‘Click!’ If there was a word for it, that was what it felt like to Arche, like somebody had opened a locked door in her own mind, the inky blackness she experienced briefly, changed and there was only white. Like going from a darkened, windowless room, and stepping out onto the sun itself. Warmth ran through her veins, a comforting caress, and she felt her body begin to strengthen itself.
A moment later, she understood. ‘I’m growing stronger… so much stronger…’ Her muscles felt like they were growing, she felt like she had enough energy to run day and night without pause, and as to the well of mana within her body, it was like somebody had tunneled the well deeper and found a reservoir she hadn’t even known existed, then tapped it.
She felt the billowing winds that swirled around her body like a tornado, and she felt them slowly fade away, and her body descended back down to the stone floor.
When her toes and heels hit the stone, she went down to one knee again. “Master… whatever you’ve done… it is… it’s a miracle.”
Ainz looked at the console when the process ended, ‘Level cap raised to twenty-seven. Actual current level, twenty-one. Max tier, four. All that untapped exp was applied, I suppose. Good to know, I can get them all the experience they need, then only elevate them as much as I trust them, or until I can be sure I can control them.’ It was something to think about extensively later.
However, he turned his thoughts to what she just said, ‘I’ve done nothing, or rather, not much, raising her level cap by ten, and it appears I can do it again by another ten levels for one hundred and fifty thousand coins. So… there’s a cost increase, probably proportional, fifty percent increase per ten levels.’
Ainz stepped back from the console to address his new servant. “Arche, you are now assigned to Sebas, you will bring your team to be ‘tested’ for their worth, and others with them. If they fail this test, they will perish. If they don’t, they will join you.”
“Master.” Arche acknowledged without any hesitation.
“Sebas, you will take Arche to the arena, have Cocytus use his skill to create monsters to fight, ensure her survival, and keep her strength rising. When she is capable of fifth tier magic, do as Demiurge suggested, and take her to Fluder to set everything in motion. I am going to return to Re-Estize, call for me if you need anything. But otherwise, proceed as planned. Oh and, see that the rest of the Tomb is informed about the presence of the two small humans, give them a comfortable room and whatever they need. They will be living here for the foreseeable future.”
“Master.” Sebas answered, and when Lord Ainz vanished through a gate, he faced Arche to give her his instructions. Sebas was surprised to find her leaping into his arms.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Sebas!” She cried out and wrapped her arms as tightly around him as she could, and kissed him on his cheek.
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Madam Furt walked all over the estate looking for them before she said anything. Hour after hour, “Kuuderika? Ureirika? Where are you?” She stopped the few remaining servants, and each of them denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of the twins.
It wasn’t until she returned to their room to see if they might have gone back and taken a nap, that she saw something unexpected that caused her heartbeat to pick up just a bit. The butler was overseeing the reorganizing of their things and storing them into wooden bins usually meant for transportation.
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“Jaem, what are you doing?” She asked a little more urgently than she intended to, her fingers closed over the hem of her green flowing dress, and held it tight, hoping for a benign answer like, “deep cleaning their room’, but what she ‘got’ was more banal.
“Sir Furt ordered us to pack up their things to sell, my lady, I assume because of his new loan.” Jaem replied, and Madam Furt felt something deeply wrong.
She gave a curt nod, said nothing more, and rushed to the main room where her husband spent most of his time. As she expected from the words of Jaem, he was there looking over a pile of coins, and a merchant stood on hand, a merchant they both knew as a premier art dealer.
“We’ll have new lamps coming soon, only fifteen gold, but that’s a few months away yet, for now, we have this marvelous painting, it’s called ‘Sayet and the Shield’, he waved a hand over to a magnificent piece of a coastline where a bright green flag fluttered over a tower. A dark haired figure in a cloak as green as the flag, held a shield out defiantly while a beastwoman, a racoon girl, embraced him.
“It’ll be twelve gold pieces.” The merchant said, and Sir Furt pushed twelve over to him.
Madam Furt watched the slow way the coins moved over the table, the merchant swept them into hand, accompanying him was a junior of a noble house that had been recently elevated by the Bloody Emperor, ‘Flemel’s son, an idiot.’ She recalled reflexively and waited with patience while her husband made small talk with the pair. The merchant left, and the young noble chatted in idleness for a bit, tendering a potential invite to an upcoming party that the Furt house could attend ‘if everything goes well’.
‘It never goes well. But he always thinks it will.’ Madam Furt cursed mentally, but held herself aloof but for a brief greeting until the nobleman left.
When they were alone, Madam Furt asked her husband directly, “Why are we packing up and selling Kuuderika and Ureirika’s things for sale? Are you buying them new things, and for that matter, where are our girls? I’ve been all over the estate, and I can’t find them.”
“They were taken away this morning.” Sir Furt answered, his wife’s face began to go pale, and he jumped ahead of her thoughts, “I had to let Senak take them! He was going to call in our debt and not lend us anymore! But we’re close! Today proves it! I gave them to him for sale in exchange for a payment, since your daughter failed to perform her duties, and still hasn’t returned with more money, I had to offer something! They were all he would take! So I gave him Kuuderika and Ureirika in exchange for the current payment and another hundred gold coin loan! But look!” he pointed to the painting that was leaning up against the wall waiting to be hung. “I had the good luck to buy that! And Flemel’s son saw me do it! That will surely get us an invitation to a ball, we’ll get our good name back!”
Madam Furt’s heart skipped a beat.
“We’ll get everything we deserve again! And everything will go back to being how it was!” Sir Furt put his hands on her arms, holding her up when he sensed she might collapse where she stood. “They won’t be slaves for long, we’ll quietly buy them back, hopefully they won’t be too damaged to marry, but even if they are, you’re still young, you can give me more…” Sir Furt’s words flowed like a roaring river and the noise deafened his wife.
She didn’t want to imagine her girls on the auction blocks, those were miserable places even with the emperor’s reforms, and they were soft, sweet girls. ‘They would never survive whatever someone wanting to buy two little girls, might do with them…’
Her thoughts turned to Arche, gone off on her job. ‘She doesn’t know yet, but she’d never forgive this, she’ll… no, I’ll… my little Kuukuu… my Rari… sold… sold… he sold them so he could…’ Madam Furt tried to hate him, but as he babbled on about the opportunities coming his way from this, she only saw a reflection of herself.
She steeled her heart, gave him a little smile, and straightened up. “Forgive me, husband, I’m a little light headed. Of course, of course you’re right, this will be a fine opportunity, it was worth it, and they’re just doing what needs to be done for the family, just like you.” She smiled through her words and his hands fell away from her arms when she steadied and echoed his sentiments.
“Why don’t we have some wine and relax, without Kuuderika, Ureirika, and Arche around, there’s nothing in between us and what we want to do for a while.” She proposed, and taking his hand, she led him away from the pile of coins on the table.
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