The Dark Warrior

Interlude

Demiurge was walking on the ninth floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. His shoes clopped on the floor, making a “da da da” sound, the echoes of which faded into silence. Although a number of servants were on duty as a precaution against an invasion, that still didn’t harm the mythic atmosphere. Demiurge looked around, a smile appearing on his face.

“How glorious and majestic.”

He was admiring the ninth floor in all its majesty. He admired the scenery here because the scenery and the forty-one supreme ones complimented each other well, to the extent that it was worth Demiurge pledging his life to protect this floor. That's why he was fond of the scenery.

Every time he walked on the ninth floor, he would be filled to the brim with joy and would vow once again to devote himself to the creators. This sentiment applied not only to him but also to the boisterous clowns and musicians. Whenever they tread on this floor, they would also be filled with awe, doing their best to not utter any sound that would disrupt the tranquility.

If anyone disliked this scene, they were either disloyal to the 41 Supreme Beings or harbor ‘thoughts of disloyalty’.

Demiurge turned the corner as he thought about that, his destination right before him. That was the room of the last Supreme Being in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, their overlord Ainz Ooal Gown.

When the door was within sight, he saw some people opening the door and exiting.

They seemed to notice Demiurge too as they waited respectfully for them to draw close.

One of them was dressed like a butler, dressed entirely in black except for his white gloves. But instead of a butler, he looked more like a combatant.

He was one of the ten male servants in Nazarick. But even Demiurge was unable to differentiate which of the ten servants he was. This was because all of them wore masks covering their entire head, and they could only utter weird noise.

And there was that thing standing before the male servant.

The strange thought of ‘naked with tie’ emerged in Demiurge’s mind.

That was a penguin.

It’s appearance was totally that of a penguin and it was wearing a black tie.

“Long time no see, assistant butler.”

When it heard Demiurge’s warm greeting, the penguin smiled cheerfully— It seemed to be doing that— and it returned the greeting:

“It’s been a while, Demiurge-sama.”

It bowed deeply.

Of course, this was no simple penguin, but the assistant butler of Great Tomb Nazarick. A heteromorphic race birdman known as Eckleya Eckleyer Eeckleya.

Birdman should normally be similar to the Pelucino of the 41 Supreme Beings and possess wings and the head of beast, their limbs should be similar to the talons of birds too. But this man had the appearance of a penguin for some reason. But Demiurge wasn’t fazed by his appearance.

Because he was undoubtedly the creation of the 41 Supreme Beings.

“Is Albedo inside?”

“Yes, Albedo-sama is in there.”

With Ainz away, Albedo was in charge of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. But she didn’t work in her own room, shutting herself in this one instead, something everyone knew.

All of her actions were permitted by Ainz, so the only one who might protest would be Shalltear Bloodfallen who was away.

Demiurge told Albedo ‘Shouldn’t a good wife wait for her husband and take care of their home?’. She answered ‘There’s nothing wrong with a wife guarding her husband’s room’, and Demiurge couldn’t retort.

Demiurge nodded to express his acknowledgement asked Eckeya:

“How rare to see you here. Isn’t your work place in the guest room?”

“With Sebas-sama away, I have to work doubly hard in his place too. I was discussing the division of tasks with Albedo-sama in detail.”

“That is true. With him away, the 9th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick will be in your hands.”

“Absolutely right, in order to rule the Great Tomb of Nazarick in the future, now is the time to work hard.”

Even though some strange words were uttered before him, Demiurge was still smiling.

It was common knowledge that Eckleya was eyeing the throne of Nazarick. This was part of the 41 Supreme Beings’ creation, so there was no problem with this.

Demiurge would dispose of him mercilessly if the Supreme Beings commanded it, but there was no problems before that.

“That’s right, work hard. So what do you plan to do first?”

“Cleaning. Are there any other chores? No one can clean better than me! You can even lick the toilet bowl after I cleaned it.”

Hearing Eckleya’s confident reply, Demiurge nodded with satisfaction:

“Wonderful. You have a very important job. If this floor becomes dirty, it would be an insult to the Supreme Beings.”

Demiurge who was nodding raised another query:

“I know your work are of the utmost importance, but who is taking care of this floor in place of Sebas?”

“That’s the job of the head maid Pastry. Compared to cleaning, management is no big deal.”

“I see… The servants created by the Supreme Beings have been delegated corresponding tasks… Speaking of which, isn’t it hard to clean with your penguin hands?”

“I can overcome this pair of hands and clean deftly with my skills.”

Eckleya puffed out his chest and replied confidently, but he continued speaking with a hint of displeasure:

“By the way, Demiurge-sama, this doesn’t seem like a question a person whose intelligence was just beneath me will ask.”

Eckleya took the comb handed to him by the male servant behind and started grooming the golden feathers on the side of his head.

“I am not a simple penguin, but a rockhopper penguin created by Ankoro Mochimochi-sama. Please don’t get that wrong. And this is not a hand─── it’s a wing.”

“Pardon me.”

Seeing Demiurge bowing in apology, Eckleya didn’t take the matter to heart, turning around to order the male servant:

“Carry me there.”

“Eeek~!”

Eskleya was carried under the male servant’s armpit.

Because Eckleya moved in shuffling steps, it was rather slow.

So he was carried by the male servants normally.

“I will bid my leave, Demiurge-sama.”

“Yes, farewell Eckleya.”

After glancing at the assistant butler being carried under the arm like a soft toy, Demiurge knocked the door gently:

Naturally, the owner wasn’t in, but Demiurge still acted respectfully. For Demiurge, this room is a place that deserved respect.

Demiurge entered the room that didn’t gave him any response.

After looking around, he didn’t see Albedo. Demiurge sighed, open another door and entered the interior room.

The rooms of the 41 Supreme Beings were designed in the image of a presidential suite, with a large bath, bar counter, living room with a piano, master bedroom, guest room, kitchen for personal chefs, walk in wardrobe and many other rooms.

Demiurge head for the master bedroom without hesitation.

He didn’t wait for a response after knocking and opened the door.

There was a bed in the room, but its large size was extravagant. A lump slightly bigger than a person was squirming under the covers.

“Albedo.”

Demiurge called out in irk. A beautiful face emerged, her bare shoulders could be seen and she was probably naked. Her face was pink with excitement probably because she was squirming inside the covers.

“…What are you doing here?”

“I want Ainz-sama to be surrounded by my scent when he returns.”

Her squirming actions was probably to leave behind her scent.

Demiurge was dumbfounded, looking silently at the highest ranking NPC, the overseer of the Grand Tomb of Nazarick. He then shook his head weakly.

He didn’t say ‘Ainz-sama is an undead, he probably doesn’t sleep in bed.’ or ‘Even if he does, the bed sheets would be changed immediately.’ If this was enough to satisfy Albedo, then let her be.

“But don’t go overboard.”

“… I don’t know how much would be overboard, but I have taken note. Right, Ainz-sama.”

Demiurge was stunned beyond words.

He thought it was Ainz Ooal Gown for an instance, but it lacked depth and the presence.

“Is that… a hug pillow of him… who made it?”

“I made it myself.”

The fast reply made Demiurge slightly opened his eyes that seemed to be always closed. He didn’t knew that Albedo had such skills.

“Be it cleaning, laundry or sewing skills, I am at the level of professionals.”

Pleased to see the shocked expression of Demiurge, Albedo boasted delightfully:

“For the child that might be born in the future, I had made clothes and socks. All the way till 5 years old.”

Albedo was all smiles, her “fufufu” laughter made Demiurge feel weak, thinking of just leaving this woman here and leaving right away.

“Either boys or girls would be fine… Ah! What about dual sex or sexless?”

Demiurge had nothing to say, looking at Albedo chattering away.

Albedo was excellent in managing the Grand Tomb of Nazarick, surpassing Demiurge by leaps and bounds. However, she wasn’t as well versed on the military aspect, so Demiurge’s aid was necessary.

But without any clear enemies, there should be no problem.

Demiurge suppressed his unease after judging so. His master ordered him to leave for a mission, so Demiurge can’t protest.

“By Ainz-sama’s command, it is about time for me to set off. Of the guardians left in Nazarick, only you and Cocytus are free to act. I don’t have anything else to advise you, please be careful.”

“After Aura, Mare, Sebas and Shalltear, so you are next. Yes, leave it to me, I will ask my little sister for help in a pinch. I will activate the Pleiades too, so I will definitely hold until everyone returns.”

“… Even in the event of an emergency, you can’t mobilize your sister without Ainz-sama’s permission. The Pleiades are the same. Two of them are out, so you can’t gather all of them. You might want to move Victim to the higher floors if the situation warrants it?”

“Something of that extent… I have made preparation to handle that. I will summon you back if there is a crisis. By the way, how do you plan to deal with the survivors of the Sunlight Scripture? Ainz-sama had given the green light for you to manage them right? You can leave them with me too, but I have no idea what you were doing…”

“Ah, you mean them? I am conducting experiments by Ainz-sama’s orders.”

Demiurge was smiling happily, making Albedo frown her beautiful eyebrows.

“First would be healing magic experiment. If you cut off an arm and cast healing on the wound, the arm that was cut off would disappear. What happens if you let them eat the arm that was cut off and cast healing, would the nutrition disappear? If we repeat this indefinitely, will the one eating starve to death?”

“Ah- I see.”

“Not just that, I let them vote to choose the one to become food, the one to cut off the limbs with a blunt axe. The votes are not anonymous.”

“Is there any meaning in doing that?”

“Of course. There will be a ranking among the prisoners, those who are eaten, those cutting off the limbs and those who eat the limbs. The comrades will in turn bear grudges. We will then gently incite those who are eaten. This will make them revolt, the results are clear. Living beings that hate everything are scary.”

“… How discomforting. The beings in Nazarick are created by the Supreme Beings and would never betray Ainz-sama. But humans will turn against their master… they have no loyalty.”

“That’s why it is interesting. Do enjoy this part of humans, Albedo. Just treat them like toys and you will be fine.”

“I totally don’t understand your thinking.”

“Such a pity. Alright, chatting here all day will delay the execution of Ainz-sama’s orders. If something happens, notify me and I will rush back immediately.

“Yes, but such things shouldn’t happen. I will notify you if there is a need.”

“I will take my leave then. Oh right… Since you are making clothes for boys, I should inform you earlier. The Supreme Beings seem to prefer young boys wearing girls clothing's alright?”

“… Eh?”