A mount she summoned shouldn’t have staggered from a little tap like that. Albedo furrowed her brow, wondering if he didn’t like her or something else was wrong, when Aura jumped in with a question.
“Huh. So what’s his name?”
“He’s a bicorn. Didn’t you just say that?”
“No, not his racial name, his own name.”
“Does he need one?” Albedo looked at the vampire for her opinion, but she just shrugged.
“Pretty sure he does! He’s like your pet!”
“He’s not really my pet… Is a summoned beast even the same one every time?”
Shalltear chimed in with what she thought was a great idea. “Why not ask the Prince of Fear? He excels at summoning his brethren, so he must be well versed in the details.”
“I’ll pass. I mean, he is a member of Nazarick, and it’s not like I hate him, but I just…”
“Ahh, yeah. I know he doesn’t mean any harm, but they kinda come in through the gaps in your clothes… I think Entoma goes sometimes, but…”
“Disgusting! Please spare me this talk of skin-crawling matters… That room is truly a fearful place. It may be on one of my levels, but I definitely have no interest in going.”
“Shalltear, did you know that Entoma calls it the snack room?”
“Eeek! Really? Are you serious?! Ugh, I can’t go anywhere near her now!”
Albedo agreed. Who would want to go near someone who declared those things snacks?
The atmosphere had gotten a little strange when Aura, perhaps to change the subject, raised her voice slightly. “So getting back to what we were talking about, you’re not going to give him a name?”
“Well, if you think I should, then maybe I will.” Albedo mumbled to herself as she became absorbed in thought. If she was going to go to the trouble of giving him a name, she wanted to make sure it wasn’t an embarrassing one. Among the words and letters that came to mind, a song echoed through her head in a flash of inspiration.
“What are you mumbling about?”
“Oh, sorry,” Albedo answered as if waking from a dream. “If Ainz will allow it, I’ll give him a name that is dear to me—Top of the World.”
“Hmm. That’s a nice name. Is that a reference to Lord Ainz?”
Albedo didn’t feel like answering, so she just smiled.
Shalltear’s eyebrows tilted to a dangerous angle.
They were always like this. The atmosphere turned volatile, and Aura intervened. “Well, that’s fine. You summoned the bicorn, so how about we move on to the next experiment?”
“Sure, okay.”
Shalltear scowled upon being ignored as Albedo turned back to face her bicorn and stepped into a stirrup. She mounted him with movements so nimble it was hard to believe she was wearing armor. The moment she let her weight rest in the saddle, she felt the bicorn tremble.
“What’s wrong?” Albedo shouted in a panic. She had no idea why her level-100 bicorn would be stumbling like that. She remembered how he had reacted when she had patted him moments ago. Had something been wrong since then? Then what caused it?
“Aura! Shalltear! Something’s wrong with my bicorn! Can you come take a look?”
By that time, the bicorn had started staggering as if he couldn’t stay upright any longer, so the other two could see clearly that something wasn’t right.
“F-for now, hurry up and get off him, Albedo!”
“O-okay.”
The thought finally occurred to Albedo when Aura suggested it, and she dismounted.
The unstable bicorn collapsed on the spot. He was breathing hard and covered in sweat.
“…Albedo, did you gain weight?” Shalltear wasn’t asking entirely out of malice. That is, there wasn’t really any other way to interpret what she had just seen.
“How rude! I’m within a suitable weight range, taking into account extra muscle!”
“Is he weak because you don’t ride him regularly? Mine I keep loose and have them patrol the sixth level pretty frequently.”
“Huh? He shouldn’t… I thought a mount was just like any summoned monsters. So why would he be weak?”
“Should I try to ride him?”
“Unfortunately, you can’t. This is my mount. No one else can ride him. If you try to force your way onto him, he’ll be sent back.”
“Then maybe we should ask him. Hey, bicorn, what happened?” Aura asked. She didn’t have a special ability to talk to horses—bicorns were fairly intelligent magical beasts, so she was probably banking on that. But the bicorn couldn’t talk; he only neighed.
“If he can’t talk, I bet he can’t write, either…”
The bicorn neighed as if confirming her hunch.
The three girls looked at one another.
“Aura, can’t you do some amazing thing with your power?”
“No. What’s ‘some amazing thing’ anyhow? You interviewed us all a while back, so you know the full extent of my powers. Did the head guardian forget something so simple?”
“Ah… How do you usually communicate with Fenrir?”
“Just like normal. ‘Do this, do that.’”
“With words, then? So if you made a concerted effort, perhaps you could do the same with this bicorn?”
“Just because I can communicate with the beasts I control doesn’t mean I can communicate with all of them. Actually, I’ve already tried. Like, the lizardmen have that Rororo, right? I tried with him, and yeah, it’s like I just can’t connect.”
The three girls looked at one another.
“Demiurge is good to call if you’re in a pinch…”
“Unfortunately, Demiurge is working outside Nazarick on orders from Lord Ainz. He’s so busy it’s rarer to find him here. I could contact him, but honestly, I don’t want to consult him about things that aren’t work related.”
Jealousy showed up in Shalltear’s and Aura’s eyes. Demiurge, running around being useful to their master, was the envy of all.
“Ahh, I’m so jealous. I know protecting Nazarick is an important duty, but unless there are raiders, I’ve got nothing to show for it, so I always wonder if I’m really being useful or not. I’d like to get out there and bang some heads together for Lord Ainz, too…”
“I’ve only failed…”
“It’s okay, Shalltear! There will probably be some way you can be useful to Lord Ainz—no, I’m sure of it! Although it might be a little tricky unless you get smarter first…”
“Isn’t that…a horrible thing to say?”
“Oh, but it’s true that you failed, isn’t it? Please get some results worthy of a guardian.”
Shalltear ground her teeth audibly, but suddenly her expression brightened up like a lamp had gone on in her head. “Hoo-hoo-hoo. Why is this conversation turning against me? Demiurge isn’t here, so you can’t ask him—I mean to help you ladies out, you know. I guess we have no choice, so I’ll do the research.”
Shalltear took out a book. The thick, heavy volume had to be more than a thousand pages. But even though Shalltear looked like a little girl, for her totally different inner nature, this weight was nothing.
“Whoooaaa! Is that—? Could that be—?”
“Grr, it’s the treasure Lord Ainz gave you, right?”
Aura wasn’t the only one to turn an envious gaze toward her—Albedo did, too.
“Yes! This is Lord Peroroncino’s Encyclopedia! Lord Ainz gave it to me as a reward for following his orders!”
It was an award for fighting bravely, a consolation prize, and recognition for her services all rolled into one, but for Shalltear, it was the best reward, and she grinned triumphantly. Of course she did. An item that belonged to one’s creator was more precious than any other reward.
An Encyclopedia was given to each and every player right after they started the game. It was a one-of-a-kind item that couldn’t be stolen or lost unless its owner destroyed it on purpose.
Yggdrasil was a game about enjoying the unknown, and this item co
uld be said to be the embodiment of the developer’s desire that players get to know the unknown.
The Encyclopedia recorded an image of each monster the player met. It didn’t, however, reveal the monster’s stats. Only the image and its name were included and the content of the myth, if the monster appeared in one.
Players who wanted to get the most out of this book item had to write their own notes in it, like what kind of moves the monsters had and what their weak points were.
The Encyclopedia Shalltear now held had belonged to Peroroncino and contained his notes. Ainz remembered Peroroncino had left it in the treasury when he quit the game, so he gave it to Shalltear.
But most of the things that should have been written there were gone, as if Peroroncino had erased them himself because he was scared for the information to be left behind.
For that reason, it wasn’t terribly useful, but that didn’t matter to Shalltear. To her, it was more important that it was an item that her creator had once used.
“B… Bi… Bic…,” she said as she flipped through the pages.
Aura and Albedo tried to peek, but she held the book close to her body and moved away.
“Hmph! That’s fine. I got a ring from Lord Ainz, so!” Aura gently stroked the silver band. Albedo stroked the ring on her left ring finger in the same way. Of course, they weren’t the only ones who had received those rings.
I want him to give me something special, only for me, a special item from Lord Ainz… As Albedo caressed the lower part of her abdomen, Shalltear shouted. Apparently, she’d found the page she was looking for.
“Bicorn! Here it is! Let’s see…” She suddenly froze, looked up, and stared at Albedo in surprise.
“Wh-what? What is it?” she asked timidly, but Shalltear had already lowered her eyes to the book and was reading over the passage again.
“…A subspecies of unicorn. In contrast to unicorns, who preside over purity, bicorns are said to preside over impurity. Unicorns only let pure maidens ride them, while a bicorn would never let a pure maiden ride it… What?!”
Shalltear’s and Aura’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads.
“No way… Albedo, you’re…?”
“What do you mean, ‘No way’? What exactly do you guys think of me?”
“Huh? I mean, but…you’re a succubus!!”
“S… Su… Suc… Succubus.” Perhaps Shalltear was confused. She flipped through the book looking for the entry.
“Yeah! I’m a succubus! But I’ve never done it with a guy—sorry! What am I supposed to do about it? I’m the captain of the guardians! I’m cooped up in the Throne Room all day! When have I gotten the chance to meet someone? And Lord Ainz never calls me to his bed… I have zero interest in any man but Lord Ainz…” She’d been grumbling at her feet, but she suddenly whipped her head up. “But if you’re gonna talk…” Albedo glanced at Aura but shook her head. On the contrary, it’d be bad if she wasn’t pure. “…Then how about you, Shalltear?”
“…I have no experience with the opposite sex. But if it’s with the same sex, then…”
Aura cocked her head for a second as if she didn’t understand, then it seemed to click and she appeared weirded out. Her brow furrowed and she yelped, “Whoa!”
“C’mon! There’re no good guys! I like dead ones better but not if they’re rotting, so… Right? Right?”
“I get that you want me to agree with you, but it’s pretty hard to when you have fetishes like those, Shalltear.”
Their eyes met, and they all looked away as they silently agreed to end that conversation.
“…Well, now we know why I can’t ride the bicorn… How unbelievable. What the heck.” Albedo twisted her face up in displeasure.
The bicorn sensed he was being reprimanded and cowered.
“Hmm, it’s like part of your powers are sealed away.”
“But it’s not as if mounted combat is your specialty. You’re simply prevented from using a single ability. If you cannot ride the bicorn, you can borrow a magical beast from Aura, no? I think a unicorn would serve quite well.”
“Mmm, I don’t have a unicorn. I want one, but…”
“Isn’t there a better way? All I have to do is get Lord Ainz to help me out so I can ride the bicorn! That’s the best plan!” Albedo said with a huge grin.
“That’s not fair!”
“Ha!” Albedo snorted at Shalltear. “Could you not be so disrespectful, Shalltear? It’s necessary in order for the captain of the guardians of the Great Tomb of Nazarick to more fully utilize her powers!”
“Grrrr. Heh! So no one will sleep with you unless it’s for work? What a pathetic woman you are. You won’t be winning him on the strength of your charm, that much is certain.”
Aura had had enough of the two grunting and growling. “Would you guys stop talking over my head? Like, enough of the nonsense. It’s not like it’s an immediate issue anyhow, right? You can’t summon anything else?”
“I do have a magic item for that, so I can at least summon a mount.”
“Then that’s fine, isn’t it? What’s the problem?”
“Since summoning with a magic item means I need to change gear or take out the item, it has more steps than summoning with a skill. And this bicorn is much better in combat…”
“So can’t you have the bicorn stop your opponent’s attacks and take advantage of that opening to use the item? It’s one of a beast tamer’s most basic tactics.”
“I wonder if that’s the only way I can use him.”
“If so, you’ll be weak.”
“Don’t say it like you’re happy about my misfortune!”
“You seemed pretty happy about my misfortune!”
When she said, “That’s not true,” “Yes it is” was the reply.
“Agh, c’mon, you guys. If you’re only going to glare at each other, do it somewhere else. Lord Ainz was nice enough to give us the day off…”
Albedo realized she was right, and Shalltear, who’d been arguing, nodded. But…
“…We have this day off, but I wonder what we should do. We were made to guard the Great Tomb of Nazarick and work for the Supreme Beings in the first place. Our whole existence is work, so why…?”
“Even so, if Lord Ainz tells us to rest, then rest we must!”
The whole reason these three had gathered here was their master saying, Thanks for working so hard every day. How about you girl guardians get together and hang out?
“We already met up and hung out, so want to split up? Er, can this even be called hanging out?”
“I wonder. I’m still not sure—or more like rather unsure—what ‘hanging out’ means. By the way, what are you ladies usually up to?”
“I’m patrolling the first, second, and third levels. Other than that, collecting the opinions of the domain guardians, checking on the overall security of my levels… If I have extra time, I take a bath, make sure I’m dressed well…”
“So you actually work sometimes.”
“What do you mean, ‘actually’?”
“Baths, huh? What about you, Aura?”
“Mmm, while Mare is in the arena, I patrol the forest. We have new guys now, too, you know. Other than that, I go home and sleep… Guess that’s about it.”
“That’s it!”
Aura and Shalltear looked confused.
“Yeah, that’s what we should do! By ‘new guys’ you mean the residents of the new village on this level, right? I’ve never been there. Let’s go!”
“Huh? You’ve never been? You’ve visited before, right, Shalltear?”
“I have.”
“Really?” Albedo looked a bit puzzled and Aura explained.
“The other guardians have, too. Cocytus came first ’cause he’s involved with the lizardmen. Then Demiurge came by to see how things were going. The others drop by sometimes. Hrm, then do you wanna go? It’s not that far from here.”
9:38 AM Nazarick Time
The newly built village o
n the sixth level, consisting of only ten log cabins, was smaller than a hamlet. To the right of it were fields, and to the left of it were orchards that were several times larger than the fields.
Naturally, it was surrounded by densely growing forest. Looking from above, it might have seemed like a wide-open space—a green hole, perhaps. When felling trees and removing the stumps, it was usually hard to avoid making the ground uneven, but inside the village it was bizarrely neat and level. That was thanks to Mare’s magic.
Many figures were toiling away in the orchards.
The first ones they noticed were members of a race who looked like human women except their skin was the color and texture of bark. Next to them were creatures who looked exactly like trees that had started to move.
The former were dryads, and the latter were monsters called trents. The trents were assisting the dryads by using their tree trunk–like arms to lift them up to the tops of the fruit trees.
“There are also ten lizardmen living here. Sometimes they go up north to hang out at the lake near where we just were. It’s not like they live in the water, so it’s kinda weird.”
“The village is much larger than it was last time I came. It seems like there are many more residents, as well.”
“Yeah, after we conquered the Tove Woodlands, we discovered a few races who are okay with living in Nazarick.”
“The criteria for inviting a race here is that they have to be grotesques, fine without food, and of a mild temperament, right?”
“Yeah, that’s what Lord Ainz told us. Although, technically, ‘fine without food’ is ‘immediately self-sufficient…’ Both dryads and trents take nutrients from the soil, so they don’t need any food in particular, although I guess they’re in trouble if the nutrients in the soil run out or it doesn’t rain enough.”
“Hmm. Does Mare make it rain? Or is it a magic item?”
“That’s mainly Mare’s job. He’s also in charge of replenishing the nutrients in the soil. There’s a spell for making the earth more fertile, so when he casts that, it completely recovers. The dryads and trents said it was so yummy they’d get fat, but…well, obviously I don’t know how it tastes.”
The Two Leaders Page 18