Strange situation (236) (Patreon)

Perhaps Ainz was influenced by his prejudice, created by his poor education in the past, in which speaking of ancient civilizations he imagined the poor of Yggdrasil, at least what little the developer was allowed to portray. Cities brimming with poor peasants, barely able to feed themselves, but twice as bad because this society was ‘ancient’, unlike their modern one. Where rather than being allowed to starve to death, they are humanely turned into compost instead.

Instead, in one such ‘ancient’ city, the one that he’s currently staying at, he could not see one starving person.

Or maybe it was because he was currently in a ‘besieged’ fortress, Ainz could easily assume that the rations and products have been strictly rationed among all the inhabitants of the city, and not wasted on feasts. Or maybe Ainz just didn't like big, luxurious feasts and was prejudiced against Gilgamesh as his ‘natural enemy’. Him, being a natural-born winner in life that doesn’t have to struggle for anything, was as far as possible from someone like Suzuki Satoru.

In any case, the feast arranged in front of Ainz seemed excessive to him. Ainz and his six Servants, including Ozymandias, who had joined the table together with Gilgamesh, Siduri and Merlin, made up only ten people in total. All the while the tables in front of him literally creaked warningly, it was laden with so much food. 

The master craftsman that had undoubtedly crafted the table in the past must never have expected that they would be forced to support such an amount of food.

Regarding the foods themselves, of course, Ainz had no objection. Even when compared with the feasts in Yggdrasil, the dishes would quite organically fit in among some other mid-level dishes. Looking at them, it seemed that one could simultaneously feel their appetite be sated, but also choke on saliva as their whet appetite overwhelms them. 

The golden crust of the meats, the flowing caramel of the desserts, the feast was a cornucopia of delicious smells, and, as Ainz determined a little later, the taste, were all food fit for kings. 

And yet, even enjoying the cooking that even surpassed Archer's cooking, Ainz's heart could not be completely satisfied even as his stomach was content. Of course, this did not stop Ainz from enjoying the food. In one bite he could be tasting the roasted goose, perfectly crispy and moist, tasting of berries, and spices tasting of the perfect combination of sweet, salty, savory, and even a pleasing amount of heat to it. 

It was a delicious treat, but Ainz's mind, accustomed to efficiency, whispered to him that he should not so simply succumb to gluttony. There are still more things to do after all.

Ainz's gaze slid over towards Gilgamesh, who was now bursting into another bout of thunderous laughter as he shared some kind of in-joke with Ozymandias, who was sitting to his right. Ainz then moved on to Merlin, sitting on his left, before stopping at Siduri, who was seated next to him.

It was at the start that Ainz realized that even if he could glean some kind of secret by watching the three eat, this was not the time. But he found it hard to do so.

It was not that Ainz did not know how to relax, he was quite good at finding things to distract himself in Chaldea for instance. That is, on the rather rare chance that his luck didn’t act up, and he was roped into yet another shenanigans with his Servant. It was something good he admits, something to bring him closer with his Servants, but it was always so nerve-wracking where he had to measure each of his words lest he says something wrong. 

Unluckily for Ainz, it was something, which, frankly, happened more often than Ainz would have liked. 

But even so, the current situation strained Ainz with its…

Hopelessness, probably?

In all the previous Singularities, the situation could suddenly shift, it could become confusing as it throws out unexpected twists and turns. But, in the end, it usually came down to a simple thing, the need to defeat some opponent in a fight. The number of opponents could be different, as well as their nature, their level of strength and other factors, there could be traps, but at the end of the day, Ainz Ooal Gown prevailed. There was always something to do, to prepare, to strategize… 

But at the moment, it seemed that the Singularity had nothing at all to do with killing the enemy.

There was indeed a big bad to be defeated, Tiamat, the source of all the black mud currently destroying the world, no, had destroyed the world. Defeating her is indeed a part of solving the Singularity, but it was something that Gilgamesh and his retinue had already planned on doing, one that they had already had a plan for.

But, more importantly for Ainz, killing Tiamat would not be the end of the Singularity, no fixing the rest of the destroyed world outside the walls of Uruk is. 

And that was where Ainz’s sense of discomfort was coming from. Something that Ainz kept debating with himself on how to solve. There were options, of course, but nothing perfect, and no matter how he agonized over it, he couldn’t find one. There was no spark of inspiration where Ainz could find a breakthrough in his thinking, only the same options already known to Ainz, repeating.

Perhaps, in any other circumstances, Ainz could have reassured himself that his subordinates or other Servants would be able to find a solution. But right now he was unsure of it, simply because there was actually already a solution, one that is thought of by Gilgamesh, a perfect, fool-proof plan that is definitely going to work… The only caveat being that the solution required hundreds of years for its implementation. 

Judging by the fact that neither Merlin nor Gilgamesh, no matter how deservedly Ainz treated them with distaste, they were definitely at least experienced in solving problems. The fact that their ‘best’ plan needed such a radical solution to it, did not bode well for Ainz and his more limited intelligence in thinking of a better plan. 

He also doubts that his current roster of Servants would also be able to think of a better plan. 

After all, Ainz took with him the strongest Servants, but not necessarily the smartest ones.

Making contact with the surviving goddesses or the destruction of Tiamat's monsters could also help Ainz make the current situation a little better, but that was nothing more than a temporary measure.

And just like that, his thoughts would circle around. Should he spend his time thinking of a better plan than the century-long restoration of the world? Or should he instead fix the small issues that might shorten said century-long plan, probably only for a few days or months? 

Meaningless, in other words. 

It was in such a vicious track that Ainz’s mind had been running along… It was still not enough for him not to enjoy the crisp apple dessert, caramelized in honey and reduced wine, however.

Ainz's mood did not improve even when, after the feast was over, performers such as dancers and live music began performing. Gilgamesh and Ozymandias, after finishing the last boast about how their own food in their own feasts was better, now instead started comparing the qualities of the performers of their own kingdoms. 

Then as if to mock Ainz further, after they had not found any victor in their bragging, their ‘competition’ became even more childish, this time to see who could drink the most wine. 

Imbibing the very considerable volume of wine, the two great kings seem to forget their royal etiquette for a moment and instead turn into two peacocks, desperately trying to show each other their youthful prowess. The two great rulers eventually turned into circus actors, a part of the entertainment itself, trying to show off their talents. 

But given that Ozymandias and Gilgamesh were not actually facing each other, taking it for granted without looking that their opponent could always show something even more amazing than themselves, they suddenly became the main attraction for the evening. Primarily for Merlin, who, correctly determining that the two kings' would be too drunk to remember the evening, began egging them on to compete in even more ridiculous ‘competitions’. In turn, Siduri, Jacques and Alturia got the opportunity to observe the two great kings juggling apples. 

A rare occurrence where two great kings were playing the part of jesters, truly no other place in the world could have such entertainment, even if the world wasn’t currently swallowed under the black sea. 

Even Angrboda, after taking only imbibing the wine lightly, and by that Ainz meant by the amphora-full, as even if she drank them by the barrel, it would still only count as ‘light’ drinking for someone of her nature. Observing the performance of the two men, she observed them with the look of a mother that is watching their son’s first musical recital, missing notes and all. 

In the end, even if Gilgamesh hated his inhuman nature, he still remained, like Ozymandias, a servant with a high level of divinity, and therefore was considered by Angrboda as her child.

Arthur, who did not need much wine to get plastered, was already telling Mashu about her family problems with her father, and of course, about her boats. As Ainz watched the king having to use the purple-haired Servant’s shoulder as support, lest she fall to the ground, he could only shake his head. Fortunately, Mashu also did not need much wine to get inebriated, therefore rather than reacting with any discomfort, she simply leaned back on Arthur’s shoulders and began drunkenly telling her own rather sad past. About how she had become immortal now and how she liked Ainz, repeating some inane praise that is untrue.

Ainz wasn’t sure that the two girls were talking to each other or were just talking regardless if the other even responded, as their conversation didn’t seem to mesh at all. It seems that the two had taken the chance to air out their grievance. 

It was an… idyllic picture.

Everybody was enjoying themselves, there was laughter, companionship and merriment, there was great food and drink aplenty to be enjoyed. It was almost impossible to have anything negative to say about the scene. Almost, but Ainz could.

They are relaxed. Too relaxed

It was this word that gave Ainz no peace of mind.

Worry and fretting would not get him any closer to finding a solution to the Singularity. It was logical then that rather than worrying about, enjoying his time should be a better use of his time. And yet, Ainz could not find solace, observing such a picture, precisely because it seemed incredibly idyllic to him.

In the previous Singularities, Ainz repeatedly encountered situations that required further study, in which barely had any time to formulate a plan of action. There was always something that needed doing or to be investigated about, things that deviate from furthering the solution to the Singularity was nothing more than a waste of time… Something that he might have done once or twice, like his sightseeing tours. But that was different! 

Not, when he actually does have all the information about how to solve the Singularity, what leads he could follow, or hell, even the enemy that he needed to defeat, Ainz felt restless. He already knows where to find the Grail, even if the location is a bit problematic. He already knows about Tiamat, though there is still not enough information before he could form a battle plan. All that information could be gained easily! 

Ainz could not find a place for himself precisely because he actually could not find anything, as he did not see ways to resolve the current problem.

And although Ainz did not want to spoil the celebration for his Servants, as a good boss, well, or Master, giving his servants the opportunity to enjoy themselves when there’s no crisis is just common sense. But, he himself could not relax and start enjoying himself in any way. And the difficulty was not even that he was expecting an enemy attack or preparing for battle, but precisely that he simply could not calmly endure such a state.

It was like an unfinished quest, hanging in the corner of his eyes, still active because he could not find that one last thing before completing it. He had already done everything possible, ran around all possible places and talked to all possible NPCs, but still could not find some stone or a fragment of a relic. And, when trying to find a solution on the forum, he did not find a single post about this quest. It was a feeling that only left him to gnash his teeth in anger.

"I think I'll take a little walk." Ainz finally muttered quietly, rising from the table, causing Siduri to glance at him, noting his condition before nodding. Ainz left the building so as not to accidentally spoil the mood of the celebration, before finding himself under a darkening sky with the first and brightest twinkling stars already appearing. 

Of course, Ainz did not possess any kind of knowledge of astronomy and could not distinguish the picture of the night sky, either here, back home in the far future, or even the one in Yggdrasil in any way…

At the very least, Ainz is able to differentiate between them. Though, since the total knowledge that he had about the stars back home is that even the Sun could barely be seen through the thick layer of smog, that wasn’t really saying much. The only celestial body that he had any idea about was the moon, and that was only because the one in Yggdrasil looked similar enough to the one in real life.

However, even if Ainz could not extract any practical information from observing the night sky, it was at least beautiful to see, calming his troubled mind. The many stars sparkling in the sky put Ainz in a melancholic mood and pushed his mind into the embrace of philosophical reflections on how tiny a creature he really was. No matter how powerful he is, when compared to the cosmos, he was but a terribly small dot on a planet, completely invisible among the galaxy, indistinguishable against the background of the entire Universe…

Ainz's gaze ran over the stars above, then to the Moon, before returning his attention to the stars beyond it, trying in vain trying to remember some constellation or the other. Although, remembering the words of his past friends, the brightest objects in the sky were usually not stars at all, but other planets… At least he thought that was what they had said. 

However, after a moment, a strange thought entered his mind, and he froze, checking himself to see if he was once again stuck in an unending loop. Before surprisingly admitting that the idea that he had just thought of was something entirely new.

For a moment, Ainz wondered what had prompted him to think about the huge panoramic starry sky hanging over him, before suddenly realizing that it was the sky itself that confused him. Not something in it, but the very fact of its presence.

In the previous Singularity, Camelot, as soon as Ainz entered the world changed by Alturia, one of the most noticeable changes for him was the wastelands around the habitats of powerful rulers. Scorched wastelands, and a sky turned into an impenetrable blackness full of sulfurous clouds. A change in the Singularity that arose due to the living manifestation of Rhongomyniad, which began to twist the human world and human reality, disembodying it at the points of contact.

And all this happened under the influence of Alturia, who, of course, was a Divine Spirit and was the embodiment of a concept unnatural for the ordinary human world. She was however not at all comparable to Tiamat, either in terms of power or in her destructive potential. 

After all, Alturia was just an extremely powerful divine spirit pursuing, one might even say, philanthropic goals, the desire to save the most worthy representatives of humanity, albeit with the regrettable byproduct of destroying human history. Tiamat, on the other hand, judging by Merlin's words, which in itself was a rather unreliable source of information, had intended to destroy humanity.

And yet the sky above her was not swallowed by darkness. Ainz was not going to deny the black sea that had swallowed up all the earth around him, but he was also not going to forget about such an important point.

Further, however, having grasped this critical understanding, Ainz felt as if he was touching on something monumentally significant. And yet, once again, was stymied by the fact that he had an extremely rudimentary understanding of the local system of magic and even more so of the structure of reality. 

But Ainz, looking at such a state, could come to only one conclusion available to him. The Black Sea was not something unnatural.

Unlike the collision of all magic and the modern world from the previous Singularity, the black sea of Tiamat was natural for the reality surrounding it.

Was this an indication that Tiamat was not Ainz's enemy? Not at all. Radiation, disease, and death were also extremely natural phenomena in themselves, it still doesn’t mean that it was something beneficial. But, the first clue that appeared before Ainz's eyes suddenly made him pull himself together again, striving to use all his strength that he had previously accumulated while observing the current situation in doubt.

Could this be a mere coincidence, looking at which Ainz should not draw far-reaching conclusions? Of course, it could be, but Ainz himself, who had been tormenting himself for a long time by thinking, was not going to so easily ignore the first clue that appeared before his face.

So, developing the thought… If Tiamat was not perceived by this world as something alien, it could only mean that…

It means that the destruction that she had wrought was not irreversible. At least not in the sense that they could only be rewritten in the history of the world by the new changes that Ainz could make with his abilities or the Grail. It was a roadblock that stymied most of what Ainz could do, the scale of the changes he could make are irreversible and almost random in how they present in history.

If there was instead some other way to restore this world, then this, of course, solved many issues that Ainz’s faced. Of course, this still did not answer another important question for Ainz. 

What exactly should he do?

But this was exactly what Ainz needed, some detail that could be considered a breakthrough, breaking the vicious circle of ‘I can't do anything because I can't do anything’.

And so for a moment Ainz's mind, previously undermined by all kinds of anxiety, calmed down. Now, with a new task to be chewed on, Ainz have found a new goal.

That is finding out how he could remove the influence of Tiamat on the Singularity surrounding him. 

And the first step would be to understand how Tiamat’s influence spread around him.

For a moment Ainz thought before frowning, indeed, there must have been a reason why Merlin did not focus on the Alliance of the Three Goddesses…

Perhaps the answer lies there?

***

At the chirping of the birds, harking the start of a new day, Arthur felt only a great headache, annoyance and no small amount of confusion. 

Where was she? The last thing she remembered was in Chaldea… Then she went to the Singularity, she thinks? It was a change in the human history of this world that would lead to its destruction, and in order to solve it under the direction of Ainz… Then a meeting with this impudent king, who completely forgot that he should ensure the security and prosperity of his kingdom… And then there was…

A voice not far from her attracted Arthur’s attention, making her look sideways and see Mashu feebly groaning on the bed next to her, and then with a flash of inspiration, and pain, she remembered what happened last night. Alcohol… A lot, too much alcohol…

Arthur sighed painfully. Despite her knightly and royal upbringing, which assumed participation in many feasts and celebrations, Arthur really never acquired a scrap of resistance to alcohol. On the contrary, only convincing her body of the correctness of her current approach, she somehow had found a particular weakness to it. That was why, she had taken advantage of her body’s excellent metabolism and Paladin abilities, she had made it almost an instinct to purge any alcohol from her body.

Unluckily for her, even a drop of alcohol was enough to make her start rambling unendingly about embarrassing topics. At least, according to the knights that were brave enough to tell such a fact to her face.

That was why her current condition was almost alien to her.

However, judging by the state she had found herself in, she must have indulged herself even beyond her strengthened constitution. Nothing that a Healing Spell couldn’t handle. And so, with a light show of sparkling lights, the last scraps of alcohol and its painful byproducts, were scrubbed clean from her system, calming her mind and returning her to her full consciousness. 

Of course, as a Paladin, the repertoire of spells available to Arthur was not very large, and their effectiveness could not be compared with more magically oriented classes. Moreso, Arthur was limited in that she could only use spells of the priestly class and some spells available only for paladins. However, she was still one of the most powerful paladins in all of Yggdrasil, so dealing with a hundred restless undead, or with poison, as what alcohol was classified as, was not any trouble.

Getting up from the bed, already much refreshed, Arthur looked at where she had found herself as she put her thoughts in order. Before, she could come up with any conclusion, however, she heard an orderly knock on the door, the noise waking Mashu up, as she looked at Arthur with a slightly cloudy gaze. 

Arthur, in turn, did not torment the girl, and with a spell dispelled the remnants of yesterday's intoxication. After which, as soon as she remembered everything that happened in the past with crystal clarity, she gave her an attentive look.

"Not a word about what happened yesterday," Arthur hissed menacingly at Mashu, causing the girl to immediately begin nodding enthusiastically, clearly not wanting to remember yesterday's drunken antics herself. 

Opening the door now that her warning was suitably delivered, Arthur was not at all surprised to find a familiar person behind the door, it was her Master. "Ainz? Did you need something?"

"Good morning, Arthur," Ainz addressed her politely, before finding Mashu with his gaze, a touch of surprise on his face. "Good morning to you too, Mashu."

"Uh-huh, good morning, Ainz." Mashu greeted, before she yawned, covering her mouth as she was embarrassed in doing something unladylike in front of her crush. Getting up from the bed and divesting of the covers, it was only then that Mashu deigned to check that she was actually decent. Luckily for her, she was actually fully dressed.

"Did something happen?" Arthur, however, uncaring about the love life of a teenager, instantly called out to Ainz. Before, deciding to demonstrate at least the rudiments of politeness, took a step back so that Ainz could enter the room and not just start talking while in front of the corridor. 

"It’s nothing urgent," Ainz replied calmly, stepping inside and allowing Arthur to look him over, as well as feel the almost physical sensation emanating from him… Calmness, perhaps, definitely not joy, but rather a focused calmness that put one in a working mood, something Arthur hadn't observed in Ainz since the beginning of the entire Singularity campaign. 

That is, of course, Arthur knew that Ainz was a powerful and extremely intelligent, if not all-knowing mage, she was forced to admit that much, seeing as he was responsible for destroying her Camelot. Something which Arthur was not going to forget anytime soon. However, he had clearly changed while Arthur herself dran… was culturally imbibing and certainly not complaining about her family life!

"After some consideration, I decided to send you, Arthur, to check the jungles that have suddenly appeared in Gilgamesh’s territory. According to Siduri, there should be two goddesses somewhere there, so you and Angrboda, as my strongest Servants at the moment, will have to check on them… I wanted to just ask Merlin for more information, but the magus has disappeared from the city." 

Ainz shifted his gaze to Mashu, who looked eager to have a mission of her own, before he shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry, Mashu, but I can't send my girlfriend on such a mission, especially under these conditions and without any preparation at all."

"Girlfriend…" Mashu uttered the cherished word as if tasting it for the first time, remembering for the first time in a while that yes, she was officially in a relationship with Ainz and was supposedly his girlfriend.

It was a fact that was buried by the deluge of insane events that seemed to happen all the time. With how important solving the Singularities are, and just the general life in Chaldea, they had somehow little time to spend together, which is why Mashu did not often recall this fact. 

So, when Ainz mentioned it, she was a little embarrassed, lowered her gaze, and did not even answer Ainz himself.

Arthur, however, almost laughed at the situation. Yes, of course, Ainz's girlfriend, such a strange thought… Unless it was some monstrous spawn, like Angrboda, then Arthur could see such a thing happening, but Mashu…

For a moment, Arthur even shuddered, trying to understand which of the options was worse. The fact that Ainz was serious, and the combination of his unnatural essence together with the sweet girl Mashu was just… Unthinkably inanity inducing. Or the fact that he was more likely lying to the girl and manipulating the naive girl.

In both cases, what was happening was wrong, but in both cases, it was something that was not a priority for Arthur. Definitely not something to be bothered with while the fate of the world hangs in the balance. 

Unlike the idealists, Arthur understood perfectly well that problems had to be solved in descending order of importance. The most important concerns had to be solved first, and only then could one ruin relations with Ainz and, most likely, with Mashu herself, by telling the truth.

On the other hand, the longer she allowed this farce to continue, the greater the blow would be for Mashu herself… 

Deciding not to fall into such a circle of useless thoughts, Arthur returned her attention to what was of significance, her upcoming mission. To find two Goddesses in a forest, without any information about them, or where they are. "Is that all?"

"Not quite. Mashu, I talked to Gilgamesh about something. You wouldn't mind going to help the southern cities, would you? The monsters’ presence there is not too great, but the soldiers still need the help, since most of Gilgamesh's generals are deployed to the Western and Eastern sectors."

"Huh?" Mashu blinked before nodding, "Yes, of course…"

However, after a few seconds, Mashu realized what Ainz had said. She became a little sad for a moment, realizing that this assignment was given to her due to the fact that she definitely lacked combat power compared to other Servants. But, she still shouldn't be offended by the truth. Not under the current conditions, at least.

However, Ainz hastened to sweeten this bitter pill a little, though in Arthur’s eyes, it was simply a trap to further his grasp on Mashu. "And I will be going with you…"

After that, waiting a second to think and for Mashu to celebrate, he decided to finish with the other news first. That is the movement of the other Servants, important information, in Arthur’s opinion. 

"Ozymandias is going to be staying at the palace, while Jacques is going East and Alturia is going West."

Mashu, a little cheered up by the news that Ainz himself was going with her, shyly smiled at him, as Arthur chewed on the information given to her. There was something there that Ainz was not saying.

Ainz, as one of the most powerful combatants of Chaldea, is the strongest deterrent it had on whatever enemy they could face, and Ainz knew this as well. And so, for him to be positioned at the South, somewhere that he himself had said was not expected to face heavy enemy presence? 

There was something more there, and as Ainz began speaking again, her conjecture was proven true. 

***

It was something that Ainz himself only pondered for a moment whether he should tell, before coming to the conclusion that Gilgamesh did not make too much of a secret of such information. 

Therefore, there was no point in hiding such information from him.

"It's just that I learned information that in the current times, in the Age of Gods, the magic of this world has not yet been separated from the physical world, so here you can physically descend to the netherworld." Ainz answered simply, thinking for a moment, "In this world there are gods of death, and at the very bottom of this afterlife is the Abyss, where Tiamat is sealed in a delirious dream…"

At the information that their greatest quarry was actually so much closer than she had previously thought, Arthur could only widen her eyes in response.

"I'm not going to get close to her, but I think I should meet with others, hmm… Colleagues, shouldn't I?" Ainz tried to smile, hoping that Arthur would not ask further questions, and he was absolutely right. After such a simple excuse, she only gave Ainz himself a condemning look, but did not pursue the information, satisfied with such a justification.

Ainz, in turn, really wanted to go to the underworld, which could be reached on his own, and with the local gods of the dead. Especially if they turned out to be more hospitable than the undead he met in the previous Singularity, but this was not his main reason. 

Ainz was bothered by the strange observation about the unchanged night sky, and the opportunity to see what the world of the dead looked like after the destruction of all mankind outside a few cities was definitely important.

Moreover, if Tiamat was really sealed in a place close to this world of the dead, then at least Ainz could look at the place where the apocalypse began. For some reason, Ainz was sure that despite the end of the world that had already occurred, the situation was still very unclear…

And for some reason, Ainz was sure that Merlin was to blame for this.

That bastard Magus of Flowers really did have left an impression on him.