Emissary of the King

Part 2

An old man entered Ainz’s room. However, his body was ramrod-straight, as though it had been made from steel. Even through his clothes, one could tell that his body was sturdy and toned.

This was the butler, Sebas. Ainz welcomed him with open arms.

“Thank you for coming down, Sebas. You’re earlier than I expected. Were you in the vicinity?”

“No, but when Ainz-sama summoned me, I came with all possible haste.”

His posture and voice was filled with strength. The reason why Ainz had called Sebas first was because he was the most familiar with the 9th floor, which was arguably the floor with conditions most similar to that of the real world. In comparison to the ones who resided in the lava-filled terrain of the 7th floor, or the frozen wasteland of the 5th floor, Sebas’ knowledge and experience would be the most relevant to what Satoru Suzuki had already learned.

Thus, he was the most ideal test subject for this experiment.

“Is that so? Then, you’ve worked hard… I feel bad about making you rush. Forgive my interruption of your duties.”

“What are you saying, Ainz-sama? As a servant of Nazarick, there is no more important task than serving Ainz-sama.”

“My—”

“Please, there is no need to thank us. All is as it should be.”

“Is that so,” Ainz replied. He swallowed despite not having a throat to do so with.

He had not used the ‘Message’ spell, but sent a runner to summon Sebas.

That was because he wanted to give himself some time to rehearse the lines he wanted to say. Of course, he had thought of waiting until after he finished his practice to call Sebas over, but the problem was determining when exactly his practice was finished. It might take a year or more for him to perfectly present himself as Ainz the ruler.

In truth, he was merely buying time to stiffen his resolve.

Ainz turned to Sebas and spoke to him in the most relaxed, yet dignified tone he could manage. It was a voice that he felt best suited his status as a ruler.

“Are you experiencing any difficulties that you wish to inform me of? Feel free to speak your mind.”

“There is nothing of that sort, Ainz-sama.”

Sebas’ swift response left several seconds of silence between them.

Ainz realised his mistake. He could not ask these questions from the position of a ruler. The other party would naturally be awed into submission and refuse to speak up.

Ainz resisted the urge to dip his head as the shame of his mishandling of the situation washed over him. He spoke to Sebas again. This time, he would be more tender and compassionate.

“There’s no need to stand on formality. It’s my job to make your lives happier. Just like— that’s right. You can speak to me about anything, even the most minor of issues.”

“No, there’s nothing like that, Ainz-sama. This Great Tomb of Nazarick that Ainz-sama rules over is nothing less than a blessed sanctuary for us. We are not inconvenienced in the slightest by living here.”

Ainz lowered his line of sight, and then smiled as he answered.

“Is that so… perhaps that’s the case. Sebas, I’m relieved to hear that.”

“Your relief fills me with joy, Ainz-sama. May I ask what you wish of me?”

— I brought you down here to answer those questions. That was all.

Of course, he could not actually say that. This must be what it must be like for a comedian to deliver his best routine and not receive a single reaction. That was how Ainz felt now.

Sebas was waiting for an answer. However, he had no idea what to say. Just as he was about to reply “that was all”, a ray of light broke through the darkness clouding his heart.

Inspiration flashed through Ainz, and once he composed his thoughts, he spoke.

“—Sebas, I heard you visited this room when I was not in. It must have been an emergency, so I summoned you before me.”

“Ohh, to think Ainz-sama would go to so much trouble for such a small matter. Please accept my sincerest apologies.”

Ainz raised his hand to cut off Sebas, who would have continued apologizing otherwise.

“Well, that’ll do. So, what exactly is the matter?”

“Understood. I came to ask for permission to assign tasks to the maids and the manservants.”

“The Pleiades? As battle maids, they should be much higher-levelled than the manservants. Would it be all right to distribute tasks that way?”

“Ah, no, forgive me for not explaining clearly. The maids I referred to were the regular maids under the charge of Head Maid Pestonya. The tasks of which I spoke were the everyday cleaning on the 9th and 10th floors.”

“Ahh, so that’s what it’s all about…”

Although Ainz was seriously considering the problems, he had no particular plan in mind that he wanted to be carried out.

The guild members who created the maids had thought that “It would be a shame if there were no maids in such a big place like this”. There had been no special significance attached to their creation. The thing was, given the meticulous attention paid to the the maids’ design by Whitebrim-san — a man who had broken into the industry with insert pictures of maids, and who was now a serialized mangaka — it was clear that the maids were very special to him, despite being essentially background extras.

The nostalgic feeling made Ainz smile, and he replied to Sebas.

“Well, the two of you were originally meant to handle those maids. There’s no particular need for me to grant you the permission to do your jobs…”

Ainz’s voice trailed off halfway. He remembered something he’d read in the two business books from earlier. With a soft cough, Ainz asked a question.

“…No, you’ve come before me for a reason. Though it might be troublesome, would you care to explain the details to me?”

“How could that be troublesome? I simply did not wish to waste Ainz-sama’s time with minor issues… I understand. Then, permit me to explain myself.”

Sebas described how every person had been deployed and the intentions behind doing so.

As Ainz heard him speak, all he could think was “Hmph, is that it…”. However, because his face couldn’t show any change in expression, others would have thought he was paying close attention.

Sebas’ explanation was becoming more and more animated.

If he got that way, it would be difficult to bluff with sound bites like “Is that so” and “Umu”.

Ainz raised his hand, and interrupted Sebas’ monologue.

“Sebas, I understand what you’re trying to say, that we have very few maids. Even so, isn’t it a bit much to give everyone tasks to perform?”

“Yes. It is as you say. However, the maids are all equipped with items that will negate fatigue. Because of that, there will not be any problems no matter how long they work.”

“That’s not right, Sebas. We must give them free time and the opportunity to rest their minds in order for them to think about how to better perform their tasks. If all that was required were dolls that only knew how to follow commands, then we could use the low-level undead from the first floor and be done with it.”

Sebas’ eyes went wide.

“Ohh! As expected of Ainz-sama! I see, I was wrong! It is definitely as you say! The maids are specially crafted homunculi. I need to take their wills and personalities into consideration!”

“Ah, no, don’t mind it, Sebas. Then, can you continue explaining your plans to me?”

“Understood! I will make use of the solemn advice Ainz-sama has bestowed upon me to utilize their abilities more effectively!”

The explanation continued again.

At times, Ainz would toss out a question, and Sebas would answer. In the end, although Ainz didn’t quite understand the details, it seemed as though they had managed to hammer out a deployment plan that met with Sebas’ approval.

“Many thanks, Ainz-sama. I can devise a perfect deployment plan now.”

“Is that so? Well, since you approve, then there should be no problem. I authorize you and Pestonya to handle this matter. Sebas, you are dismissed.”

“Understood.”

As Ainz watched the satisfied Sebas leave his office, Ainz grabbed his head as he realized his foolishness.

“He didn’t answer my questions at all…”

The reason why he had not achieved his objective was far too obvious. How could he not have noticed such a simple thing?

The answer lay in the circumstances surrounding them.

If the department head of a big company suddenly summoned a worker before him and said, “Tell me about any problems you have”, who would actually state their complaints about the company? It was only obvious that they would try to deflect the inquiries or say, “I can’t think of any at the moment” to try and bluff their way through.

“I can’t believe I didn’t even think of that; can I really be a good superior? No—”

He roused himself from the slump that he had fallen into.

“—From the start, I knew I wasn’t ready yet. Because of that, I need to work harder to improve myself. This failure will become a learning experience.”

In short, the problem was that he had tried to speak directly to Sebas about the matter.

Ainz considered if he should use ‘Message’ instead. However, he considered that no worker would air their grievances to their boss even over a phone, and thus abandoned that plan.

In the end, he should probably send someone other than himself. Revisiting the previous scenario, the department head might have gotten better results if the worker had been speaking to the secretary instead. The words he wanted to say would have been more naturally spoken to a fellow subordinate rather than to the boss himself.

The question was, who would be Ainz’s substitute?

Several people appeared in his mind, but if they asked him why they had to do this, he would have no choice but to explain himself. Ainz wanted to avoid that as well.

Just as Ainz was starting to get weary of grappling with the thorny path before him, inspiration descended from heaven as he considered his next move.

The brilliance of the idea made Ainz wonder if he had been subjected to a light-element attack.

Ainz pointed to the floor, and used a skill.

What came forth was a Death Knight.

Although using a human corpse would allow the Death Knight to exist indefinitely, this particular task would not need that much time.

“Do you understand what I was thinking about earlier?”

The Death Knight nodded and moaned.

Summoned monsters were granted a portion of their summoners’ thoughts and knowledge, so they could immediately take action according to their master’s will right after being summoned. They could tell friend from foe, of course. Otherwise, there would have been no way the Death Knight in Carne Village could have known Ainz’s full intentions from a few spoken words.

— Although, the fact that he had immediately rushed out was somewhat beyond his expectations.

That was why Ainz had summoned an undead being.

They would act according to Ainz’s intentions, even without the need for a full explanation.

In addition, they would not be as intimidating as Ainz when speaking to people.

There were many benefits to this course of action.

“Good. Then go. Report what you have learned from the Guardians of all the floors. Begin with Shalltear. She is the strongest of the Guardians and tasked with the first line of defense against intruders. She is the most important person in Nazarick. We must give priority to any requests for help from her.”

He could already sense that the Floor Guardians had a lot of loyalty toward him when he gathered them in the Colosseum, but it wouldn’t hurt to improve that relationship even more. In addition, if he had to choose between allocating resources to her or someone else, he should probably arrange to give her priority.

“Then, once you have gotten a clear picture from everyone, return and report to me. The details will be the means of improving the daily operations of Nazarick — they will be useful in future meetings with the Guardians.”

The Death Knight roared and rushed out of the room. As Ainz saw his retreating back, he thought of the scene from Carne Village.

The Death Knight charged as if he wasn’t even going to bother opening the door — then at the last moment he ground to a halt, gingerly opened the door to let himself out, and then continued running again.

Alone again, Ainz closed his eyes.

“Death Knight… Death Knight… did I pick the wrong man — no, the wrong undead for the job?”

There were many more human-like beings — if that was the word for it— among the undead creatures he could summon.

As such, he wondered if a different undead creature would have been better.

With that in mind, why had he chosen the Death Knight? He couldn’t think of a good reason. In truth, it was probably because he had used one in Carne Village, so the mental image of the Death Knight was more fresh in his head.

Alas, it was too late now.

After the Death Knight came back with word from Shalltear, he would consider if he should use someone else.

“Death Knight, there’s nothing to worry about. I put my trust in you that nothing will go wrong. Since I created you myself, I’m sure you will execute your task without any problems.”

As he said those words, Ainz suppressed his uneasiness as he looked in the direction of the Death Knight, who had already left the room. Part of him felt that it was a pretty good line, so he made a mental note of it. It seemed like a line that could be used in front of other people.

“Lines, huh… those might end up being useful in the future. Maybe I should look into them…”