Interlude: Angrboda and Jack (Patreon)

Ainz pensively moved around Chaldea, deep in thought. His mind not only preoccupied with the thoughts about the Singularities, but now also of an imaginary vista of a familiar city.

The question that had incapacitated his mind, something that had paralyzed him with inaction and doubt was just answered, and yet still, his mind is fully occupied. It was an existential doubt over what he should do after the end of his long - from a subjective point of view - journey. And yet, it had found an equally unexpected answer, from the mouth of someone like Nikola Tesla at that! His question being answered by a historical figure that his friends had even talked about. Okay only in passing... But, they did mention him!

Hah, if only his guild mates could know that Ainz had met Nikola Tesla. And not only meeting him offhand or through an accidental meeting, but had also received advice and had shared his dreams to go and see the world… Ainz could imagine their shocked faces.

Immersed in his own thoughts about the future, Ainz was not paying attention to where he was going. Not that he has any real idea where he needed to go to meet them, but his initial idea was to meet Da Vinci or perhaps Olga to inquire about Tesla's laboratory. However, distracted with his thoughts, Ainz himself did not notice that he was automatically heading to his room.

Though to be fair, the chance that he would actually meet either Olga or Da Vinci by going to his room was actually quite high.

Still, Ainz did not immediately discover the error in his travel route until he was pretty much in front of his room’s door. And so with a loud sigh at his mistake, Ainz wondered if teleporting to Olga’s room would be viable or not. Of course, even if he indeed could teleport inside Chaldea, his unexpected appearance in Olga's office unannounced, could be perceived as an invasion of personal space…  No, definitely, it would definitely be considered that way...

And so, standing in the middle of the corridor, Ainz was deliberating whether he should risk getting lost or risk getting scolded. As he was frozen in indecision, Ainz was surprised when he heard a sudden scream coming out of one of the many supposedly empty rooms dotted around Chaldea’s many corridors.

“WOOOOAH!” It would be easy for Ainz to identify the owner of this voice. Even if he did not have any ability to instinctively sense the presence of undead, few of Ainz's Servants had a voice as high and childlike as Jack’s.

“...and after that they lived happily ever after!” It was a little more difficult to determine the identity of the second voice, though the fact that he had heard it not too long ago made it possible. If the dialogue’s content was anything else, Ainz would have doubted the identity of the speaker. It was very unique to say the least. “And then all the people were cooked and eaten as a celebration on their wedding!”

“HOORAY!” In response to the very bleak ending that is very, very incongruous to the children’s story tone of delivery, Jack reacted exactly as small children were supposed to react to fairy tales… Perhaps it is to be expected that Jack the Ripper to not be bothered by gore and viscera but cannibalism?

Ainz, having heard the end of Angrboda’s tale, could only think whether or not there are actual cannibals in Chaldea. After a short while, Ainz concluded that he did not keep any cannibals in Chaldea… If Cainabel could not be called a cannibal, she only drinks blood after all…  Can that be considered cannibalism? After all, if there were a monster that eats only the hands of people, then it would also be considered a cannibal. So what is the fundamental difference between hands and blood?

Ainz specially noted in his mind that as long as it didn’t affect Chaldea, Ainz didn't really care about it.

So, it doesn't matter.

Ainz shook his head, trying to concentrate instead on more important things. For example, that Angrboda is now introducing Jack to an extremely dangerous and completely unsuitable for children - no, for any people! - thoughts of cannibalism!

Although, Ainz pondered, ‘cannibalism’ is defined as the eating of representatives of a species’ own kind. So for Jack, eating people can’t really be considered cannibalism in the true essence of the word, because she is undead, not a human... Will eating Servants in this case be considered cannibalism for Jack? For example if she were to eat Asterios...

Ugh, Tesla somehow managed to infect Ainz with his thoughts! Away with random theories and what ifs, let Da Vinci deal with those! Now, Ainz urgently needs to figure out why Jack is being taught to eat people!

Shaking his head again, brushing away all distant thoughts and inappropriate reflections, Ainz took hurried steps, quickly barging in on the chatting duo, preventing Angrboda from continuing the conversation.

As perhaps to be expected, there were no differences in the layout between Angrboda and Tesla's room. All the same furniture with the same arrangement, everything, right down to the absolutely identical light-colored wallpaper on the walls. Only the occupants couldn’t be more different.

Tesla, as expected, was not in this room, there was only Angrboda. Angrboda who is right now sitting on a chair opposite the bed, sitting in a similar fashion as Ainz did just a few tens of minutes ago. She is looking affectionately at Jack, who is collapsed on the bed, with her arms outstretched, which right now, does not at all look like Tesla did.

It took a couple of seconds for Angrboda to notice Ainz's presence as she turned towards the door. Inevitably, Angrboda’s reaction attracted Jack’s attention, who jumped up from the bed in excitement. As she turned around, Ainz noted that she was throwing mouthfuls of candies from a previously unseen bowl filled with candies. The presence of the bowl is the only difference from Tesla's room at the moment, as far as he knows anyway.

“Daddy!” Instantly recognizing Ainz, Jack jumped in place, then smiled with all her thirty-two gleaming teeth while still chewing on the chocolate candy. “You’re here!”

Ainz, despite his decision to meet with Angrboda and discuss certain aspects of raising children with her very seriously, seeing Jack’s innocent beaming smile caused a smile to inadvertently appear on his face “Of course. Are you all right?”

“Of course, Daddy!” Jack, upon hearing the question, immediately nodded with such force that Ainz was even scared for a second that her head might fall off, “Mommy brought us some sweets! And she also promised that I could get inside her! But not now…” Jack ended with a sad look on her childish face.

“Hmm,” Ainz paused for a second before shifting a suspicious gaze towards the only other person in the room. “Angrboda…”

“Angri, I do remember asking you to call me that, Momo… No, I guess it’s Ainz now.” Angrboda smiled at Ainz like a mother jokingly chiding their children. “By the way, do you want some sweets? Or maybe a little wine to celebrate our reunion…” An expression that naturally seamed into a flirtatious one, that Ainz almost broke his neck from the whiplash.

Ainz blinked before shaking his head, “No, I'm here on a completely different matter! I heard by chance that you were teaching Jack…” Ainz wasn’t sure on how to breach a subject like how cannibalism is bad on someone like Angrboda… If Ainz was not mistaken, Angrboda being a Jotun, eating humans was not something taboo.

“Hmm?” As if completely not understanding what Ainz meant exactly, Angrboda blinked in confusion before nodding, as if receiving enlightenment. “Ah, exactly!”

Ainz blinked at how quickly his worry regarding Jack's training had been resolved. It lasted barely a second before Angrboda's next words had destroyed any hope of an easy resolution. “Ah, I was such an idiot! I didn't think at all that I should have called you! Raising children is best done by two parents after all, besides, you were also with me back then!” The giant shouted like she said something profound.

Ainz was shocked into silence before exhaling. “Angrboda…”

“A-ta-ta!” Angrboda, only hearing her name, immediately shook her finger in a feigned gesture of displeasure at Ainz. “Angri! I asked you to call me that!”

“Okay…” -Ainz inhaled slowly and shook his head. “Angri, what exactly are you teaching Jack?”

“Oh, is that it?” Angrboda raised her gaze up, waving her head and large horns around, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling. “So far, nothing special really. Well, that’s not entirely accurate, but it’s nothing more than a short overview of where our people and our tribe originally came from. Well, you know, the Eater of Worlds story and other little things…” Angrboda explained matter-of-factly, making a frown appear on Ainz’s face. He remembered that story quite well, and it’s not exactly something that is suitable for children.

“I have the best mommy and daddy in the world!” As if waiting for that exact moment for her childish compliment, Jack bounced up from the bed with a shout. After which, assessing with a childish glance the reaction of the silly adults who probably did not even know that they are the best mom and dad in the world, she was satisfied when Mommy and Daddy smiled. And so, with a sense of accomplished duty, she slumped onto the bed again, throwing some more candy into her mouth.

“Jack, my dear, don’t eat too many sweets,” Noticing the quickly diminishing candy bowl, Angrboda again distracted from Ainz, accompanied her request with a motherly smile. “Otherwise, your tummy will hurt - and you need to take care of your teeth too…”

“Okaaaaay.”  Jack huffed a little in frustration, after which, to give more weight to her words, she rolled away from the bowl of sweets a little further away. Not that it would slow her down any, she’s an Assassin after all.

Ainz, looking at this warm sight, sighed as he was about to talk about something unpleasant. With a grimace on his face, he returned to the main thing that made him enter this room in the first place. “So, what is this I heard about eating people?”

At Ainz’s question, Angrboda only glanced confusedly at Ainz, not quite understanding what might have seemed strange to him Still, she explained all the same for her Ainz. “When my progenitors, Ymir and Brunhild got married, they captured the most famous city of humans at their time, had a wedding in their castle and in the end ate all the inhabitants of the city. Haven't you heard this story before Ainz?”

“Mommy, which tastes better, candy or people?” Jack asked out loud with completely sincere childish curiosity, forcing Ainz to act quickly before something tragic happens.

“Candy is much tastier! And you can't eat people!” Ainz reacted quickly before grabbing hold of Angrboda’s arm to lead her outside, which, given her very outstanding height and muscles when compared to Ainz, looked even comical. “Come on, we need to talk.”

Angrboda released a sigh at Ainz’s words, but she still followed after Ainz. Before she walked through the door though, she sent one last look to Jack as she slowly tried to get close again to the bowl of candy. “Jack, that's enough! No more sweets before dinner!”

“Okaaaaaaay!” With that last exclamation of Jack’s, which Ainz managed to hear, before he passed through the door, letting it close behind him as he looked into Angrboda's eyes.

“Angrb…” Noticing Angrboda's raised eyebrow, Ainz had to correct himself.  “Angri... I know that your people - and you - have a long and complicated history of eating people…”

“It’s not really complicated at all”, - Angri shrugged and continued. “We eat them, and that's the whole story really.”

Ainz just blinked in surprise before exhaling and turning his eyes downwards as he rubbed his forehead. "Ha, yes, exactly... Well... um, Angri, I'm sorry, but you will have to give up this habit within the walls of Chaldea."

Angrboda, having heard such a ridiculous thing, to her, recoiled full-bodily, as if Ainz had struck her. “W-what?!”

“Yes, that’s right, you are not allowed to eat people in Chaldea, whether they are humans or Servants.” Ainz sighed before looking up at Angrboda...

And to face her shocked, if not practically crying face.

Ainz blinked, not expecting such a reaction. "Ha... I... I didn't mean to offend you Angri…”

‘You are forbidding her from eating people! Something that is very, very normal and should be a very good thing!’ Ainz's mind was immediately indignant. ‘Why would you feel sorry for her about this?!’

But whether it was her completely motherly attitude towards Jack, her good-natured relation to Ainz, or something else, looking at the sad Angrboda, Ainz suddenly felt a slight prick of conscience.

“But…” Angrboda perked up before tears would have gushed from her eyes, as she spotted some leeway in Ainz’s demand. “From Chaldea…  That’s right! Only people from Chaldea! I can still eat the people inside the Singularity right!?”

Ainz blinked and then looked up...

Angrboda looked at him almost pleadingly, almost crying...

“No,” Ainz shook his head while looking at Angrboda.

The girl's eyes instantly filled with tears. And although she towered a meter over Ainz, Angrboda’s expression so conveyed the girl's fragility and a complete lack of understanding of the cruelty of the world in her eyes that Ainz was stumped for a second.

Although - Ainz remembered Cainabel again - if drinking blood is also considered some form of cannibalism… Well, there’s already quite the mountain of bodies… I guess as they say, ‘If you’re going to eat poison, might as well eat the whole plate.’

“Okay,” Ainz surrendered under the pressure of Angrboda’s puppy eyes. “Only enemies though, and don't tell anyone about it! Jack all the more! And don't show it to anyone!”

Hearing Ainz’s compromise, Angrboda instantly stopped crying and broke into a smile. She then grabbed Ainz in her extremely tenacious grip and squeezing him in her hands like a soft toy. A large soft toy, although it was only slightly more than half the height of Angrboda, was still very decent. Ainz could hear his bones creaking.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Angrboda hugged Ainz even tighter as she started squealing in happiness. “You are the best man that I ever had!”

Ainz had the air squeezed out of his lungs. Thankfully, before he had to worry about passing out, Angrboda relented a bit. She was still hugging him quite tightly though. “Angr... Angri, to be honest, I have no idea what exactly I did to you before, or even why did you decide that we should be in a relationship at all. In general, I must say that my history with relationships is... Very confusing as it is.”

Images of Olga kissing him and Medusa’s smiling face flashed in his mind along with Kiyohime’s shouts of love and Serenity’s clingy self.

“Pft, what's confusing about concubines?” Angrboda just rolled her eyes, and then broke into a smile.

“I'm not against you having concubines, free love is good for people and society. Although if you take more than you can handle, it is possible that I’ll also need to look for a couple of lovers… ”

“Stop, stop, what!?” Ainz, feeling the conversation starting to turn in an extremely negative direction, shook his head. “You and I are not in a relationship Angri!”

Hearing such a harsh denial, Angrboda staggered backward, consequently releasing Ainz from her hold, and then looked at him incomprehensibly. “What?”

“I’m saying that I have a girlfriend… Or perhaps several.” Ainz stopped, exhaling slowly. “Okay, it doesn't matter, my situation is complicated, and I’ll leave it at that. But you definitely don't fit into this situation!”

Angrboda’s expression was like stone after these words before looking at Ainz half surprised, half saddened. "Why?"

“Because I’m not looking for a new…” Ainz sighed. “I have too many problems on my plate already…  And, to be honest, you are way too aggressive… ”

“Aggressive?” Angrboda frowned. “In what sense am I being aggressive? We've known each other for at least three hundred and fifty years!”

“Yes, but…” - Ainz, suddenly realizing what Angrboda had just said, stopped before looking at Angrboda in surprise.  “Wait, how long have we known each other?”

“If I’m counting from our first meeting… a little more than three centuries.” Angrboda, in her opinion, answered exactly the unspoken question that Ainz wanted to ask. “ But, if from the beginning of our personal relations, it’s about three hundred and... Thirty years? Something like that.”

Ainz blinked.

Never in his life had anyone spoken to him with such conviction that he had known them, very intimately at that, for three hundred years.

Yggdrasil had existed for only twelve years… No, even before taking that into account, the life expectancy of a person in his world - even the extremely rich one - rarely exceeded three hundred years, never mind someone as destitute as Ainz himself. At best, he might live to a hundred years old, and that only if by some miracle he can save up for artificial organs or mechanical prostheses… Of course if he somehow also remained healthy enough throughout that time.

Therefore, hearing that he had been familiar with someone for three hundred years from a game that had existed only for twelve years was…

Extremely unusual.

So unusual in fact, that any other thoughts, about Jack, about eating people and about his extremely confusing relationships with multiple girls, flew out of his head. His thoughts now completely focused on his completely unexpected longevity.

Ainz was perplexed, thinking about asking Angrboda if he heard what she said correctly, before closing his eyes, exhaling and coming up with an idea. “Speaking of which, Angri, can you remind me exactly how we met?”

After asking, realizing that such a question might sound strange, he quite easily figured out a justification for his question. “It's just, I'm interested to know how it looked from your perspective…” He definitely felt like a husband that just forgot an anniversary.

Hearing Ainz’s strange question, Angrboda thought about it for a second before nodding. “The first time we met…  Hmm, there was nothing special then, probably…  Back then the Jotuns just had a failed raid on the Eternal Empire. It was quite the defeat as we were knocked out all the way to the outskirts. After that, I guessed they began gathering forces in order to get rid of us finally…”

Ainz blinked and then nodded slowly. He remembered Angrboda’s story as one of the starting quests of Angrboda’s quest line. It was a simple hunting mission, where several low-level players would kill the ‘scouts’ that were near the Jotun’s camp. After killing enough, a ‘message’ would drop and the quest would be cleared by delivering the message to the Giant’s leader, Angrboda.

Ainz remembered the quest-line quite vividly as it was one of the worst difficulty spikes in quest-lines he ever experienced. And in a game like YGGDRASIL that was saying something. The quest he was talking about earlier could be completed by a simple levelled ten four-man team with some semblance of understanding of the controls. So easy in fact that the quest could even be considered as a part of the tutorials of sorts.

The next chain of the quest would be a death-trap unless you bring in a full team of at least level sixty. It was a brutally challenging quest with a myriad of challenges including an ambush, an attack on a defensive position and then ending with a boss fight.

Needless to say, it was the first experience of many noobs of the Developers sadistic side.

Hmm, Ainz nodded to himself, with this it means that there was some similarity in understanding between Angrboda and Ainz's YGGDRASIL events. But... Three hundred years? Where did that come from?

“You then helped us to repulse the Empire’s reconnaissance,” This also coincided with Ainz’s memories. Something that was broken however when Angrboda continued. “And then we hit Babylon! I quite vividly remembered when your friend... Hmm, what’s his name again? He was from the Winged Folk…  Pero…? Perron…?”

"Peroroncino," Ainz added with a blink. Ha… What Raid? They did not organize any raids back then…  No retaliatory strikes even...

“Yup, that’s him!” Angrboda nodded, grinning. “I remember him capturing two hundred concubines back then! What a man!”

Ainz was even more confused.

Even if we assume that in YGGDRASIL it was possible to capture concubines, which in YGGDRASIL could not be done, two hundred?

No, while Peroroncino would boast that he has that many wives, from his eroges and dating sims, but this could not… Be…

Ainz blinked. It could not be, just as three hundred years of acquaintance with Angrboda was impossible.

It couldn't be.

But it was.

“You then killed all the nobles of the city and then raised them all as undead!” Angrboda, as if remembering a funny moment, shook her finger, grinning at Ainz. “Then you made the liches raise the rest, gathered a horde of them, and then sent them all to devastate the villages near Babylon. Yes… Ha, such a sweet memory!”

Ainz blinked.

He? Raising Liches? Devastate villages?

In YGGDRASIL, there was indeed a city called Babylon. It was a huge settlement of the Eternal Empire with many important quest NPCs and many players using it as their base, including those at level one hundred, that were constantly there. But, there were no villages near it. Ainz simply had nothing to devastate.

And this, of course, ignoring the fact that Ainz very much doubted that Babylon could be captured at all. There were always at least a hundred level one hundred players there and at least two full-fledged raid bosses.

Something was incredibly out of place…

“Of course, we didn’t hold the city for long, as the counter-attack came soon after.” Angrboda exhaled in frustration, after which she smiled. “But with that devastating strike, we prevented any retaliatory strikes from their side for decades! Thanks to you guys, we will always be grateful to you for that! And for the fact that you later helped us finally get even with those Imperial bastards!” She huffed as if remembering something unpleasant. Ainz didn’t really want to ask why she was drooling though.

Ainz blinked as another incongruous fact popped up again.

Decades! How…  Calm down. Did the time they repulsed the scouting attack, and then until Ainz reached the sixtieth level… It was as if it all fell into one timeline?

Ainz blinked once more before looking at himself.

Decades? Plundered the city? Devastated villages?

The picture, vivid albeit incomplete, he had in his head concerning his adventures in Yggdrasil cracked. A huge crack that threatened to destroy all his understanding of himself.

Ainz slowly turned his gaze toward the giant. Could it be that she was mistaken?

She spoke confidently, as if simply recounting what had happened to her, something that Ainz had undergone with her. It was a terse recollection in the form of a short dry summary of the facts, with bio embellishments or any lies. Something which forced Ainz to slowly close his eyes.

Cainabel was also very much afraid of him. And Baal… why is that?

Ainz, of course, remembered just how many he had killed Baal to grind his drops. And furthermore, he remembered killing Cainabel, so he considered their reaction, maybe a little exaggerated, but justified. And therefore, he was never particularly interested in the reason as to why they treated Ainz with such reverence.

As it became clear to Ainz himself now, very much too late. It was a grave mistake for him not to ask them what exactly they remembered about their encounter with Ainz.

They destroyed the city, captured the concubines, massacred the nobles and devastated the villages...

Ainz blinked.

And this was all said by his supposed ally, who appeared to have extremely warm feelings for him. What would Cainabel and Baal, who feared him, say about him? How would King Arthur, who hated him react? Does he need to kill his own Servant?

Ainz slowly closed his eyes and then glanced at Angrboda, who was looking at him with interest, as if she was a little curious in what exactly made him ask the question.

“Yes…” Ainz breathed out. “Right…  As I said before, about eating people, do keep it a secret…  And also, when you’re telling Jack something like a fairy tale, maybe use some of the more beautiful fairy tales or legends, and not something about eating people…” Ainz said with a tired tone of voice.

“Hmm, I don’t really know many that are like that…” After some time contemplating, Angrboda nodded, glancing at Ainz with a smile. “But, I will try my best. And about the wedding, do think about it? We would be a truly beautiful pair!”

“Yeah,” Ainz tiredly nodded, too tired to make any remarks about marrying Angrboda. “I'll think about it.”

After some silence, and the impromptu goodbyes, Angrboda disappeared behind the door, leaving Ainz alone to his thoughts.

Concubines? Capturing cities? Desolation of villages?

Absurd! Complete absurdity!

But…  Ainz blinked, maybe... No, it is completely absurd… He might be slowly forgetting his time in YGGDRASIL, but he would definitely remember something so… so… vivid!

Of course, none of the listed events existed in the game. And if there was an opportunity to implement what was said in reality, no one would have used it. The corporations might be amoral, but they definitely wouldn’t allow something like that to be in a game… at least not publicly.

Peroroncino was a pervert, but he’s not a rapist. Ainz loved to role-play as the cold lord of the undead, his entire build was even specifically made for that role. But still, inside, he was always just another office worker, lashing out with negativity in the game and enjoying his time with his friends.

Of course, in reality, Peroroncino would not have done something so reprehensible - and neither would Ainz. But...

If you imagine a game with similar backgrounds to Yggdrasil, but immeasurably more intricate and detailed - where there is complete freedom of action. Then…

Ainz could imagine Peroroncino capturing two hundred women solely to take a screenshot and send it to everyone in the guild with the caption in the style of ‘LOLOLOL look what I did!’.

Or himself, who, so imbued with chunibyou and the spirit of his character, would give some pretentious and useless order, like ‘kill them all’ to a group of undead. They would do it not really caring about the NPCs or how many would suffer or die.

Just because it was a game, he could easily imagine himself acting in such a manner.

And so Ainz was frozen as he watched Angrboda return to her room, continuing to think.

She spoke confidently about the actions of the entire guild, as if she did not even allow the thought of a mistake to appear. As if she really did ‘remember’ such a thing happening.

And Ainz could easily imagine any of his guild-mates in the game doing something like that…  But only in the game.

The question then remained...

Were Angrboda's ‘memories’ in this case just an unusual feature of the Grail, a consequence of her special summoning, seeking to rationalize her existence as a true legend.

Or… was it something more?

***

Servant: Angrboda

Class: Foreigner

Status: ??? (Incorrect summoning)

Sex: Female

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Attribute: Beast

Strength: *

Dexterity: C

Endurance: *

Luck: *

Mana: *

Noble Phantasm: - (Locked by COUNTER_FORCE_NAME)