Grand Foreigner (Chapters 1- 200)

Chapter 45

Ainz slowly moved along the streets of the city, trying to keep his pace the same with Nero, while looking around.

"Everything around here looks so..." - Ainz thought for a second, picking his word - "Peaceful..."

The situation around him looked completely different than in the previous Singularity.

There, in the camp of the French Army, Ainz could see tired soldiers waiting for their inevitable destiny, trying to laugh at inappropriate jokes, sharpening blades and looking cautiously at the sky, waiting for the arrival of a new monster, while here, in this city, people were simply doing their own thing.

Someone was carrying a heavy load on their shoulders, some merchant was hawking his wares at potential customers, some guy was looking around, looking for the person or thing he needed to find - it just looked so peaceful for Ainz.

"And there is so much vegetation..." - Ainz looked at a row of trees planted along the sides of the road. In his world, Ainz very rarely saw vegetation - maybe a couple of times when he managed to get to an internal farm for wealthy citizens, when he was a salesman...

Some woman shouted at a boy, only five years old, who had been running along the road, after which the boy frowned and walked up to his mother, who took his hand and moved off to the side, minding her own business.

Ainz felt a small smile appear on his face against his will.

"Disgusting," and of course, Cainabel's voice made Ainz instantly frown.

'Why did you need to ruin everything?' - Ainz sighed, asking the girl a question to himself.

"Is that Emperor Nero?" He suddenly heard a voice from one of the passers-by.

After a second, someone answered back, "Yes, yes, that's her for sure!"

Ainz did not even had time to take ten steps before the usual clamors of the townspeople turned into numerous whispers, spreading at the speed of a forest fire. Ainz managed to think for a second of what may have caused such a reaction before his thoughts were interrupted.

"Long live the Emperor!" Came a cry from the crowd, immediately repeated by the rest, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Nero, until then quietly moving through the streets unnoticed, only smiled at it, after which she took a step forward and looked around the townspeople with a wide gesture - "Long live the people of Rome!"

A second after this, the crowd of people of Rome exploded into cries - however, these were cries of support and, Ainz could even say, adoration.

"She is pretty popular among the people," Cu Chulainn's voice conveyed to Ainz the same thought that also had come to himself.

"Strange," came the voice of Mashu in reply, trying to speak quietly, "I heard that he... She was popular - but her days ended in solitude..."

"Glory is not eternal," came the quiet voice of Medusa, passing next to Mashu in a second, making Ainz sigh. Well, glory is not eternal - Ainz himself knew this.

"You are loved among the people," however he nevertheless took a step forward toward Nero. Rather than pursuing a specific meaning with the conversation, he is simply trying to waste some time before arriving to the palace.

"Of course ~ umu!" Nero smiled at these words, as if talking about something obvious, "After all, this is my empire!"

"Then, if you care so much about your people — I'm glad that it was such a person who became Emperor," Ainz said without further hint.