Epilogue

Marv stood respectfully in front of the Queen and her advisors.

“I remember you said that you had something urgent to discuss with the Queen?” Potemur asked the adventurer.

“Yes. Now that Jaldabaoth isn't an imminent threat, I want to talk about my experience in the Sorcerer Kingdom.” Marv explained. “Specifically, about this new adventurer's guild, which had been set up.”

After getting a nod from the Queen he continued.

“As you know, adventurers are of high importance to any kingdom. They exterminate monsters and complete tasks regular military cannot. A kingdom without adventurers would find its ability to defend against monsters quite shallow. Despite this fact, adventurers receive little support, and are mostly left to fend for themselves.”

His listeners' agreed with his assessment, and he continued.

“There are three things that adventurers need: Gold to live on, powerful equipment, which makes the gold issue worse, and training or combat experience to become stronger.” His statement was obvious.

“Gold to live on is a big issue for lower ranked adventurers, as their jobs pay little. But it never really goes away, even as a high ranked adventurer you need gold to repair equipment and buy supplies. The need for powerful, magic equipment exacerbates it further. As for combat experience, the best way to become stronger is to fight in a life or death battle. But it's hard to participate in many such battles without actually dying.”

“The new adventurer's guild of the Sorcerer Kingdom solves all three problems. Adventurers earn a salary according to their rank. Combat experience is gained in the challenging but safe adventurer's dungeon. It also provides tokens that can be used to purchase equipment, ensuring that the participating adventurers will always be properly equipped.”

“So, you are saying...” Potemur could already see where Marv was going. He didn't like this conclusion, not one bit.

“Yes, once the news of these advantages spreads, most of the new adventurers will go to the Sorcerer Kingdom. When you compare his and traditional guilds, there is no reason to join the later.”

“Hmm, we could restrict travel and force them to stay in the Kingdom, but such actions are certain to backfire. Adventurers are freedom loving folk after all,” Felvia mused. “Can we do the same thing they did?”

“We could provide healing by covering the tab from the Temples. A dungeon is out of the question, but training adventurers might be possible. Equipment, however, is impossible,” Poetmur said.

“How are they able to create so much magic equipment, and of such a high level?”

“The Sorcerer Kingdom had allied with the dwarfs and is using rune crafting to make their gear. Doing it this way requires almost no materials, just time,” explained Marv.

“So, if we ally with the dwarfs we too could offer rune crafted™ weapons to our adventurers?”

“I am afraid that won't work. Apparently, as part of their alliance, the Sorcerer King brought all the runesmiths to his kingdom, and they work for him exclusively. They also don't want to sell, making rune crafted ™ gear available only to their adventurers,” Marv corrected.

“It looks like we can't compete with the Sorcerer Kingdom's offer. Still, most of the current adventurers won't leave for a new home. This won't affect us until decades later,” Baur said.

“Decades, yes. But what are decades to an undead being with an unlimited lifespan? It's entirely possible that he plans to gather all of the adventurers in his kingdom. A few decades for this plan to bear fruit doesn't mean much to him.” Felvia retorted.

“It gets worse your Highness,” Marv chimed in, “because combat in adventurer's dungeon is safe, no adventurers will die before reaching their maximum potential. Based on our experience, I think it's reasonable to assume that within a decade the Sorcerer Kingdom will have more adamantite adventurers than all the other kingdom's combined.”

“What is he planning to do with them? It's not like he needs military power,” wondered Potemur.

“It doesn't matter what he wants to do with them. The main concern is the effect it will have on our nation.”

"I thank you for this valuable information, Marv,” Felvia told him.

After he left the Queen remained silent, deep in thought.

“So, this is why he made no demands. Ainz doesn't care if we submit to him now, or in a few decades. Once all our adventurers retire or leave this nation, we'll have no choice but to beg him to protect the Holy Kingdom from monsters,” Felvia voiced her thoughts.

“Such a devious plan. But one we can't stop,” Potemur shook his head.

“Then, since we can't stop his plan, the fate of this nation is sealed. All we can do is ask to become a vassal nation. But should we do it now, or when we have no adventurers left to fight off monsters? Which scenario gives us a stronger position?”

***

In the innermost reaches of the Slane Theocracy, there was a room with six statues. Despite very few people ever visiting this place a dozen people with cleaning tools in hand were currently cleaning it. These twelve were the top brass of the Slane Theocracy. The Pontifex Maximus, the six Cardinals, the heads of the Legislative, Executive and Judiciary Branches of government, the Grand Marshal and the head of the Research Institute, which was in charge of magic affairs.

Heavy atmosphere filled the room. They used to take pride in this activity. Cleaning this sacred room was a cleansing experience for their souls. To pay their respects and show their devotion to the Six Great Gods, whose statues stood as if in defense of this place.

But now? The activity which once filled them with pride now felt like torture. All of them wanted to get on with their meeting, and just get it over with. In the past their meetings were fairly rare, maybe once every few months and the contents of their meetings, while important, could not disturb their clam.

However, the meetings had become more frequent recently, and their subjects more and more awful. One bad news was followed by even worse news, at a speed that made these powerful officials lose their calm. As they cleaned the room thoughts of gratitude were pushed aside by the worries the terrible news brought. It was to the point where they were beginning to resent this ritual, that lasted for six centuries.

And the culprit of their troubles? A single being, one whom they hated with burning passion. The undead magic caster, Ainz Ooal Gown. The mere mention of this name now caused madness to cloud their eyes.

Finally, they finished cleaning, said their prayer of gratitude, used [Clean] spells to clear their clothes and equipment and took sits at the roundtable.

The first to lose his cool was the Grand Marshall. Unable to hold back his emotions any longer he crushed his fist into a table.

“That God damned Holy Kingdom,” he wanted to continue but his face turned dark red. In the end, he was so mad that was all he managed to say.

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“Perhaps we made a mistake in not helping them, but it's too late for regrets,” Pontifex Maximus tried to calm everyone down.

“It's still uncertain why they declared the Holy Kingdom as a vassal state. According to Zeria's report, Ainz made no such demands when he agreed to help. And even if he died fighting Jaldabaoth, altering their conditions for the aid rendered is unlikely,” Ginedine, the Cardinal of Water tried to move the conversation in the right direction.

“Died? Died?!” The Grand Marshall was on the verge of madness once again. “It's bad enough to see the power of his magic, but then we learn he can't even die?” His voice turned into a high pitch shriek.

“Get a hold of yourself! Howling like madman won't help us,” The head of the executive branch scolded.

“Let's sum up what had happened during the month after Zeria returned from his mission,” said the Cardinal of Darkness. “The Sorcerer King and one of his subordinates traveled to the Holy Kingdom.” He ignored the Grand Marshall's moan “on dragons, no less,” and continued.

“There he confronted Jaldabaoth, we all watched their battle. The result -- both monsters died. Then our spies reported that the two monsters will both revive. Two years for Jaldabaoth, two and a half for Ainz. Next, the Holy Kingdom had declared themselves a vassal state of the Sorcerer Kingdom. And now this,” he pointed at the report of the latest news.

“Such blasphemy, that girl's actions are an affront to the Gods,” said Dominic.

“It truly is. The so-called Pope Neia, what a mockery,” Berenice agreed.

“Mockery or not, her following is growing at an alarming rate. Worse yet, she threatens to remove our main ally against the undead king. The temples would never accept the rule of the undead. Although not powerful, they could undermine the Sorcerer Kingdom from within and provide us with information. But this Neia girl and her religion... now they just need to replace the old religion practiced by the temples with this new one,” Ginedine once again tried to move their conversation in the right direction.

“We cannot allow this to happen. If they declare Ainz a God our own religion might collapse. After all, the Six Great Gods existed long ago, but Ainz is here and now, no one can doubt his power,” said Raymond.

“I will contact that man, we must learn his thoughts on this matter. If he shares our views, he might be willing to aid us,” said Maximilian, the Cardinal of Darkness.”

“It appears the undead is moving much faster than we anticipated. Then what else can we do?” Pontifex Maximus asked after nodding in agreement to Maximilian's words...

“We must destroy the Sorcerer Kingdom before Ainz revives. If we allow him to come back, our job will become nearly impossible. Simultaneously moving forward with all the plans we've outlined during previous meetings should boost our chances, even if some of the plans don't work out,” Ginedine proposed.

Every one expressed agreement with this proposal.

“Then, let us hear the status of these plans.” Pontifex Maximus said, turning his sight on the head of the Research Institute.

“We had located it. We'll need one of the scriptures to extract it, and will need time to examine it. However, based on the available information it could become a trump,” the man explained. “We have also intensified the search for a replacement for lady Kaire, but have not found a suitable candidate yet.” The head of the Research Institute added.

“Our situation remains unchanged. But now that Ainz is gone, it's almost a given that Momon will be sent to help the Draconic Kingdom, once their envoy arrives at the Sorcerer Kingdom. It appears Momon thinks Ainz is spying on him, so he didn't talk to Zeria during their meeting,” said Raymond.

“Speaking of Zeria, it's quite a shame he resigned,” said Berenice.

“It couldn't be helped, he had apparently suffered mental damage when Ainz released his bloodlust. Mentally, he can no longer fight against that being,” Yvon said.

“Quite a shame to lose him, especially at this time. But back to Momon, if we can secure his help things would become much easier for us.”

“Our envoy visited the Sorcerer Kingdom, and they had agreed to send their envoy to us in two months. The envoy is the dark elf girl from Zeria's report.” An evil grin decorated Dominic's face as he continued. “We have taken the steps needed to make sure her visit goes as we've planned.”

After no one else had anything to add, the meeting came to a close. As the twelve of them left the room the Grand Marshall looked somewhat relieved, but the thought of the undead king still infuriated him.

Inside Nazarick

Ainz was sitting behind a desk while Albedo stood in front of him. The two were going over one document after another. With the Holy Kingdom becoming a vassal of his nation the amount of paperwork he had to do temporarily increased even more.

He tried to focus on the piece of paper he was staring at, but his mind wandered elsewhere. As he thought about the events which transpired recently, there was one question that he struggled with. Also, asking Pandora's Actor was the safer choice, he was playing the role of Momon, and was rarely in Nazarick. Ainz didn't want to call him back just to ask this question.

“What is it Ainz-sama?” Albedo asked.

“Oh, no, I must've stared at her while my mind wandered,” Ainz snapped back from his thoughts.

“Ahem, I want to ask you something Albedo.”

“Anything you wish, my master,” Albedo replied, leaning closer. Ainz's eyes couldn't help but wander towards her ample bosom.

He coughed, “it's about the cover-up story we told about Jaldabaoth and Honyopenyoko. Didn't this revelation draw attention to us?”

“Oh,” Albedo said disappointed, “it is as you say.”

“Then why did we do it?” Ainz wanted to scream, as he felt a headache coming

Albedo had apparently misinterpreted his silence.

“Only a Supreme Being could come up with such a wonderful plan to embolden our foes. Fufu, just how many traps did you set during that audience?” She continued excitedly.

“Traps huh? Well, it should be fine if Albedo doesn't see a problem with it. Still, this paperwork is killing me, shouldn't I have less to do now that I am “dead”? Yet they still have me look over all these documents. Just how many documents had we already gone through this morning...”

“Twenty-four,” Suzuki said out loud as his mind wandered.

“Tw.. twenty-four?! As expected of the leader of the Supreme Beings. I only saw six. Fufu, I should tell Demiurge about this.” Albedo spoke, her wings moving excitedly.

“Ah, um, no, no, I was thinking about some other matters,” Ainz frantically tried to correct her.

“Oh, I understand. Then how many traps did you set, Ainz-sama?” Albedo inquired with a smile that terrified him.

“What should I do now? Albedo said she counted six, so I have to say a higher number. But what if she asks the details about the extra traps? I should've talked to Pandora's Actor instead.” As Suzuki agonized over the answer, a flash of inspiration suddenly hit him.

“Was there anything we said that was not a trap?"