Valkyrie's Shadow

Before the Storm: Act 8, Chapter 4

Before the Storm: Act 8, Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Ainz-sama.”

A heavy malaise hung over Ainz Ooal Gown, Supreme Overlord of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Sovereign of the Sorcerous Kingdom, and the man who had recently been made aware of how clueless he was about running a country. Not that he ever thought himself good at it. He knew he was bad – that was why he left the task to others, after all – but not that bad.

Caught in a trap of his own making, Ainz had little choice but to spend the entire night in the Great Library of Ashurbanipal as Baroness Zahradnik explored His Majesty the Sorcerer King’s mastery of societal engineering with Aura and Mare. He never realised how much work the Sorcerer King supposedly put into guiding his subjects to the bright and shining future he had promised them. All he could remember was skimming through the paperwork that Albedo brought to him and making futile attempts to understand what was going on before giving up and putting his seal on each document.

Perhaps the most concerning thing was that, even as Ainz struggled to follow what the Baroness was saying, Aura and Mare seemed to have few issues keeping up. The more the trio delved into the endless depths of the Sorcerer King’s alleged wisdom, the more empty Ainz felt his head was. Reportedly, the twins spent quite a lot of time with the young noblewoman – at least as far as their interactions with the natives went – so perhaps they had gained the prerequisite knowledge to understand her terrifyingly complex analysis during previous discussions.

His bruised and battered mind and ego aside, Ainz figured it was a good thing. As it was with Shalltear, Lady Zahradnik seemed to be a good influence on Aura and Mare. While he rarely worried for the twins’ physical safety as they went about their daily routines, he was worried that a ‘friend’ might latch onto them to take advantage of their power or influence. They were still innocent children, after all.

“…Ainz-sama?”

The crimson points of light in his eye sockets flared to life.

“Hm? Is something the matter?”

“Forgive me for interrupting your thoughts, Ainz-sama,” Sebas’ voice issued from the right of Throne of Kings, “but you wished to be reminded of when the tournament final would begin.”

“Ah, it’s that time already? I was so preoccupied that I hadn’t noticed.”

Rather than preoccupied, it was more like his brain was fried from the previous night’s discussion. It was surprisingly easy for him to sit perfectly still for long periods due to his Undead body not experiencing any of the discomfort that a Human would have from doing the same. Barely a thought had gone through his mind the entire time.

His gaze went to Sebas, who had stood ramrod straight at his side since Ainz sat down. Like some of the other NPCs, Sebas seemed to have inherited quite a bit of his parent’s personality. What would he have to say about the previous night’s discourse on justice?

“Sebas,” Ainz said. “I would have your opinion on a certain matter.”

“I will endeavour to answer to the utmost of my ability, Ainz-sama.”

“Mah, it’s not that sort of question. Don’t let it bother you too much.”

“Hah!”

The butler’s steely expression didn’t soften in the slightest. Ainz considered how to phrase his query.

“You’ve spent a great deal of time in E-Rantel since we took over,” he said. “Based on your interactions with the people, do you believe that the Sorcerous Kingdom is a just country?”

“The people appear to be content with the peace brought about by your rule,” Sebas replied, “though it saddens me to say that most still haven’t accepted the realities of their new lives.”

“Do you mean to say that order is maintained through strength alone? That the justice of the Sorcerous Kingdom is peace of the sword and nothing more?”

“Not precisely, Ainz-sama, but it would not be wrong to say that our strength is what makes everything that contributes to the stability of the city possible.”

“Does that reflect positively on me as a King? Or does that make me little more than a despot in the eyes of the people?”

“I believe that the people do not fully appreciate the depth of your benevolence, Ainz-sama,” Sebas said. “At the same time, they are not being openly disrespectful. It pains me to say this, but the overall sentiment of the city folk remains at similar levels to their previous sovereign. Change comes slowly, however, so the sense that things aren’t getting worse may mean that their regard towards you will improve in time.”

It’s just as we discussed…

Baroness Zahradnik had gone into far more detail as to why that was. As promised, for the ‘benefit of Aura and Mare’, she delivered a lengthy lecture about the foundations of justice, how it evolved as society did, and how culture and judicial systems were engineered to serve the needs of a country or at least enforce the order it desired.

“So even though we reduced crime rates and improved food security, the people think no differently of me than King Rampossa?”

The corner of the butler’s eye twitched. He lowered his head apologetically.

“Forgive me, Ainz-sama. I failed to articulate my thoughts properly. In terms of violent crime, the citizens appreciate the fact that it has dropped to nearly nothing, but the most severe cases of violent crime in the area never occurred in the city in the first place. When It comes to petty crime, they similarly appreciate that levels have dropped significantly, but they feel that the penalties for crime in general are far too cruel.”

That was an unexpected twist. In return for reducing crime rates, he was being considered a cruel ruler. Personally, he didn’t think that the punishments for crime in the Sorcerous Kingdom were overly harsh. Back on Earth, convicted criminals had their assets seized by the government while the criminals themselves were reprocessed into nutrients for the algae farms. This effectively turned a societal liability into an asset, which pretty much everyone accepted as common sense. Of course, repurposing individuals – or, rather, their corpses – into productive Undead assets was reserved for crimes warranting the death penalty. For everything else, perpetrators were fined and made to pay off their debts to society in some fashion.

The problem most likely lay with the fact that the Sorcerous Kingdom was perceived as a place where Undead, Fiends, and other ‘evil’ beings ruled. Lady Zahradnik noted that cultural and religious views would tend to colour every move that they made unfavourably as a result. Fixing that would take far, far more than what they were currently doing.

“I’m surprised that the bounty we’ve brought to local agriculture hasn’t done more to shift public opinion in our favour,” Ainz said. “According to Albedo, many parts of Re-Estize are on the verge of famine. I imagined that the people would be grateful for being spared that fate.”

“As you know, Ainz-sama,” Sebas replied, “E-Rantel is a centre of trade. Though it may sound strange, the people of the city do not consider themselves part of the same society as the people in the country. I’ve found that city folk tend to believe that they can toil and trade their way out of all adversity. Additionally, nearly every city-dweller belongs to one guild or another, and each of those guilds serves as their members’ respective community for life. The Guilds regulate nearly every aspect of those lives – one could even say that they are societies in themselves.”

“Umu,” Ainz nodded, “I, too, have noticed this.”

Unlike the arcologies of Earth or the nation-states of its past, the countries of their New World were a complicated mess of competing power structures. Far from what one might find in a video game setting or so many fantasy stories, a kingdom was not even remotely a monolith. Kings did not hold absolute power and what power they had was limited by the realities of their situation. No Noble was in the exact same situation as the others – one couldn’t know how they ruled their fiefs and played the games of power unless one was very familiar with the individual being scrutinised. Even their subjects weren’t as simple as they seemed and certainly weren’t anything like the oppressed innocents or unwashed masses that a person from Suzuki Satoru’s world might imagine them to be.

In the cities, as Sebas mentioned, the Guilds were effectively the true rulers. Ainz had spared them next to no thought when considering the future of the Sorcerous Kingdom – the Adventurer Guild was the only one he was interested in – and was later shocked to find out how important they were. The Guilds dictated every facet of their members’ lives, deciding who was and wasn’t allowed to work, how much one should charge for said work, and even what one was allowed to do outside of work. How a member dressed; who they could interact with; who they could marry; and even things that seemed entirely pointless like the times of the day when one was allowed to pray to their gods and which gods were appropriate to worship in the first place.

In short, the Guilds had an astonishing amount of control and fought tooth and nail to keep Kings, Nobles, and even the Temples from interfering with their business. They were far from harmless and didn’t hesitate to destroy those who challenged their regulations and ignored their influence, hiring thugs, arsonists, Assassins, and Bards to do their bidding. Even a seemingly innocuous Tailor’s Guild could grow powerful enough to hold entire countries hostage and bend sovereigns to their will.

Indeed, the status quo in any given location was determined by how the power struggle between the sovereign, the aristocratic establishment or whatever equivalent occupied their position, the Guilds, and the Temples. Added to that were external threats like Monsters, wilderness tribes, criminal organisations, and mercenary bands who could just as easily act as bandits, raiders, and pirates. Ainz could only scratch his head, wondering how anything like a country managed to exist under normal circumstances.

And people expect me to champion true justice in a place like this? Give me a break. You’d figure people would be happy enough over having a safe place to live.

“If I may ask, Ainz-sama,” Sebas said, “how will the people be punished?”

Ainz looked up at Sebas in confusion. The butler seemed tense; the lines of his aged face visibly tightening as he awaited the answer to his question.

“Punished?”

“There have been many calls for punitive measures against the citizens by Nazarick’s denizens,” Sebas replied. “Not everyone agrees on what should be done, but even I find it hard to stomach how your goodwill towards the people is so often taken for granted and even twisted.”

“Well, I’m not exactly pained by it. You mentioned earlier that time should see public sentiment growing to favour the new rule, and I believe you are correct. Public order remains at acceptable levels and no one is starving. It would be better for us to address the underlying causes for any future discontent.”

The tension in Sebas’ expression melted away. What was he expecting him to do?

“Ainz-sama is wise,” the butler said. “As the leader of the Supreme Beings, guiding the Sorcerous Kingdom must be a trivial matter.”

Ainz wasn’t sure what running a guild in Yggdrasil had to do with running a country, but a suitable response to the undeserved praise eluded him. All he could really do was bide his time and hope that Albedo and the others could figure something out. However, that, too, would probably be attributed to the ‘wisdom’ of some unfathomable phenom of a ruler called Ainz Ooal Gown.

The fabric of his robe rustled as he stirred from his throne. Sebas fell into step behind Ainz as he made his way out of the throne room.

“Have you enjoyed the tournament and its festivities, Sebas?”

“Yes, Ainz-sama,” Sebas replied. “The experience has been quite enlightening.”

“Is that so? Well, that’s good to hear.”

Though he said that, Ainz wondered if the NPCs would truly learn anything from it. The ‘combat drills’ he had suggested had grown into something far greater than he could anticipate, yet there was a disappointing predictability to the tournament’s outcomes. The only exceptions were the fights in which Albedo participated.

He had hoped that the Guardian Overseer’s preparations would drive a similar change in her fellow NPCs, yet nothing happened. Albedo’s adjustments to her equipment brought her victory after victory, yet the vanquished remained unshaken. If anything, he had the feeling that they were convinced that Albedo was in the wrong as she had deviated from the intent of her creator.

In the grand foyer beyond the throne room doors, they were joined by Solution and Shizu. From there, Ainz stepped through the nearby teleportation gate. The scenery shifted to the sunlit grove that housed the teleportation gate on the Sixth Floor, where he was immediately assailed by the scents and sounds of the nearby festival.

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At least I can call this part of the tournament a success…I think.

The noncombatant population of Nazarick had come up with the festival, intending for it to be a ‘tournament’ in itself. As with the intended combat drills where Ainz stated his desire to witness what the NPCs had learned over the past few years, Nazarick’s ‘household staff’ pitted their skills against one another through the displays of artisanry found in every stall.

As he strolled along the festival lane, Ainz idly waved in acknowledgement to the endless cheers and greetings he received from Nazarick’s denizens. His attention, however, was focused on the ‘competition’ itself – namely, the dishes, crafts, and other products arrayed before him. Slowly, but surely, the notion that the household NPCs were improving evaporated.

These are all recipes from Yggdrasil, aren’t they?

He was certain it was the case. Though the variety was nothing short of astonishing, everything was a recipe that the guild’s crafting team had collected from one game event or the other. A pair of Homunculus Maids curtseyed as Ainz turned to approach their stand: the ‘addictive yakisoba’ vendor that Aura favoured.

“Welcome, Ainz-sama,” Decrement, one of the Homunculus Maids running the stand, greeted him with a bright smile. “Have you come to try our Yakisoba? It’s super popular!”

Is that even possible?

There were so many different races in Nazarick that it was difficult to imagine a type of food that was universally popular. Could it be that this food was the unifying element that could act as the foundation of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s justice?

“I was simply curious about what made this dish so popular,” Ainz said. “How did you make it?”

“The noodles are made from Midgard Brawnwheat,” Decrement replied. “We’ve stir-fried some Jotunheim Ice Lettuce, Shantak Eggs, and Slices of Emperor Unicorn Steak. Oh, and LRF was added, of course.”

“LRF, eh…”

LRF was a mysterious ingredient that went into pretty much every cooked recipe past mid-tier. According to the item description, it made everything taste better. Did such a thing exist in their New World?

“It seems that you’ve sourced your ingredients from the Treasury,” Ainz said. “Have you considered using local materials?”

“The cooks have experimented with various ingredients imported from the outside as Ainz-sama suggested,” Decrement said, “but they were all found to be greatly inferior to what we already have in Nazarick. We wouldn’t dare tarnish the tournament festival with poor-quality food!”

“In that case, what about bringing this sort of festival to the people of the Sorcerous Kingdom?”

“I feel that they are not worthy of such blessed traditions, Ainz-sama. It’s doubtful that they would properly appreciate what we’ve done here.”

So much for learning…

As far as he could tell, what they had learned from him encouraging them to learn was that they didn’t need to learn. They considered everything in Nazarick to be both inherently and practically superior, and so they chose to compete using recipes that produced superior, but set, results. To top it all off, they were jealously protective of what they had.

Much like the Floor Guardians and the other combat-oriented NPCs, they stubbornly refused to change and saw no reason to do so. What they were and what they had would always be just as their creators intended and therefore perfect for what they were supposed to be. All of their ambitions and aspirations similarly revolved around being what they were. Ainz saw his friends’ creations as their children, so he wanted to see them become more than that. No matter what he did, however, nothing truly changed.

One might point out that Cocytus had gone out of his way to conquer the races around the Great Lake in Tob, but his settings characterised him as something like a Daimyo from Japan’s feudal era. Conquest and collecting vassals wasn’t something that he could do in Yggdrasil, but it was possible now and he jumped at the first opportunity presented before him. By the same token, Shalltear had taken so well to her role as the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Minister of Transportation because it fell within the realm of one of her domains as a Cleric. Albedo’s settings set her up as the Great Tomb of Nazarick’s supremely capable administrator, which translated well to her duties in the Sorcerous Kingdom.

He hadn’t given up hope, however. Everything suggested that what Nazarick already possessed was overwhelmingly superior when push came to shove, so he couldn’t reasonably expect the NPCs to be inspired by what they saw. Since that was the case, he decided not to stress over it and instead focused on aspects that promised change regardless of experience.

“Ainz-samaaaa!”

Aura’s voice turned his attention away from the yakisoba stand and to the festival lane where the twins were rapidly closing on his position. Bukubukuchagama’s children were a large part of what he pinned his hopes on for change and growth. Being children was a part of their settings, and children inevitably changed, didn’t they? At least he assumed that they would. It would be more than a bit disturbing if they remained as they were forever.

“Good afternoon, Ainz-sama.”

Bringing up the rear was Shalltear, who was sporting her black parasol, accompanied by Baroness Zahradnik. The young noblewoman lowered her head as she dipped into a smooth curtsey.

“Good afternoon, Your Majesty,” she said. “Thank you so very much for last night.”

Shalltear cast a sidelong glance at her vassal.

“Last night? What happened last night?”

“The thing that you purposely avoided attending, my lady.”

“Oh,” Shalltear sighed, “that. You should pursue more titillating events to vaguely refer to.”

“I won’t be doing anything ‘titillating’ with His Majesty while Lord Mare and Lady Aura are present, my lady.”

“Oh, so you admit that–”

Ainz cleared his throat.

“How was everyone’s day?” He asked.

“It felt very productive, Your Majesty,” Lady Zahradnik answered with a smile. “I was far more confident in my studies after our discussion last night.”

“Is that so? How encouraging to hear. I look forward to seeing the fruit of your efforts.”

Frankly, he had no idea what he had done to boost her confidence. He certainly didn’t feel very confident afterwards. As long as the world of his new existence avoided the fate of Earth, however, he would count his momentary mental trials as a trivial price to pay.

Aura and Mare lined up at the stand to pick up an early dinner. Ainz turned his attention to Sebas.

“There’s no need to stand on ceremony, Sebas,” he said. “Why not get some food for yourself, as well?”

“I appreciate your kind regard, Ainz-sama,” Sebas replied, “but that would hardly be proper as your butler.”

Ainz glanced at the Baroness, who had distanced herself from the cluster of NPCs who had gathered around him. After several years in their new world, he had a pretty good idea of what butlers were supposed to be like. Sebas was a butler in the sense that he could buttle, but the closest thing to a highly qualified professional butler in Nazarick was actually Albedo. The same could be said for Nazarick’s maids: their existence was just as fantastical as anything else from Yggdrasil.

No one dared to call any members of the Sorcerer King’s ‘Royal Household’ out on their strange behaviour, however. In fact, it appeared that several noble households were trying to emulate the Pleiades. He wasn’t sure how he felt about battle maids running all over the place, but at least there wouldn’t be any combat butlers.

Ainz took a leisurely stroll through the stalls, savouring the final day of the tournament festival. Aside from its traditional Japanese feeling, he didn’t think that a similar event held by the Sorcerous Kingdom’s citizens would be overshadowed by much. In many aspects, they would do better. The more, the merrier, as the old saying went.

If the NPCs don’t feel like doing it, I’m sure I could get the locals to organise something…

It wasn’t as if they didn’t have festivals. What they had, however, was limited in variety. Broadly speaking, there were three types. The most common were market days, which happened in the towns every week or so. He only barely considered them festivals, however. People came from the rural regions to purchase tools and necessities that one couldn’t usually find in a village. It was mostly a business affair that couldn’t even be compared to a city market on a normal day. Still, it was a regular event that could potentially be leveraged for other things.

Holidays – or, rather, holy days – were the second most frequent event that the people participated in. Once again, festivities that focused on entertainment were limited and one could say that they were a series of religious observances that the people followed. The ‘suppressed’ state of the Faith of the Four – which the majority of Humans in the Sorcerous Kingdom still believed in – made things especially dour, even though he had never once instructed anyone to interfere with religion in the country.

Lastly, was a true festival celebrating the harvest. This was especially the case now that the agricultural industry was being supported by Mare’s magic. Unfortunately, each was a local celebration held in the rural villages and couldn’t realistically become any larger than they already were.

The way festivals worked in the Sorcerous Kingdom was vastly different from what he remembered as Suzuki Satoru. In his old world, there were countless holidays that purportedly came from every culture on Earth. They were marked by new product releases and sales of various goods depending on the occasion and one’s feed was bombarded by an endless parade of marketing campaigns.

While he couldn’t hope to match the reach and efficacy of the megacorporations, Ainz had hoped to at least mass market the handful of ventures he had spearheaded. Unfortunately, the natives seemed to be nearly impervious to any marketing that wasn’t done in person. There was simply too great a gap between their common sense and that of Earth’s population.

Does the Sorcerous Kingdom need an official marketing department? Most of the NPCs don’t really think about promoting my stuff unless I specifically tell them to. Albedo, especially…

He had a feeling that if he added an anonymous suggestion about using the Sorcerous Kingdom’s resources to market personal side projects, Albedo’s reaction to such an individual would grind his bones to powder. His ego was already on the verge of shattering after discussing ‘justice’ with Baroness Zahradnik, so it was probably best to kick that particular can down the road.

Eventually, they made their way into the arena and to Ainz’s VIP booth with its expansive black pavilion. A small commotion drew his attention to the stands just outside. To his surprise, he found a visibly upset Shalltear with her back turned to Baroness Zahradnik.

They’re fighting? That’s not something I’d have expected…

Between Shalltear’s haughty stubbornness and Lady Zahradnik’s near-unflappable accommodation of her liege, it was hard to imagine. Even now, the young noblewoman’s expression was unreadable. Ainz went over to see what was wrong, but he was unable to gain any clues as to what was going on before he came before them.

“This is a rare sight,” he said. “Rather than that, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you two fight before.”

“There are more than a few things that we do not agree on, Your Majesty,” the Baroness said, “but I feel that this particular concern is rather one-sided.”

“…what is it?” Ainz asked.

“It’s unbelievable, Ainz-sama!” Shalltear turned to clutch at his robe tearfully, “Ludmila is going to leave me for that gorilla!”

“Hah?”

“I never once suggested that, my lady,” Baroness Zahradnik replied.

“Oh, but it’s as clear as day,” Shalltear said. “Ludmila gazes at her so intensely! And have you all of the notes she’s taken on her? She’s become obsessed! After every one of her matches, it’s always Albedo this and that.”

“I have notes from your fights, as well,” the Baroness noted.

“But you have ten times the notes on Albedo,” Shalltear said. “No–I wouldn’t be surprised if it was fifty times more! And the amount of detail they contain on every part of her body is utterly obscene!”

“Should that not be expected, my lady? She is a warrior, after all…”

“Cocytus is a warrior, too. You don’t have nearly as much on him as Albedo.”

“Despite Lord Cocytus carrying a halberd all over the place, he is a Kensei. I am not a sword user. We have been over this before.”

“Ainz-sama, please do something!”

What am I supposed to do, exactly?

As far as he could tell, Shalltear was just being jealous. That in itself was a good sign since it showed that Shalltear valued her vassal enough that she didn’t want to lose her. However, he couldn’t draw any correlation between Lady Zahradnik’s study of Albedo’s fights in the tournament and her dumping Shalltear for the Guardian Overseer. Did Albedo even care about such things? Likely not.

Ainz placed a skeletal hand on Shalltear’s head. The hysterical Vampire immediately went still.

“Mah, calm down, Shalltear,” he said. “I doubt that Zahradnik-dono would so easily leave you, especially after everything you’ve been through together. You should focus on your big fight, instead.”

“Okie.”

Once Shalltear shuffled off to the arena’s underbelly, Ainz returned to his throne-like seat. The stands slowly filled as the beginning of the match grew near. Many members of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s ‘Royal Court’ joined him at the pavilion, though he figured that it would still be too awkward for Pandora’s Actor to be present when Lady Zahradnik was around. The Baroness did ask after him for some unknown reason, but Ainz made the excuse that the tournament didn’t suit the Royal Treasurer’s tastes and he was busy taking care of important matters elsewhere.

The crowd fell still as the sky over the arena darkened. A trio of spotlights beamed down from the towers high above. They converged on Aura, who was announcing the match as usual. The Dark Elf Ranger smiled brightly as she swept her gaze over the stands.

“It’s been a long journey, but we’ve finally arrived at our tournament’s grand finale! I hope you’re all fired up!”

In answer, the arena erupted into a chorus of cheers. Two of the spotlights separated from Aura, circling the sands of the arena as she prepared to announce the two finalists. Aura raised her left hand.

“In the black corner, coming in with a perfect streak of victories from the very beginning, is the Guardian Overseer, Albedo!”

One of the wandering spotlights fell upon the black-armoured figure of Albedo, who stood unmoving with bardiche in hand. The response from the crowd was similarly subdued. Ainz suspected that most of Nazarick didn’t approve of Albedo’s unorthodox preparations and were thus disinclined from cheering for her.

“In the red corner,” Aura raised her right hand, “also coming in with a perfect streak of victories, is the Floor Guardian of the First, Second, and Third Floors, Shalltear Bloodfallen!”

The final spotlight fell upon the Shalltear, who stood across the arena from Albedo with her Pipette Lance in hand. Aura spoke through the modest reception for the second contestant.

“Who will finally have their perfect record broken? Who will receive the favour of Ainz-sama? Hang onto your seats, because this is going to be a match for the ages!”