Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 24

At least it’s not so insanely gaudy this time…it looks normal. Almost.

Normal. When he realized what had crossed his mind, he suppressed a sigh.

Arms held out to his side, he could only stand still and watch as the Homunculus Maids moved about his figure to prepare his garb for work. Today, it was Foire’s turn to direct their preparations. Thankfully, what she had chosen for him was nothing like last month’s painfully bright crimson robe, which was adorned in such a huge array of obnoxiously large gemstones that they might as well have dipped him in glue and rolled him all the way across the guild treasury.

The selection for today was a robe of deep forest green, draped comfortably around his skeletal form somehow. Within its rich silken folds were tiny diamonds that glimmered like points of light through a verdant canopy. Rather than the strange, meaningless characters embroidered in gold thread along its hem, this robe was lined in soft white velvet that formed into intricate patterns of leaves running several centimetres up the edge of the cloth.

It was simple, lent an air of comfort and, most importantly, it was quiet. He had half expected to end up in some outfit with cosmetic firework effects and bold lettering circling around his head like a holographic sign. Instead, he was granted some peace of mind.

A thought occurred to him.

“Foire,” he looked at the maid in his reflection. “I’m curious. What were your thoughts when you decided on this selection?”

If he could finally puzzle out the Homunculus Maids’ sense of aesthetics and reasoning for his wardrobe, he would be able to steer their selections in such a way that he did not look like some sort of psychedelic peacock every other day. Surely she had not simply selected it because it matched the colour of her eyes.

Foire stepped back from her work to stand before him respectfully, realigning her posture and folding her hands before him. Her bob of blonde hair bounced lightly as she spoke.

“Forgive my presumption, Ainz-sama,” she said. “But I believe that, as you have just recently returned from the frozen mountains to the north, your arrival would best reflect the coming of spring. With your return, your blessed kingdom has come to life, and who else would best represent this promise of abundance other than Ainz-sama himself? All of your subjects will surely see this as well, as it is your power that–”

“I understand.”

So much for that idea.

Seasons did not exist in his former world, after all. Nor was any sort of symbolism with the outside world in common use. The outdoors was just a monotonous, bland and toxic wasteland that one avoided as much as possible. The skies were choked with an ever-present blanket of deadly pollution that smothered the world in the same, uniformly balmy temperature. Suzuki Satoru had never experienced the spring in real life, and he supposed that the Undead being named Momonga did not have the same appreciation for it as living things would.

Ainz let out a sigh.

“My sincerest apologies, Ainz-sama!” Foire lowered her head repeatedly, “I will choose a new outfit since it displease–”

“No, no.” He told her quickly, “I was considering something else entirely. I am not dissatisfied with your selection, Foire. In fact, it pleases me greatly. You’ve done well.”

Foire brought her hands up to cover her mouth with a gasp, tears welling in her eyes.

“Yes, Ainz-sama!” Foire’s voice trembled, “Thank you, Ainz-sama!”

Around him, the other Homunculus Maids sported beaming smiles, tears of their own collecting at the corners of their eyes.

Ainz did his best to not shift around uncomfortably. Why was it that he had the effect of making women cry? There was the previous maid that had attended to him last month, Fifth. Then Albedo, then Shalltear and Aura, now Foire and her assisting maids. He had heard of men that many women cried over, but he was reasonably certain that it wasn’t remotely the same thing.

Now that he was thinking about it, his words had even made Gondo cry. He made Dwarves cry. The idea of leaving people in tears wherever he went was not something that he thought of as an advantage.

When their preparations were finally completed, Ainz gave himself a once-over in the mirror. He nodded once sharply.

Not bad.

Ainz strode away and down the tall towards his office: purposely, regally, in the relaxed stride of casual confidence that he often observed from his good friend Jircniv, Emperor of Baharuth. It helped immensely that he wasn’t so ridiculously dressed today.

The doors were opened before him and smoothly made his way through the threshold.

“Ah–”

He suddenly stopped.

“Is there something the matter, Ainz-sa–”

Ainz scuttled over to the balcony. He leaned over and peered into the glass box sitting in the sunlight, reaching inside with a hand to turn over the leaves of the plants growing within. The knot in his nonexistent stomach unwound itself after finding what he was looking for.

Whew.

Upon entering his office, it had occurred to him that he had left Nurunuru alone for nearly a month. Ainz imagined that he would find it dead or missing after being neglected for so long. He shook his head to himself ruefully as he eyed the fresh cabbage beside the terrarium. So much for trying to prove himself. Of course someone would have fed it while he was away; the house was full of servants, after all.

“I have returned, Nurunuru-kun,” he declared a bit too forcefully, then realized that he was trying to act like a king before a pet.

After feeding the Lip Bug three leaves, Ainz turned around and swept his gaze over the office, surreptitiously glancing at Foire. She seemed attentive to him, but her placid expression betrayed nothing of her thoughts. His meandering eyes finally focused onto his desk, and he walked over and placed a bony hand on the pristine desk. The knot formed in his nonexistent stomach again as he relaxed into his chair.

Nearly a month away, so a month of work awaits me. I avoided work for a month last time as well…I should have learned my lesson then. No, this time I was able to get some things done while I was away.

In hindsight, he was surprisingly able to get quite a few things done, which was infinitely more than the little he had accomplished after he had shut himself away the last time. He had gotten the ball rolling with the Adventurer Guild, the Empire had entered into a friendly diplomatic relationship with the Sorcerous Kingdom, he had earned the goodwill of the Dwarf Kingdom and secured their Runesmiths as his own.

His extended investigations into information on other Players, smithing, ores and Runecraft had, unfortunately, turned up little to nothing, but it couldn’t be said that he had done nothing at all. The Runesmiths were now getting ready to move to Carne Village, where his investments into their unique and promising magical technology would surely yield great gains.

“Huhuhu…”

Ainz chuckled softly to himself as dreamlike possibilities blossomed in his mind.

There was a knock at the door. It was time.

Ainz straightened in his chair and cleared his nonexistent throat while Foire went to answer the door. He put on his serious face. Or at least he thought he did – he didn’t have a face, but Albedo sometimes spoke as if she could read his expressions…well, better safe than sorry.

“Ainz-sama,” Foire said respectfully, “by your leave, Albedo-sama and the Elder Liches have arrived to present themselves before you.”

“Granted,” Ainz nodded regally, “they may enter.”

Ainz felt a tinge of satisfaction at his own conduct. His time with the Dwarves had allowed him to polish his kingly conduct even further, and he had gained confidence that his act would elicit the proper response from those around him.

Foire made way to allow his visitors into the entrance. Albedo entered the room with six Elder Liches, much in the same way as she had a month previous.

“Good morning, Ainz-sama.”

Arranged in a line behind her, the six Elder Liches bowed as one.

“Umu. Good morning, Albedo. Or…should I say Prime Minister?”

“If it is your will, then I shall become whatever it is you desire, Ainz-sama.”

The tips of Albedo’s wings quivered slightly, and the hint of excitement entered her expression. Ainz grasped for a way to alter the apparent course of the conversation.

“Then tell me, my good Prime Minister: how fares the Sorcerous Kingdom?”

Though he had put all of his accrued acting skill into the question, he was still surprised that Albedo showed no reaction to his brushing her pleasantries aside. Was it because he had just become more kingly? No, it was more likely that Albedo was looking forward to reporting her progress.

“It would be my pleasure to inform, Your Majesty,” Albedo replied.

Rather than directing the Elder Liches to come forward this time to stack their piles of documents upon his desk, Albedo started with a verbal report. Ainz had to put extra effort in paying attention, as he had nothing to refer to.

“With the brilliant maneuvering that Your Majesty has conducted in both the Dwarf Kingdom and the Empire,” she smiled brightly under his gaze, “many of the most immediate issues revolving around our reliance on foreign imports are well on their way to being resolved. I can only stand in awe and gratitude that Your Majesty so quickly and effectively responded to the concerns that I shared with you that day.”

Eh? She was going to keep going on with the court act? His move to preempt her usual routine had backfired in a different way. Having set her on this course, he could only swallow his internal discomfort and reciprocate her conduct.

“Though a meagre inclusion in comparison to your achievements,” she continued, “I have enlisted the assistance of the Eight Fingers, who will send their own merchants from Re-Estize and encourage their contacts to resume trade with the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

“Is that so…” He murmured, “They will not be conducting any of their old operations here, I trust?”

“Indeed, Your Majesty,” Albedo replied. “They have been explicitly instructed to only pursue legitimate avenues of trade with the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

“Good,” he said, “good. We cannot have any of that nonsense here. What of other matters regarding foreign affairs? Have any external threats developed? Have you flagged any problematic activity from the neighboring nations?”

He would have been immediately informed if it was something like existing Players being detected, but he couldn’t gloss over the possibility that other dangers could be lurking about. He hadn’t even figured out what in the world the Demon Gods were, despite going personally to a metropolis that had been ravaged by them and frozen over.

“There have been no overt moves against us by the neighboring nations. Over three dozen separate attempts by foreign agents to conduct espionage have been detected, however. How should we deal with them, Your Majesty?”

“They can look around all they want,” He told her. “Well, within reason. Areas that any other nation would naturally consider off-limits to the public should be treated the same way here. Aside from that, allow them to carry on where they will. Perhaps they will do some of our marketing for us, hm?”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Albedo nodded. “It will be done. They will see what it means to be ruled by a supreme sovereign, and the nations of the world will gnash their teeth at their own wretched mediocrity.”

That came off a lot more belligerent than he would have liked. It didn’t help that they were conducting this stiff court act, which was clouding his ability to lead Albedo’s responses.

“Is there anything else that has been discovered on that front, Albedo?”

“In regards to other Players, there has been little of note, Ainz-sama,” she shook her head. “All of the information uncovered has been more or less along the same vein. Influences from Yggdrasil that have seeped into the native cultures, languages and lore. Pandora’s Actor has even noted a few within our own borders, vestiges from centuries long past. He bemoans the fact that, beyond the scant few we’ve already catalogued in circulation, there have been no further pieces of equipment from Yggdrasil located.”

“Hmm…speaking of which, how did Pandora’s Actor fare when he was placed in charge while we were both absent from the Sorcerous Kingdom?”

“That’s…”

Albedo’s voice trailed off, and Ainz looked at her curiously. Pandora’s Actor didn’t do something strange, he hoped: like renaming half of the locations in the Sorcerous Kingdom into something German.

“If he’s done something wrong…”

“Far be it from that, Ainz-sama,” Albedo replied, “he has far exceeded my initial expectations upon recommending him for the role.”

Really? Him?

“Hoh…then your idea to have Momon influence the local leaders before being sent away on a ‘mission’ was accomplished without a hitch?”

“Beyond that,” she said, “the citizens of the Sorcerous Kingdom have continued to return to their normal lives. Simply believing he could tell the local leaders to obey us was a shallow estimation on my part. It is beyond grudging, powerless, acceptance contingent on their faith in a single man – the vast majority of the Human leadership has become productively compliant and are now actively working for the benefit of the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

Ainz wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Just what the hell did Pandora’s Actor do as Momon to achieve this? Going by his own appraisal of what Momon could accomplish in regards to Albedo’s plan for him, he could only roughly agree. To go beyond that…

“Once it was known that Momon would be sent away on his ‘mission’...”

Eh? There’s more?

“…he continued his work on behalf of the administration in our absence, dealing with the very same local leaders he dealt with as Momon. Truly, calling these Humans puppets on strings was a gross understatement. It is more like he is playing both sides of the board; every single piece moving of its own accord at his direction.”

Eh…

Ainz had arranged to trade places with Pandora’s Actor as Momon in a few days, but now he thought it prudent to discuss Momon’s...enhanced persona with him before then, lest he stumble into a mine – no, a minefield.

“If that’s the case,” Ainz asked, “how are we doing on the adoption of Undead labour throughout the territories?”

“It is as you must have already noticed, Ainz-sama,” Albedo said, “this is the one area where the results are not so uniform. Our analysis of current projections on agricultural yield and data in mining and forestry, as well as the current deployments of Undead servitors throughout the nation have outlined several key factors influencing the rates of adoption.

“The first factor concerns the labour imbalances in higher density areas that would manifest if Undead labour were to arbitrarily replace Human labour across the board. With our resettlement of the abandoned lands to the northeast by the population of the city slums, we’ve conclusively proven that, if necessary, utilization of Undead labour can be imposed upon the population to aid in the cultivation of land – provided that there is land to cultivate or extract resources from. Expansion of Human habitat invariably means the clearing of lands that may be needed by many of your non-Human subjects in the future, so I believe it is not something that should be so rashly pursued if the core territories of the Sorcerous Kingdom are to showcase a myriad of its citizen species.

“The second factor revolves around cultural and religious perceptions of Undead: though it has been demonstrated that Humans can overcome their cultural aversion to the Undead servitors, religion is another matter entirely. Rate of adoption can be directly correlated to the figures present in each religion, as well as their stated mandates. Unsurprisingly, the common population that subscribes to the faith of The Four, with their openly hostile mandate against the Undead, has the lowest adoption rate. Unfortunately they also represent the majority of the Human population in the Sorcerous Kingdom. Those who subscribe to the faith of The Six, which is a minority that primarily exists in the southern territories near the Slane Theocracy, have demonstrated no issues when it comes to embracing Undead labour and security where it can be employed.”

Ainz nodded gravely. He supposed the findings on religion were hardly surprising, but it represented a great hurdle when it came to his plans on exporting Undead labour. The Empire – and in the future, Re-Estize – represented his largest markets, but the vast majority of the population worshipped the Four Great Gods. One could only assume that interest in Undead labour would be even more dismal than that of his own nation. His hope was that, by leaving the various temples of his own nation alone, it would help improve the Sorcerous Kingdom’s reception abroad but…well, a mere two months had passed. Amongst the common folk, information was transmitted almost entirely through word-of-mouth, and that word-of-mouth was often rooted in hearsay and rumors.

“What of the Dwarves?” He asked, “I believe our relationship is fairly solid now.”

“We’re still awaiting data points from the trial units that you’ve provided to them, Ainz-sama,” Albedo replied. “So far, however, they seem to be a promising market for exports, both in terms of Undead labour and mundane goods produced in the Sorcerous Kingdom. The resulting trade flows will be a boon to development and taxation here as well.”

“I’ll look forward to it then,” Ainz nodded. “Is there anything else that you believe requires my attention?”

“Yes, Ainz-sama, as a matter of fact, there is.”

Albedo stepped forward to place a single sheet of paper before him on the desk.

“An event is being coordinated in order to stimulate the reestablishment of regional trade,” she said as he raised the sheet in front of him. “With the induction of the Empire and the Dwarf Kingdom into the hegemony of the Sorcerous Kingdom, merchants are being gathered from both nations for a period of increased traffic and exposure to what we have to offer.”

“A grand opening, you mean.”

“Yes, Ainz-sama, it should be something along those lines.”

“The benefits are clear enough. Is this one of your new directives? Or perhaps Demiurge…”

“It is a product of Pandora’s Actor – one of many results of his manipulations.”

Him again?

“Manipulations, you say…are these hapless fools such as those being unwittingly used to tidy up Re-Estize? Or are they people of talent who have been identified as useful to the Sorcerous Kingdom?”

Albedo withdrew a plain brown file folder from her inventory to lay on his desk.

“The latter,” she said as he scanned the contents. “Her name is Liane Wagner: one of the local leaders – the scion of a merchant house. She inherited her father’s holdings, which include the majority of merchant companies headquartered in E-Rantel, after he was killed in the Battle of Katze Plains. As to her recent activities that you may have witnessed personally…most of the liquors provided to be catered to the Dwarves recently were imported through her.”

There isn’t even a picture included. He grumbled. Well, not that technology for photographs existed in this world. At one point, he wanted to suggest that some sort of magical means to present images be included with the reports, but had decided against it out of fear that he would appear childish.

“Is that so?” Ainz stroked his chin thoughtfully, “Then what other contributions has she made? She appears possessed of a bold ambition.”

The latter was no empty musing: the salesman that was Suzuki Satoru couldn’t help but admire such entrepreneurial spirit. It was something a lowly salaryman like himself could only sigh in admiration and envy over. That this energy was being utilized for the ultimate benefit of the Sorcerous Kingdom made it all the better.

“It is as you’ve surmised, Ainz-sama,” Albedo answered. “She has various schemes underway, some of which enlist the cooperation of our government. Most notable among them being her research into new transportation technologies.”

“New technologies, you say…”

“Yes, Ainz-sama. With the Sorcerous Kingdom beginning the transition into the utilization of Undead labour, it has become apparent that many of the technologies that exist here are unable to withstand its rigours. Equipment and machines designed with conventional labour in mind wear down and break; vehicles fall apart. Baroness Wagner is currently engineering a myriad of technologies with the aim of their being able to harness the full potential of Soul Eaters as a motive force.”

“How long do you believe it will take before this technology can be showcased? It would go hand in hand with our efforts to export Undead labour.”

“For anything approaching a perfected technology, I cannot say. Several working models are already being developed, but the costs of each unit are what one might expect of experimental research. It’s difficult to say when a product that might be considered economical can be achieved, as many other factors go into whether it is perceived as such by our various prospective clients.”

“I suppose that’s just how things are,” Ainz mused idly, “be sure to notify me when you believe a breakthrough on this front has occurred.”

Or rather, he should be delegating this project to Shalltear. He had put her in charge of transportation, after all. Well, her hands were probably full trying to put the recently acquired Frost Dragons to good use. Since research efforts had just begun, there was little for her to work with anyways. Practical improvements to land transportation could wait.

How did they arrive at this discussion, anyways? Oh, right…

“You mentioned ‘many results’,” Ainz backtracked slightly. “What else has Pandora’s Actor been up to? Have any other new and promising individuals been identified?”

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