Pleiades Day

Part 5

They would be looking for Entoma after this, and so Yuri led Shizu from the 4th Floor to the 2nd Floor. Then they went back down to the 3rd Floor, then ascended to the 1st Floor through the 2nd Floor. At last, they had reached the surface. They had taken several shortcuts along the way, but they had still walked a very long distance.

If they had asked Shalltear the Floor Guardian, they could have shortened their journey, but Yuri had a hard time dealing with Shalltear, excusing herself hastily after a quick greeting.

There was no way she could not feel uncomfortable after being eyed like a prey.

On the surface, Yuri saw the log cabin.

The most important task of the Pleiades members stationed here was to receive their Master who had returned from the outside while not wearing his Ring.

A secondary task was to divine the enemy’s intent in case of an invasion. In addition — when the enemy was too strong, they were to allow themselves to be slaughtered without putting up any resistance. A sacrifice like this would give Nazarick the moral high ground, and it would also allow them to see how far the enemy would give way during negotiations.

For instance, the opposition might claim to have just cause, and they might have the strength to oppose Nazarick. In that case, they could request that the opposition pay for the lost items and resurrection costs of the deceased Battle Maid, and from there they would be able to observe the opposition’s attitude. If the enemy was really powerful enough to put up resistance to Nazarick, then depending on the circumstances, they might abandon requests for compensation and try to sue for peace. If they did not account for negotiations and give and take from the beginning, it might end up spiralling into a full-scale war, and the bystanders would end up reaping the benefits of such an engagement.

Yuri recalled the iron tones of her Supreme Overlord as he had handed down those orders.

Those orders had been given by the Master who led those two Guardians — the Guardian Overseer Albedo, and Demiurge of the 7th Floor.

However, Yuri could not understand why her Master had to say “sorry”.

Dying for their Master — a Supreme Being — was the highest honor of all Nazarick. Therefore, Yuri and the others were very envious of the various Floor and Area Guardians who had died gloriously in battle against the invaders of the past, those whose power had rivalled the Supreme Beings themselves.

The maids — who were the last line of defense — did not have the chance to fight, but that implied that the filthy feet of the enemy had not had the chance to tread the ground of the 10th Floor. Yuri was glad for that, but at the same time also a little sad.

And then, when someone politely came to the log cabin to visit, the maids’ final task was to politely give them a final warning — which was considerable generosity on the part of Nazarick’s members.

There was no trace of anyone on the silent surface. While more powerful vassals than Yuri and Shizu patrolled this place regularly, they did not seem to be around at the moment.

The Guardian Overseer Albedo had designed the patrol system, deliberately leaving gaps in the surface patrol routes to create opportunities suitable for invasion.

This was because it had been considered that the enemy would immediately pounce on any weaknesses in the security system once they were found and draw up plans designed to capitalize on them. Of course, any such gaps in Nazarick’s patrols were under remote observation, which meant that there was no actual weakness. In other words, this was a strategy to make the enemy think they had exploited a vulnerability and thus lure them into a trap.

Yuri walked up to the door of the log cabin and knocked, and she sensed Entoma moving inside.

However, Entoma had not opened the door, but was hurrying about inside for some reason.

Yuri narrowed her eyes, and opened the door.

It was not locked.

Inside the cabin’s plain interior, she saw Entoma frantically stuffing something under the chin of where a human face would be.

Surprised, Yuri’s face turned stern.

First Lupusregina, now her…

Why were all the Pleiades’ members so gluttonous? Yuri, as one of the undead who did not need to eat, could not understand that sentiment.

In Shizu’s case, she likes drinks.

“Yu-Yu-Yuri-neesama. Is something the matter? It’s still too early for a shift change, and the next shift is not yours either, nee-sama.”

Perhaps she should try to deal with her little sister’s attempted diversion first.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then why?” Entoma tilted her head.

Entoma’s face was a bug and not her real face. It displayed no emotion, and so there was no way to tell what she was thinking through the subtle changes in her expressions.

Therefore, there were times when she had to use her body language to express what she meant, for instance, by shrugging or tilting her head.

“And then—” Entoma turned to look at Shizu “—Isn’t that Shizu (our little sister) over there?”

Yuri heard a crack, like something hard had broken.

“…That’s wrong, Entoma. You’re the little sister.”

The crack from just now resounded in her head again.

The members of the Pleiades called each other sisters, but unfortunately they were not true sisters, since they were made by separate creators. They were simply designed to be that way.

However, Yuri could confidently say that they loved and cared for each other like true sisters.

Among them, the Supreme Beings had designated Yuri Alpha as the eldest sister, and Lupusregina Beta as the second-oldest. However, it was less clear when it came to the others. Solution Epsilon and Narberal Gamma were both treated as the third-oldest.

If they were designed as twins like Aura and Mare, then that would be the end of it. However, that was not the case.

Perhaps Solution and Narberal really were twins, since the two of them interpreted that to be “as close and caring as twins”. Thus, they became a pair of siblings who disregarded seniority

The question now was the remaining two.

“You’re, the little sister.”

“…No, you are.”

The two of them glared at each other.

Nobody knew their relative seniorities.

Even the sole remaining Supreme Being did not know, and so every now and then they would argue about the matter.

They had pleaded with Ainz-sama to make a decision, but Ainz-sama had replied, “My old friends might have left it undecided for some special reason. I cannot casually make a decision without knowing the details,” and that had been the end of it.

However, both of them always fought like this because neither of them wanted to be the little sister.

Entoma put up her hands in a threatening pose.

She was making herself seem bigger to cow her foe, but that movement did not possess any special properties. To Shizu, the target of this intimidation, it was little more than a gesture.

In contrast, Shizu put up her fists under her chin, in a boxing pose. However, Shizu was a gunner, and not skilled at melee combat. In a real fight, Shizu would not be able to touch Entoma.

They were basically just playing with each other.

Yuri understood this. Thus, she said nothing and did not act to intervene.

After staring at each other for a while, their eyes — in Entoma’s case, her entire face — turned away to look at Yuri.

Knowing what they had in mind, Yuri sighed internally, and then said:

“That’s enough from the two of you. I’ll get angry, you know?”

“It can’t be helped sInce Yuri-neesama said so. I’ll let you off this time round.”

“…Hmph. Thank Yuri-nee for this. You got lucky.”

“What?”

“…What?”

Yuri squeezed herself in between the two of them as they started to glare at each other again. If she did not do this, she would only end up having to mediate for the two of them later..

It would be better not to argue at all, Yuri thought as she shook her head.

“Entoma, we came here for a reason. Ainz-sama has given me an order to see if there is anything the Battle Maids are unhappy with.”

“Unhappy?”

Entoma tilted her head again.

“I’m not unhappy with anything. And I can eat delicious food.”

While she had no idea what kind of food Entoma was talking about, Shizu silently covered her mouth.

Yuri frowned internally.

If only she wasn’t like that…

Or rather, it would be better to say she ate strange things…

While she wanted to say that there was no need to eat Kyouhukou’s familiars, Entoma continued, “They go crunchy crunchy like desserts, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.”

If it was only a matter of preferences, she could still tolerate it.

But at the very least, could she not do it while holding the food in question?

Yuri decided not to think about these weird things. All these could be discussed later. She could not mix up her priorities. Yuri was here by order of the Supreme One.

“—Entoma.”

“—Yes.”

“I’ll ask you again, is there anything you are dissatisfied with?”

“There is nothing.”

“Is that all? Then I will report that. But you don’t have to hold back.”

“…In that case, could you ask Ainz-sama if I could weave webs?”

“Don’t you have webs on several floors already?”

“No, they’re just temporary.”

There were several large spiderwebs in Nazarick. For instance, on the 3rd and 6th Floors. She knew that Entoma would go to those places too, and apparently, one of those webs had been personally made by the Supreme Being who had created Entoma. Yuri had thought of them as something like a private home for Entoma, but that would not seem to be the case.

“For starters, it’s near Our Lady — Grant’s territory.”

Grant was one of those whose levels were second only to the Floor Guardians, a rare Guardian who protected areas scattered over many floors.

“While I think it would be allowed, I can’t weave a web in Mother’s domain.”

“I see…”

“After all, I feel—” Entoma’s stomach area began to make pinching motions. “I can’t just eat all the time, so I’d like to weave webs to capture prey.”

If she wanted to capture prey, then she should not be weaving underground, but on the surface.

“Does that mean your first choice is this log cabin?”

“Yes.”

“…I’ll ask for you, but I don’t think it’ll be allowed. This place is shared by the Pleiades, after all.”

“That’s true…” Entoma said with a hint of regret in her tone. “I’d like to personalize this place more.”

“…Spiderwebs stick to the hair. They’re annoying.”

Yuri agreed with Shizu’s assessment.

That said, she still had to relay Entoma’s requests to her Master.

“I understand. I will tell Ainz-sama about this. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”

“Mm—”

Entoma thought for a while, and then shook her head.

“That’s it, there’s nothing else.”