Volume 12: The Two Monsters

Chapter 2, Part 2

The throne room of Nazarick was brightly lit by the chandeliers. The magical light illuminated the figures beneath. All the guardians were present, and on the throne in front of them sat the overlord of death - Ainz Ooal Gown. It was a regular meeting for those gathered. Taking place five days after the events in the Holy Kingdom, that country was the main focus of the discussion.

"Everything is going as Ainz-sama had planned," proclaimed Albedo. "Princess Renner had informed us that a high ranked diplomat from the Holy Kingdom had asked her to arrange a meeting with the Sorcerer King. They should arrive in two days."

"Jircniv will also arrive in two days," nodded Demiurge" as expected of Ainz-sama. To predict the outcome of my actions in the Holy Kingdom so far in advance. Truly marvelous"

If it wasn't for his skinless face, the expression on Suzuki Satour's face would be a mix of confusion and a blank stare. 'Why did he and Albedo being up Baharuth Empire?" He wondered, he felt a headache coming but chose to ignore the praise Demiurge was lavishing on him.

"Then once we accept their request for help, we will proceed with Demiurge's plan," Ainz said.

"Another kingdom will be in our debt. Only a Supreme Being could come up with such a flawless plan," said Shalltear, looking at Ainz with eyes full of admiration.

"Defeating Jaldabaoth will make Ainz-sama the hero for the creatures of this world," added Aura with a smile.

"And.. having Demiurge-sama there.. will remove any..suspicion from.. Nazairck," Mare added in his panicky voice.

"Indeed, Demiurge had come up with an excellent plan," Ainz thought, but before he could say it, a soft laughter came from his side.

"Kuku," laughed Albedo "do you think that is the extent of our Lord's design?"

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Asked Shalltear.

"Do you honestly believe a plan by Ainz-sama would only accomplish two goals?"Albedo looked at Shalltear with a sense of superiority, the feeling that she understood her master better than Shalltear made her wings move with excitement.

"Ainz-sama will defeat Jaldabaoth and become the hero of the people, while the Holy Kingdom will be in our debt. Also, Pandora's Actor will be used to take suspicion away fromDemiurge for being Jaldabaoth. That's all isn't it?" Asked Aura while looking at Ainz.

"Please. Explain. To. This. Unworthy.One." Cocytus wanted to know as well.

"Don't look at me like that! Aura mentioned everything. So I don't know what other benefits Albedo assumed this plan will yield!" Suzuki wanted to cry. Unable to think of anything his only choice was to go back to his usual resolution.

"Albedo, it seems that not everyone understands me as well as you do. Please explain it to the other guardians," Ainz told her with a hand wave that any king would be proud of.

"As you command," Albedo bowed to Ainz. "Inthe course of our interactions with the inhabitants of this world, there have been several instances that could create doubt in the minds of those weak creatures Ainz-sama wants to rule over. While drowning them in blood is the natural course, our merciful ruler does not wish to do that. He aspires to rule them peacefully. To do that we must remove these possible obstacles from his path."

"Specifically, there are three such instances," she continued. "The first is Shalltear's failed mission. We do not know all of the details, who she came in contact with and what they had learned. From reports of the Adventurer's Guild we know that she encountered and killed a group of adventurers from E-Rantel."

As she heard this, Shalltear shifted uneasily, while Albedocontinued.

"Also Ainz-sama was able to cover for Shalltearwith the vampire Honyopenyoko, which he defeated as Momon. There is a possibility that there are those she encountered, either before or during being mind controlled, who could recognize her," Albedoconcluded her first point.

"A human named Brain Unglaus is likely one such individual," added Demiurge, "from Shalltear'sreport, she had run into him during my invasion of Re-Estize, and even though she did not remember him, it seemed he knew her and her strength."

"Yes, I've asked Renner to look into it. But there might be others," continued Albedo. "The second instance isDemiurge's invasion of Re-Estize - also he and the maids had worn masks, their clothing is the same. The maids are especially suspicious for obvious reasons. And Demiurge cannot keep using his frog form forever when interacting with humans."

"The third instance were the corpses of the two fleas that Ainz-sama andNarberal Gamma killed in the cemetery of E-Rantel," Albedo went on, "Narberal's target was beyond resurrection. However, the one Ainz-sama killed could be resurrected, and could reveal that Momon isAinz."

" Although no one would believe that and would attribute it to her brutal death and possible post-resurrection memory loss," added Demiurge. "Especially since everyone had seenMomon and Ainz-sama at the same time. Indeed, killing her in a way that allowed for resurrection and not taking her corpse back toNazarick is no doubt just another cog in the plan of the SupremeBeing we all serve."

"My plan huh?" Ainz thought self-deprecatingly. Clementine's body disappearance had slipped his mind with the slew of current events, however, it was still something that made him worry. "At least Demiurge thinks it's fine," Ainzmused.

"We will devise a story to both covers up Nazarick'sinvolvement and explain the sudden appearance of Jaldabaoth, Nazairck, Shalltear, and Honyopenyoko. It should make our enemies less weary of attacking Nazarick," concluded Demiurge.

"Oh, a cover-up plan? Excellent," Ainz mused. The fact that both he and Jaldabaoth employed maids was bad enough, the fact that anyone who saw them would instantly recognize them, masks or not, was worse yet. Ainz wasted a good deal of time agonizing about how to resolve this quandary but came up empty-handed. To see that Demiurge had a solution made him feel pleased.
"Demiurge, explain the exact details of the cover-up story so all of the guardians can understand it," Ainz commanded.

Journey to Re-Estize and beyond