether or not Tesla was dragging his feet, no one could tell.
Without the help of a map, and with no one to guide her, Angrboda simply headed to the largest and most ornate door, assuming that a person that would name a city after himself would definitely do that. She didn't have to travel far before she encountered a huge double door made of mahogany, it was so needlessly large that even she could pass through it without having to bend her head. She had found her goal. And so with barely a pause she opened them, bursting into the office with the desire and intention to express her displeasure to this 'president', to share what exactly she thought of him and his personnel decisions. They could still have an amicable relationship if he left him only half dead, right?
However, for a second, after she passed through the doors and finally saw the 'President', even in her fit of righteous anger, she still paused her steps at the sight she saw.
Tesla, who had followed closely behind her, as soon as he saw the Servant in front of him through the opened door, froze in shock with his mouth flapping uselessly at the sight.
Karna, however, lingered a little behind the duo, having to calm the people and the guards that Angrboda had passed by. As the two Servants were too shocked by what they saw, Karna had enough time to close the doors behind them and, apparently, to sweep off any traces of dust and debris on the marble floor. As he joined the two Servants in the President's office, he was also exposed to the President's strange appearance, which he took without even a raised eyebrow, apparently already familiar to him, joining his Master's side.
It was a Lion, an Anthropomorphic lion at that, Half-human with a head of a Lion. It was a very bizarre appearance. But still, even with his bizarre appearance, Tesla would never fail to identify his most hated supposed 'rival'.
"Edison…" Tesla could barely believe his eyes, as he saw the man take off his glasses from his maned face, putting them on the table well away from the documents he was reading before they entered the office. "You're a… Furry. I need something strong to delete this memory."
The man in front of them was a man of immense height, but he was a human only starting from the neck down. It was an appearance that was definitely human, two arms and legs, a fully human chest and belly… And the head of a lion. A real lion, with a mane, fangs, whiskers and all. A real, live, animal, a lion.
Speaking only those two halted sentences, Tesla couldn't string any more coherent words as he stared at Edison's form.
The man, slowly rising from the table, looked at Tesla with an inscrutable gaze at Tesla. "Nikola… How surprising that we have another chance to meet and yet even this time it is you again who comes to me asking…"
"You are a furry!" Tesla, not giving a damn about all the rules of etiquette, pointed his finger at Edison. "You are actually a furry!"
"Hmm…" - Edison, a little surprised by the lack of decorum, still tried to answer the accusation. "I prefer to call myself a…"
"Crave the intimate company of animals? Very intimate company at that?" Tesla blinked. - "I have always known that you were a purveyor of many a sins and perversions, Edison, but bestiality…"
"I'm not a furry, nor am I in any way a sexual deviant." Edison answered slowly but with intent, and then tried to start his introduction again. "I am the eternal president…"
"Is it some kind of fur suit? Edison, do you welcome new visitors in a fur suit to satisfy your fetishistic fantasies?" Tesla continued to speak with incredulity, ignoring Edison's words entirely. "Did you become President solely in order to normalize and indulge in your addictions?"
"I'm NOT A FURRY!" Edison, no longer able to bear Tesla's accusations, erupted in fury. And in an action as befitting as the man who can sell dreams, he immediately wheeled around for a dialogue with Angrboda, hoping that she could somehow interrupt Tesla's diatribe. "Hmm, madam, what a…"
"Stop!" Angrboda shouted before raising a finger up to her lips. "You look like a person from a demi-human race, but I don't feel a single iota of kinship from you. In fact, you feel unmistakably human… What kind of creature are you!?"
"He is a furry." Tesla replied immediately as he turned to Angrboda. "And I, in fact, would be reluctant to call furries, people…"
"I AM NOT A FURRY!" - Edison slammed his fists on the table, then glanced at Karna, - "Karna, confirm it!"
"I can confirm that my Master is not a furry…" After that, Karna was silent in thought for a second. "I, however, do not know what this term means…"
"It would be much better for you not to pollute your mind with such filth." Tesla responded with full seriousness, before turning back to Edison. This time, Tesla smiled, as if he had come to terms with everything that happened at the behest of Edison and even stopped reproaching him for his irrepressible ego, which had made him leave his personal symbol on every centimeter of the city, which he also named after himself. No, rather, it is as if he had received just compensation for the suffering that Edison had caused. "This secret was worth all the moral torment in my life! Who would ever imagine such a thing, for you to turn out to be…"
"I AM NOT FURRY!" Edison grabbed his head in frustration. Something made incredibly funny by his lion head. "TESLA, GET OUT! OUT, I SAY!"
"The truth will always sound in your ears, Edison!" - Tesla laughed devilishly, - "A liar, an impostor, and now a furry!"
"GET OOOOOOUT!" Edison grabbed the table, and in his frustration flipped it over, forcing the things that were previously on it to scatter all around the room. "GET OUT OF HERE, TESLA, OR I'LL KILL YOU! GET OUT!"
"No furries are allowed to order me around!" Tesla burst out laughing at Edison's actions. "No! Instead, I shall insult them until they cry!"
"TEEEEESLA!" Unable to bear the insults anymore, and disregarding all the rules of decency and banal prudence, Edison rushed toward Tesla with his fists upraised.
Karna, unsure of what to do since he was not ordered to do anything, could only watch the 'fight' happening in the presidential office. Though if the two scientists trying to fight each other in a fist fight counts as a fight is anyone's guess. Puzzled on what he should do, Karna instead looked towards Angrboda, hoping to get some kind of answer from her. This attempt, however, from the very beginning was doomed to failure, since Angrboda, seeing Karna's attention, simply smiled back at him without professing any answers.
For a second, it seemed to Karna that in this smile he could see the most real of motherly love, a strange feeling that he had never seen nor experienced. As Karna tried to puzzle out what the feeling he's feeling was, Angrboda approached him and started speaking. "Hello, my child, Karna."
Karna blinked owlishly at Angrboda's words, as far as he knows, they've never met before. "I beg your pardon, my lady, do we know each other?"
"Now, yes child", - Angrboda smiled, a smile so kind that for a second it seemed to Karna that a new Sun had risen in the room… Which was especially strange, considering that Karna was the son of the Sun. So does it mean that they're now three Suns?
"I…" - Karna could only look down, a little embarrassed, at the way the female seems to want to baby him. "I'm not sure what you mean by that. You know my name, but you haven't told me yours. Although, of course, I do not insist on this, I understand how important a name is for a Servant. But… I am sure that you are not Kunti, my mother."
"Of course not, I am not your birth mother," Angrboda smiled an understanding smile. "I am a universal mother, all children are my children!"
"Hmm?" Karna, now a little confused, could only cast his gaze down at the perceived failure. "I'm not sure if I understand…"
"You don't need to understand it, child." Angrboda put her hand on Karna's shoulder, and then pulled him into a strong embrace. So strong, in fact, that Karna could only realize with no small amount of incredulity that his golden armor was starting to crack from the pressure. If he didn't have his armor, he would have become nothing more than a splotch of blood from Angrboda's embrace. "You have to feel it, Karna! Tell me, do you want some homemade cookies? Are you not hungry? Have you eaten yet?"
"Hmm," Karna, as befitting his nature, did not take the embrace as an attack, and instead began to speak politely to Angrboda. All without expressing any discomfort from Angrboda's embrace. "I beg your pardon, my lady, you are squeezing me too tightly…"
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Angrboda, seeing Karna's pained appearance, as faint as it is on Karna's unchanged appearance, released Karna instantly. The forceful release, causing Karna to sway slightly in place. Taking no heed to any discomfort that she may have caused Karna, Angrboda continued her tirade of questions. "Won't you tell me about your life? What are you doing now? Have you found a girl that you would like? And what about lunch? Did you already have lunch today? You are very thin, you need to eat more!"
"Hmm…" - Karna, not quite sure how he should react to the mothering, tried to find Edison with his eyes...
To find him rolling on the floor, trying to rip out a lock of Tesla's hair. Tesla, however, did not lag behind, continuing to drag Edison by the whiskers.
"You were always close to Ford!" - Tesla laughed, not paying attention to Edison's actions, - "Was he also one of your!?"
"I WILL KILL YOU!" Edison replied to Tesla mocking words by redoubling his efforts to tear off Tesla's head.
Seeing no help coming anytime soon, Karna slowly shifted his gaze to Angrboda's expecting gaze, and he could only sigh. "Okay… I haven't had lunch yet, so perhaps… We can go…"
"Excellent!" Not allowing Karna to finish, Angrboda broke into a smile and grabbed Karna's arm before leading him out of the room. "By the way, how do you feel about human flesh?"
"What?!" Karna almost stumbled on his own leg at the strangeness of the question as he looked at Angrboda in complete bewilderment.
"Just an innocent question!" Angrboda smiled, innocently. "Let's go, we need to find a good place to eat! You are so thin, if you don't eat more, soon your armor will begin to fall off you!"
Karna just glanced back in the room, where two scientists were still floundering on the floor, and exhaled. It seems that he had a couple of hours to spare before having to return to his duty…
Ainz sigh the sigh of the damned as he marched towards the approaching doors of something that, under these conditions, was most likely a palace. Hmm, if this country was ruled by a King and Queen, then of course the building in front of him should be a palace, it doesn't look like that at all though. Ainz is used to palaces in the European or Japanese style in the first place, and what he's seeing looked more like a huge white mansion of a rich person rather than a palace. Hmm, maybe it's just the house they use while in the city, and their seat of power is somewhere else entirely?
Though, why does it look so familiar?
Deciding not to burden his memory once again, for something so unimportant at that, Ainz simply followed after Saber who had entered the building. Passing through the doors opened by Saber, Ainz found himself in a long hall that ended on a pedestal, on which there were placed two thrones of unequal sizes. One of them, the larger one that is, was occupied by a man that Ainz had already seen on the many posters - Cu Chulainn… If Cu Chulainn was somehow descended from a demon.
On the second throne, placed next to the larger one nearby, was a short girl, whose appearance he was also familiar with thanks to the many posters outside. Although, if the many artists had managed to convey the bestial essence of Cu Chulainn's appearance quite succinctly, then they had definitely faced some difficulty trying to fully reflect the beauty of the girl.
The girl sitting on the throne, who even when Ainz had arrived continued to look at Cú Chulainn with love and adoration that could almost be palpably felt in the air, was short, with long pink hair, thin facial features, piercing eyes and a figure that would make many men involuntarily stick their gaze to her… Especially when her already sinful figure was emphasized by her clothes, which could only be called clothing at a stretch. Even in the porn that Ainz once saw a long, long time ago, they often wore more decent underwear than what was apparently the girl's top and skirt! It was probably more correct to say that both were more like two belts - and very small ones - with which the girl barely covered the most feminine parts of her body. And, of course, as if the image of the girl was not complete without it - she was wearing stockings that somehow made her appearance even more lewd.
As Ainz looked upon the girl lounging on the throne, Ainz involuntarily rejoiced that his Emotion Suppression could cope with his libido as well. He definitely wouldn't want to be aroused right now.
However, after suppressing his emotions, Ainz finally noticed that the girl was definitely not someone that he would describe as 'perfect'. He preferred taller girls, for instance, and her breasts were more on the modest side. Ainz preferred big…
Ahem, it doesn't matter!
Ainz shook his head, taking his eyes off the girl before looking once again at the seated Cu Chulainn, who was looking at Ainz's approach with laziness and even a kind of longing, for what however he couldn't tell. However, due to his appearance - demonic-red skin and armor that wrapped around his body like the bones or paws of a monster and his sharp teeth, even with his lazy posture, he looked more like a lazy monster, resting after eating an unlucky traveler and therefore was too full to contemplate chasing potential prey passing by.
"Hey, guess who I brought here!" To demonstrate all sorts of disregard for the royal persons, however, Saber shouted.
"I see." With these words, brimming with disregard, Cu Chulainn sighed and waved his hand to the side. "Then go, annoy someone else."
"Sure thing, my King." Grinning at the equally dismissive response from his king, Saber turned on a dime and walked out to the exit, passing by Ainz and his Servants. However, passing Medea and Mashu, Saber could not resist winking at them. "Bye, beauties! Hope to see you again!"
After that, Saber paused for a second next to Ainz and winked at him, "By the way, you are also cute. Come in for a round of drinks with me, if the desire arises!"
Ainz blinked, feeling some mixed feelings being flirted at by a man. That is, ahem… Well, what Saber had said could be regarded as a compliment. It is kind of strange… But it is a compliment all the same! And who knows, in this very 'open' country, such a compliment might just be nothing more than normal!
"And now you…" Even before Saber had left the building, Cu Chulainn examined the three new visitors and, with a voice, low, lazy, and with a little hoarseness and even anguish inside, started introducing himself. "I am Cu Chulainn. Well, Cu Chulainn Alter to be more precise, you can call me that if you want, I don't care."
After these words, the girl, the Queen, finally roused herself into a posture that was just barely more formal than before, nevertheless honoring the visitors with her attention, then introduced herself. "I am the Queen, Rider…" Never mind, it seems that she has enough common sense not to divulge her identity to potential enemies.
"Girl, are you kidding me?" At the Queen's paltry performance, Cu Chulainn just rolled his eyes and started speaking again. "This is Medb, she considers herself my queen - and I'm too lazy to tell her she is not."
"Cu Chulainn, my dear, do not say such cruel words…" Medb, ignoring that she was not alone in the room, coquettishly leaned over to the larger throne to drape herself on Cu Chulainn's shoulders. It seems that she's ignoring the words to the tone of voice and to the indifference with which Cu Chulainn looked at her. "Your words struck me straight in the heart!"
For a second, Ainz felt a sense of déjà vu, vividly imagining Angrboda in the place of Medb, and himself in Cu Chulainn's place. Before quickly dispelling these thoughts, trying to remember what he knew about these legendary figures.
Cu Chulainn, Ainz knew everything there is to know about him, well the normal form of his any way. A dark version of Cú Chulainn, huh? Ainz remembered that in YGGDRASIL there was a small chance to force Cú Chulainn into the form of an insane monster for a while if a number of conditions were met. Still his capabilities should be much the same as his Lancer form, so this didn't really interest him, Ainz did not see anything too interesting in the blackened version of Cú Chulainn. Except, of course, for his rarity value as a part of a collection.
Um, he has Cu Chulainn as Caster, if he were to summon Cu Chulainn as Lancer and this alternate version of Cu Chulainn - will he be able to say that he got a full set of possible Cu Chulainns? Hmm, the collector in him just had its interest tingled.
Anyway, Medb was a little more interesting to Ainz. In Yggdrasil, Medb also existed and was even an ally for Ainz and other players of the heteromorphic race… Well, somewhat.
In Yggdrasil, Medb existed as an extremely powerful faerie, a Queen of the Winter Court, and was one of the secret bosses for the 'good' side, comparable in strength to Angrboda, albeit with a slightly different focus. Instead of Angrboda who fights on her own when encountered as a boss, Medb was a very powerful witch and summoner. Fighting her has her constantly summoning many servants to her aid, strengthening them and debuffing the players. Something which earned her the nickname of the Bitch-Queen.
However, she received this nickname not only for her battle tactics, but also for the way she interacts with Players. Medb was an NPC with a neutral disposition, and all races in the game were able to interact with her, giving Players various quests. Not that many veteran Players do her quests, at least not after the first ones.
Each and every one of her quests always come with some kind of trap hidden inside. Either that, after a fierce battle with a dragon, the chest that the dragon had defended turned out to be empty. Or, after completing a small assignment from her about the delivery of a letter, one of the affinity-aligned NPCs for the Player, chosen at random, had a chance to disappear for the player forever. You see, with the letter that you had personally delivered, Medb had transmitted information about their significant other's infidelity, and they had committed suicide out of grief. Never mind the myriad other ways she could drag an unsuspecting player into a trap.
Truly, the Developers of YGGDRASIL are sadistic monsters.
To complete the shit fest trifecta is the excellent work of the voice actress, who excellently conveyed in her voice the disdain, irritation and arrogance of the Bitch Queen. And the work of the character designers and animators who made her every move and pose filled with the same sentiments, and no one would question why Medb was unloved by all the Players. It wasn't a very rare occurrence for a heteromorph party to kill her, even with her status as one of the very rare Neutral NPCs.
Ainz was not such a player.
He, as a rule, preferred not to wipe out the few allies he had in the game. And besides, Medb's quests were not so bad, they were something that he appreciated in small doses even. Such trap laden quests allowed Ainz to hone his discernment and ability to quickly navigate the changing conditions he could find in the game. And indeed, even when her quests' material rewards were almost non-existent, at least her quests rewarded generous amounts of experience after completion. Something which is incredibly useful in quickly regaining lost levels. But even so, Ainz did not carry any particularly friendly feelings for that Medb.
Although, it seems, he was almost the only Player that actually agreed to regularly complete her quests. Something that, if another Player knew, would accuse him of receiving some sort of abnormal perverse pleasure in doing them. Something which he would vehemently disagree with, since he's not a pervert who derives pleasure from beautiful women hurling abusive words at him. Though, he did read rumors on the forum that completing the last quest in her quest chain would drastically change Medb's attitude towards the Player.
But Ainz, who went through her entire quest line, did not remember anything special happening with Medb. However, he did only finish her quest line when he was already alone in Nazarick and did all the quests in a robotic fashion, without reading or listening to anything from the NPC, so he was not sure - maybe he just missed this moment by accident.
Hmm, anyway, it didn't matter now.
Emerging from his thoughts once again, Ainz looked at the pair of Servants flirting in front of him, after which he nevertheless stepped forward, interrupting their little dialogue. "We have come here…"
"How dare you talk to your king so dismissively, servant?!" Medb reacted instantly to Ainz interrupting her time with Cu Chulainn. But, almost as immediately, she was interrupted from whatever it was she was about to do by Cu Chulainn's finger, which he almost drove into her skull trying to put it to Medb's lips to silence her.
"Shut up," Cu Chulainn sighed at his 'supposed' queen's actions and looked at Ainz. "Well? Tell me why you arrived."
"Hmm," Ainz looked at Medb who was previously fuming but who is now almost purring in delight as she rubbed her cheek to Cu Chulainn's finger… She clearly has a few screws loose. But, it didn't matter to Ainz anyway, so he pressed on. "I came here to find the Grail and resolve this Singularity…"
"Grail? The Holy Grail? You want that thing?" At Ainz's reply, Cu Chulainn just shrugged his shoulders. "Medb, where did you shove the Grail?"
"Need I to show it to you, my dear?" Medb replied amorously, while moving her body in such a way to emphasize her bust.
"Stupid whore," Cu Chulainn rolled his eyes, used to her antics by now. " I'll ask you again, where is the Grail?"
"In my room," Medb pouted at Cu's disinterest, before pouting as she saw something in Cu's bland expression. - "Dear, do not do so, please!"
"Go to her room, take it if you want, I don't need it." After delivering his verdict, Cu Chulainn just sat back on his throne, and then looked at Ainz with the same bored gaze as before. "Anything else?"
"Hmm?" Ainz blinked in surprise at the resolution of the conflict, if it could be called that.
It was easy. Very, very easy. Too easy, in fact, that Ainz immediately felt that it was some kind of trap. In addition, he was dealing with Medb, there was definitely some kind of setup here, it was something that was said by the entire community of YGGDRASIL!
"Hmm, maybe the respected Medb could… Bring the Grail here on her own?" Ainz immediately rushed to add an excuse before the mercurial Queen could blow her top, figuratively speaking, that is. "It would be indecent for me to rummage around in a lady's room…"
"Medb," Cu Chulainn almost yawned at Ainz's request, before once again turning towards his queen. "Go, bring the Grail."
"Okay, dear," After Cu Chulainn's command, Medb, almost jumping out of her throne, got up and quickly went somewhere to the sides, presumably to her room. She was doing this with the obvious intention to deal with the assignment given to her as quickly as possible, in order to return to her 'dear' Cu Chulainn as soon as possible.
Ainz, looking at this procession of events, could only watch with frozen indecision. No, of course, he was familiar with all sorts of relationships, but he could hardly even substitute himself and Angrboda for these two Servants. Even he wasn't so… disdainful of the girl that is so in love with him. And that is with Angrboda of all people, and she eats people!
"Hmm," Ainz, feeling some awkwardness in the atmosphere, finally decided to focus his attention elsewhere. As he averted his gaze, it landed on Mashu, who was standing next to him - but she just kept looking after Medb's back, who had gone away. Her expression was one of whom is clearly pondering something deeply.
'Hm?' - Ainz noticed a slight blush on Mashu's cheeks - 'I hope she hasn't cached something…'
As his gaze continued roaming, it then landed on Medea. Who, on the other hand, although she showed more signs of life than Cu Chulainn, was one that was almost as equally bored. Instead, it seems as if she was deep in thought about something, periodically though she would throw glances in Ainz's direction. However, the glances were of a completely different nature than those that Medb threw at Cú Chulainn. Rather, it was something pensive and incomprehensible, as if she was trying to solve some great mystery by staring at him.
Ainz wondered for a second what Medea might be thinking about. But nothing other than 'something that is too difficult for me anyway' came to his mind, and therefore, shrugging his shoulders, he averted his gaze, stumbling into a quickly hurrying back Medb, in whose hands there was a golden cup, which was already familiar to Ainz by appearance.
Though, the appearance and subsequent retrieval of the object of his mission did not bring any joy or clarity in Ainz's mind. Instead, it caused some chaos instead.
'No, it's too simple!' Ainz let out a slow breath to calm his overworked and shocked brain. 'I sent her to collect the Grail to check if there was a trap on the Grail. But, the insidious trap is clearly there, just not on the Grail itself!'
Medb, quickly approaching Ainz, ignoring whatever hangups Ainz might have, simply shoved the Grail in his direction. After which, she hurried back to Cu Chulainn's side, whose visage seemed to only darken as she approached, clearly not wanting to meet and conduct any dialogues with Medb. She, however, did not start any dialogues, simply seating herself on her throne, and again gazed at Cu Chulainn with a loving look.
Ainz, having weighed the Grail in his hands, used a spell just in case, determining whether it was the real Grail or not. Just in case, Ainz looked around at his surroundings once again, checking if a chain reaction had started along the surrounding Singularity. But, even with all his current repertoire of detecting spells, nothing like that happened. Despite the fact that the Grail in Ainz's hands was real, the Singularity was in no hurry to collapse.
While, he felt some strange happiness at the fact that the Singularity hadn't just been solved that simply. It also means that his mission just got a lot more complicated.
"So, either there are two Holy Grails, or that the Singularity was not caused by the Grail in the first place…" - Medea briefly and quietly summarized the situation before looking at Ainz, expecting his reaction.
Ainz had no particular reaction to Medea's ideas. The Second Grail… Judging Cú Chulainn's personality, the second Grail, if he had it, Cu Chulainn would have also given it, or at the very least said something about it. So the Demon Kings had it, maybe? Ainz already had information that Cu Chulainn was using their powers in some way, so there was no point in asking him about it now.
In addition, it was not clear what, in this case, was the most important, the root cause of the creation of the Singularity. The Demon Kings' machinations? Cu Chulainn, who announced the creation of a Kingdom that didn't originally exist? Edison and his nuclear bombing? All of them? Or was it something else?
Ainz, however, was not allowed to think about it for long, as Cu Chulainn unceremoniously interrupted his train of thought. "Do you need anything else?"
Hearing these words, Ainz looked around him, glancing at Mashu, who continued to follow Medb's figure with her eyes, and at Medea, who would simply follow Ainz's lead, before exhaling. "No, but we wanted to stay in this city for a while…"
"Then stay," Cu Chulainn brushed aside Ainz hesitance at his request, before finally settling on his throne once again, listlessly waving aside Medb's attempts to touch him and do anything to him, gazing with boredom towards the distance.
Ainz, looking at the Grail in his hand, could only sigh, refraining from scratching the back of his head at this progression of events. And so, like so many times before, he did not know at all what he should be doing…
Comments on the story of the Argonauts in six parts, a scientific monograph:
… No fewer inaccuracies and questions arise in the study of the Argo itself and the individuals involved in the story of the Argonauts exist in the legends. In particular, any information about Medea one can gleam in her stories is very contradictory in nature. Some authors would say that 'she was too young to marry' once again emphasizing Jason's moral poverty. That he would lead astray such a young and naive girl. And that she was not a witch, but instead a priestess who had mastered the art of healing. A person who had used her abilities, saving Jason from a mortal wound when Atalanta accidentally loosed an arrow that had mistakenly struck Jason during their battle with the 'monsters' of the islands.
Other authors, however, almost as to spite the previous story-teller, would tell the story of Medea as a mature and experienced woman, who used Jason for her purposes and one that would subject him to torture. She would use her prowess in healing to prolong his agony until the time Jason used his cunning and ran away. That, rather than an innocent youth, Medea was an experienced and cunning witch. That she had previously entered into an alliance with a dark monster in the service of Death (in this case, however, it is not completely clear what exactly is meant by Death in the telling, since the name of Thanatos or Hades is not used to denote Death), in her quest to kill Jason with her own hands...