Emissary of the King

Part 3

The Death Knight ran.

He sprinted at top speed through the 9th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

In order to swiftly fulfil his master’s orders, he ran with a single-minded focus.

The way a creature like himself ran, over two meters tall and sheathed from head to toe in heavy black plate armor, resembled the movement of a giant rolling stone. And then, the seemingly unstoppable charge was halted by a single shout.

“—Hey!”

The voice of a woman came from the side.

While wondering if the shout was directed at him, the Death Knight continued moving for another ten meters.

“Hey! What are you doing? Why are you running so fast? I’ll get mad, you know!”

Looking behind, he saw that the speaker was a maid.

He knew she was a regular maid from the knowledge that his master shared with him.

“This is the 9th floor, the residence of the Supreme Beings! How can you make such a racket? Why are you running here — no, not running — rampaging all over the place!”

The Death Knight pondered her words, and noted that they were true. Although his master ruled this place and had given him a direct order, making so much noise was rude.

As she saw the Death Knight lower his head in apology, the maid nodded in satisfaction.

“Very good. You need to remember, you can run in some places and not in others. Since you apologized, I’ll keep it a secret from your master. You’re lucky you met me. If you met someone stricter, it might be troublesome for your master. Be more careful in future!”

The maid lightly touched her chin with her index finger, and tilted her head.

“Although… I’ve never seen you before… if you’re undead, are you Shalltear-sama’s minion?”

The Death Knight shook his head, and the maid’s expression stiffened. Her face went pale, and sweat started beading on her forehead.

“Then… whose subordinate could you be…”

After the Death Knight told her the name of his owner, the maid’s face turned a ghastly white.

“I… I… did I say something wrong? …Um… then… did Ainz-sama give an urgent order?”

the Death Knight thought. To his master, who ruled this place, any and all rules were simply suggestions that he could alter at his whim. In other words, his master made the rules. If the Death Knight were truly on urgent business, the maid’s disrespectful actions would have been punished with death at the very least.

No wonder,

As she realized this, signs of fear began appearing on her face.

Still, was that really the case?

It could sense the intentions his master harbored in his heart. However, since his master had not actually spoken those words, it didn’t count as an order.

The most important thing was… The Death Knight glanced at the trembling maid from the corner of his eye and thought.

It wasn’t just this maid. The Death Knight could feel that his master was revered by every single being here. Just by looking at his master, even a lowly summoned creature like himself was of a higher status than all of them.

The Death Knight explained to the maid that he was not under orders, and that he was simply running in order to quickly fulfil its master’s wishes.

The maid blinked, and sighed in relief. The color began returning to her face.

“Haaaa—”

She sagged visibly, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

“Well, that’s great. That’s just great…”

She coughed.

“Sorry about that. I can’t believe I was so rude to one of Ainz-sama’s subordinates. My sincerest apologies.”

The Death Knight waved his hand to indicate that he didn’t mind. Truthfully speaking, the fault lay with himself for barging through this sanctuary. However, the maid probably wouldn’t be able to accept his apology given her circumstances.

It was clearly all right, but the maid had no intention of looking away. It was only natural for inferiors to watch superiors as they left. However, the Death Knight felt itself even more inferior to her, and the weight of her gaze was hard to bear.

They waited for each other to make the first move, warily watching each other, like a duel between two master swordsmen.

Things would be awkward if they stood here looking at each other.

As the one who had caused the two of them to stare at each other in the first place, he should probably make the first move.

The Death Knight moaned and felt the maid’s gaze burning into his back as he walked away. He was walking because things would be troublesome if another maid shouted at him to stop running in the hallways. The Death Knight could at least learn that much.

Without further incident, he reached the teleport gate that led to the floors above.

From here, he would pass through the 7th, the 6th, the 5th and the 4th floors, with his final destination being the room of Shalltear Bloodfallen on the second floor. Moving there on foot would take a lot of time, but there was no other way.

The reason why he would not pass through the 8th floor was because entry into it was forbidden. Because of that, a path had been made to skip past it.

Some people might also have wanted to bypass all the floors and go straight to the 2nd floor, but only one person in Nazarick could do that. This person was the Death Knight’s creator, Ainz Ooal Gown, the guild leader. Or rather, not even his master could do it without the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown. It would be impossible for a mere Death Knight like himself.

The Death Knight stepped into the sparkling lights of the teleport gate. Because it was rare to see an undead being use the teleport gate by itself, the Guardian of the Cherry Blossom Sanctuary — who was in charge of the teleport gates— turned her gaze toward him, but she did not send him to the special place, and the Death Knight successfully completed his teleport.

He passed the infernal world of the 7th floor.

He passed the Colosseum on the 6th floor

He passed the frozen wasteland of the 5th floor

He passed the underground lake on the 4th floor.

At last, he reached the place that deserved the name of “tomb”.

The Death Knight exited the teleport gate, into a windowless underground chapel. Maybe it had once been a room that glittered with riches, but now all that was left were moldering bones. The only thing that remained clean was an altar where a god’s statue should have stood. In its place was a flag of Ainz Ooal Gown.

The chapel was about a hundred meters across and completely unlit. If the Death Knight had not been able to see in the dark, he would have been engulfed by a blackness so complete that he would not have been able to see his own hand in front of his face.

Several dozen undead were wandering in the darkness. Since they did not sense any body heat, they showed no hostility.

The Death Knight left the chapel through its sole door and headed outside.

In front of the chapel was an old, derelict rope bridge that was held up by ropes that looked like they were about to break. The boards below his feet were rotten through, and where some knots had come loose, the planks had fallen off, leaving nothing but empty space where they should have been. The bridge swayed gently even without the wind in the air, creaking mournfully.

Below the bridge were the silhouettes of countless corpses. They moaned and raised their arms.

To a human, this would be a sight so terrifying it would root them to the spot. However, to an undead creature like himself, this was nothing to be afraid of. The broken-down exterior was just a facade — in truth, the bridge was very sturdy. As long as one did not deliberately step onto the missing portions, even a creature with his massive weight could easily cross the bridge.

Paying no heed to the keening of the rotted wood underneath his feet, the Death Knight set forth.

After the bridge, he would be at his objective.

The path ended at an unassuming stone door.

Although it was hard to tell from the outside, this door was the entrance to Shalltear Bloodfallen’s private quarters.

The Death Knight knocked on the door. The sound it made was not that of the stone it looked like, but metal. It was a metal door made to resemble a stone one.

After a few moments, he knocked again.

The door opened, and one of Shalltear’s servants, a vampire bride, poked her head out.

“Ara, you are…?”

Since he had come up through the teleport gate that led to the lower floors, she could be reasonably certain that he was not an enemy. However, she still gasped as she saw this unfamiliar undead being, since Death Knights did not usually exist in Nazarick.

The automatic spawn system would only produce monsters that were level 30 at most. Death Knights, which were level 35, would not be spawned by that system. In addition, the mercenary system that summoned creatures in exchange for YGGDRASIL currency did not allow for the summoning of Death Knights. Her confusion was understandable.

The Death Knight introduced himself, in order to avoid a situation like the one with the maid from just now, where they ended up staring at each other in surprise or embarrassment.

The vampire bride’s eyes went wide as he told her that its master — the absolute ruler of this domain— had sent it here to speak with the ruler of this floor.

“Is, is that the case?! Th-then I apologize for delaying you! Shalltear-sama is bathing now, she’ll be— no, it would be rude to make you wait here. Please come in!”

The Death Knight would have been fine waiting outside, but refusing an invitation like this would be disrespectful.

With that, the Death Knight nodded lightly, and entered the room.

A thick, sweet fragrance hung in the air. Although it had no effect on the undead, it could imagine that if the living failed to resist the effect, they would be inflicted with some form of negative status. Thick scents like this, which seemed to soak into one’s skin, were a common trap used in the lairs of the undead.

Gauzy pink chiffon veils hung from the ceiling, obscuring vision. The sound of women laughing and moaning lewdly carried over from the distance. It was completely unlike the rest of the tomb, and he felt as though it had been drawn into another world. Fighting a team battle here would be very troublesome, to say the least.

The erotic atmosphere of the room was shattered by the vampire brides running around frantically. They appeared to be helping Shalltear — who had finished her bath— dress herself.

“Clothes—”

“Dry Shalltear-sama’s hair—”

“Ainz-sama’s envoy is waiting—”

“Even if he’s undead, we should offer him refreshments as a courtesy—”

“Prepare a seat for him first—”

All these words floated over to the Death Knight, accompanied by the sounds of hurried action.

“P-please, come this way.”

Soon, a different vampire bride appeared before him, and brought him to a room with a small white table, set for two.

Each place had porcelain teacups set before it, filled with a bright red fluid, the scent of tea filled the air.

“Shalltear-sama will be here shortly; please wait for a moment.”

After bowing, the vampire bride left.

The Death Knight sat down, worried that the delicate legs of his chair would not be able to bear his mighty weight. Though tea had been freshly brewed for him, he left the cup untouched and waited. He would not suffer any ill effects if he drank the tea, but if he did, it might leak out from his body and onto the floor. He did not want to dirty someone else’s room.

After several minutes, Shalltear emerged, flanked by two vampire brides. It seemed as though even this hasty entrance had been quite rushed, given the fact that her long hair was not fully dried and it was left hanging behind her, instead of being pinned up.

The Death Knight rose from his place to welcome Shalltear. Her eyes went wide, and then she silently fell to one knee.

“The Floor Guardian Shalltear Bloodfallen presents herself. I apologize for the delay in my appearance, oh messenger of Ainz-sama.”

As Shalltear greeted him without concern for her station, the Death Knight expressed his hope that she would not adopt that attitude. It was he who should be bending his knee to her.

“But, I could not possibly show disrespect to an envoy of Ainz-sama.”

Upon hearing Shalltear’s denial, the Death Knight pleaded with her not to stand on ceremony once more. However, Shalltear did not seem able to accept that fact. As he surmised, she probably thought that any rudeness to Ainz’s messenger would be rudeness to Ainz himself.

After several rounds of this back and forth, the two of them finally came to a compromise. In a show of mutual respect, they would speak casually to each other.

A smile came to both their faces as they reached an accord.

“Then, can you tell me what you need? I haven’t received a message by envoy rather than by magic since Albedo ordered us to gather in the colosseum. It must be an important matter, so I hope you will let me hear it even in this shabby room.”

Shalltear looked at the vampire brides she had brought along.

It seemed like this was a confidential matter.

As the Death Knight confirmed that this was to be kept secret, Shalltear gestured with her chin in the direction of the door. The vampire brides nodded and quietly left the room.

“Then… let’s sit down and talk.”

Although both of them were undead and did not have to worry about fatigue, it seemed quite silly for both of them to be standing, especially when drinks had been prepared.

The two of them matched their timing and sat down in unison.

Their eyes met for a moment, and then Shalltear spoke in a low voice.

“Then, can you tell me?”

Her voice was filled with excitement and anticipation. Shalltear must have felt that the Death Knight was going to entrust her with some clandestine mission that could only be accomplished by the Floor Guardian Shalltear Bloodfallen. The building heat of her excitement felt like a physical pressure — or not.

According to his master, the first thing he should ask the Guardians was “Are you feeling alright?”

After he said that, Shalltear blinked in surprise, then wobbled from side to side while thinking about the question. Finally, as though admitting defeat, she spoke up.

“Is there any particular reason for that question? Has something unusual happened?”

Maintaining one’s health was important, so his master felt that asking about their health would lighten the mood. After all, when doing business, one needed to find common ground after clearing the air.

Although he had asked the question with that intention, the result had been the opposite of what he had predicted. Shalltear’s eyes went wide at the unexpected question.

“As Ainz-sama surely knows, as an undead being, I am immune to most status effects and am thus in good health. Even so, I know that some special effects can affect the undead. Has one of those effects turned up?”

The undead were completely immune to sleep, poison, disease and other effects which affected a living creature’s metabolism. However, some enemies’ attacks could bypass those resistances.

Those attacks usually belonged to World-Class enemies.

For instance, the Five Rainbow Buddhas’ ‘Five Celestial Death Throes’, the ‘Corpse Venom Breath’ exhaled by one of the Eight Dragons, or the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ of the Lords of the Seven Sins.

Even if 30 level 100 players, fully prepared and forewarned of the battle ahead, did battle with one of these World-Class enemies, the outcome of the battle would still be in doubt. If one of these had appeared before them, it would be a threat to all of Nazarick.

The Death Knight shook its head. Nothing like that had occurred, and besides, if something like that had happened, there was no way Shalltear would not be informed.

“…So it’s like that… Although it’s a question from Ainz-sama… it’s totally not what I expected.”

After that, the Death Knight said that it would ask the other Guardians the same question.

“I see, I get it now. Although I don’t think the other Guardians would do anything that negatively impacted their health, does someone like that exist? …No, that’s not correct.”

Shalltear denied her own opinion as she was speaking it.

“There’s no way Ainz-sama could not have noticed anything like that. Because he assumed that we would make thorough preparations, he merely asked that question to keep us on our toes. As expected of Ainz-sama, our lord who could never be associated with the word ‘carelessness’.”

Although he wasn’t sure if that was what his master really meant, the Death Knight agreed that it was the truth.

“Then… Is the reason you came to me first because I am the furthest away from Ainz-sama? Was it purely a matter of distance?”

It wasn’t like that.

The Death Knight told her what his master had said, that “Shalltear is a very important person.”

The mood changed in an instant.

Something that felt like hot air roiled in front of him.

There was no change in Shalltear — no. Her crimson pupils glowed like lava.

“—Forgive me. I must have gone deaf for a moment, so I didn’t hear what you said just now. Do forgive me. Could you please tell me what Ainz-sama said, one more time?”

It was hard to believe that undead, with their immunity to biological status effects, could go deaf. But he had no reason to deny Shalltear’s request.

So, he repeated himself.

The corner of Shalltear’s mouth turned up.

“—Ha! Hahaha! Ahhh, if only Albedo was here to listen to this! Hahaha!”

After having a good laugh, Shalltear continued asking the Death Knight other questions.

“Did Ainz-sama say anything about Albedo?”

After hearing that Ainz hadn’t mentioned anything, Shalltear was all smiles.

“So it is, so it is. That’s really… Come, messenger-dono, can you tell me his next question?”

The next question was, “Is there anything bothering you?”

“About this…”

Shalltear furrowed her brow and placed her finger on her lip while looking at the ceiling.

Several seconds later, she looked back to the Death Knight.

“Nothing’s really bothering me.”

As she saw the Death Knight nod, suspicion and doubt drove Shalltear to speak.

“Did I answer wrongly? Did I misunderstand Ainz-sama’s true intentions?”

Conversations were like passing in basketball. If the exchange ended after only a couple of rounds, something was wrong.

The Death Knight had grasped his master’s thoughts upon creation, but even then, it was only a rough guess of his intentions and not a complete understanding. Therefore he had nothing to say to put Shalltear at ease.

Seeing Shalltear’s discomfort, the Death Knight asked the final question, “What do you want?”

Shalltear’s smile was bewitchingly beautiful as she made her reply.

“I want Ainz-sama’s love. I don’t mean to say it only has to be me. After all, it’s normal for a great man to claim many women for himself. It would be surprising if any woman could resist an absolutely amazing man like Ainz-sama. However, I want to be the first in his heart.”

The Death Knight left the room and headed back to the teleport gate in order to return to the 9th floor. From this end, he would have to go past every floor in order to return to his master’s side, but as an undead, he would not feel fatigued in body or mind, so this long walk was not a problem.

Suddenly, his master’s orders rang through his mind. A summoned creature had a mental link with its master, so even without ‘Message’ they could receive orders and transmit thoughts in general.

It obeyed its orders, and halted.

There was clearly nobody else on this path, yet he could see the shape of his master materializing out of thin air. He must have used invisibility-type magic to secretly get close.

“Although I told you to come back, that would probably be a waste of time. While it doesn’t matter how many times you go back and forth, I should still make good use of my time. 「Repel Undeath」.”

Ainz cast a spell that created a barrier to ward off low-level undead. Normally, the Death Knight would have been affected as well, but because he was under his master’s direct control, he did not shy away from Ainz.

“That’ll do. Now, tell me what Shalltear said.”

The Death Knight nodded and swiftly began his report. He began with the health question.

After listening, Ainz looked up.

“Well, that’s true. Asking about Shalltear’s health was pointless since she’s undead. No… it should be the same with the other Guardians. None of them would fail to protect themselves against disease or poison. What a useless question. Well, it was meant to lighten the mood anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Now, tell me about the next question.”

As he heard the answer, Ainz furrowed his nonexistent brows.

“That’s all? Was she just being polite?”

The Death Knight shook his head.

“No? No… does that mean she took the wrong meaning away from that question? We’ve only been here a while, so they probably wouldn’t have discovered any problems yet. I’ll ask something else.”

Ainz thought for a while, and then spoke to the Death Knight.

“Let’s amend the second question… Next time… hm, what should I ask. Do you have any ideas?”

The Death Knight groaned in confusion. It couldn’t give him any good ideas even if asked.

“Ah, yes, that’s right. Sorry. I think I’ll look at the bible, then.”

Ainz withdrew a book from thin air and flipped through it, stopping at a specific page.

“…I see. Got it, that’s what I’ll do. ‘Interpersonal relationships. Who are you closest to and who are you least close to’. Is there a more important question than this?”

The crimson light in his owner’s eyes glowed brighter.

“Interpersonal relationships are important. Even in unethical companies, if one’s relationships are good, they may be able to survive regardless. And in ethical companies, poor interpersonal relationships have been the cause of many resignations. The same applies to Ainz Ooal Gown.”

He wasn’t addressing this to the Death Knight. It seemed like he was talking for his own benefit.

Ainz’s voice became softer and softer, until the point where it couldn’t be heard. The fire in his eyes shifted, as though looking into the distance.

“Right, interpersonal relationships. The relationships between the Floor Guardians is very important. Can you do that, Death Knight? From the next round onwards, ask about that instead. …Very well. Then let me hear the answer to the last question.”

As he heard Shalltear’s answer, Ainz sagged like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

He addressed the Death Knight.

“…Besides Ainz. Append that to the last question the next time you ask it. Understood?”