Before America (Patreon)

Ainz felt some irresistible urge to grin and, turning his head straight into a camera, utter something like ‘Yeah, it's me. You probably want to ask me a question, how did I find myself in the current situation?’. Unfortunately, there was no camera anywhere near Ainz, but he was still having a headache. Unlike the non-existent camera, there are other things that confuse him even more than the possibility of the presence of a camera recording his life all the time.

The name of these ‘things’ was Kiyohime. And, as one might expect, Ainz was not exaggerating at all by saying that dealing with her embarrassed him even more than any camera placed next to him. And since he had just experienced two ‘things’ that he rather not have broadcasted to the general public, that was saying something.

Although, if right now any camera was placed next to Ainz, Ainz would obviously be so embarrassed that his suppression of emotions would have to do some heavy lifting several times over. Perhaps even several dozen times. Still, no matter how you look at it, Ainz would never let other people see the…  special moments of his life.

Um, yes, of course, Ainz is revelling in the situation in which he had found himself in at the moment. But it was not at all as rosy as it might seem. After all, he practically was not responsible in creating the situation itself, so it might also end even without his intervention. Although, perhaps, Ainz could also say that this whole situation was also created exclusively by his actions.

Hmm, ha… What was he talking about again?

I mean, after getting rid of Da Vinci, Ainz made the strategically correct decision to visit Archer again in order to get another cup of coffee. Something which Archer did, even if somewhat reluctantly, and then just teleport back to his room.

Though, why did Archer look so irritable? He did look like he was lacking sleep. Do Servants even need sleep? Medusa did need some rest after their… ‘activities’, but it was a special case.

Hmm, this coffee is superb. Ah, that’s right, Kiyohime.

Now back in his room, a cup of delicious coffee in hand and no difficult thoughts or plans in mind, Ainz was the most relaxed he had ever been. Only for all of it to crash down when he ran into a girl which he did not expect to see in his room at all. He could physically feel his stress levels rising.

Although, probably, he should have really expected her presence. Of course, it might even be worth saying that her presence in Ainz's room was the only logical event that Ainz should have expected when he returned to his room.

Either way, Ainz ran into Kiyohime in his room. More specifically, she was lounging on his bed.

“Good… ” Ainz glanced somewhat uncertainly at Kiyohime. “Day, Kiyohime. Is there something I can help you with?”

Okay, he has to be honest with himself here, he had practically forgotten about Kiyohime’s existence altogether. And who could blame him for that? Ainz had so many Servants already, so there’s no way for him to interact with them all in any major way…

Although, if he had used Create a Copy… An idea for the future, perhaps.

Hmm, anyway, Ainz had forgotten about Kiyohime’s existence almost completely.

Kiyohime, however, did not forget about Ainz at all.

“Master,” She smiled with unvarnished happiness, not at all embarrassed or even a hint of regret that she had intruded into his room without permission, ignoring all kinds of ethics and rules of decency. “Anchin, Ainz…”

“Yes?” Ainz, trying to hide the nervousness rising inside him, took another sip from his mug. “Is there something wrong?

Kiyohime was… Ainz doesn't really know what she wants. Ainz’s interaction with her was practically non-existent, that he was not even sure how exactly he should act around her.

Kiyohime was an unknown to him. That makes the situation he’s in, even somewhat frightening.

“My Master,” However, either ignorant or not caring of Ainz nervousness, Kiyohime only smiled at Ainz before getting out of his bed, taking a step towards Ainz. “My Anchin…”

And now, with her fevered gaze so focused on him, Ainz knows with his gut that he needs to do something.

A second later, Kiyohime’s parameters appeared before his eyes, revealing Kiyohime’s Stats to Ainz's inner gaze. What he sees causes an outbreak of cold sweat on his clammy skin.

A Berserker… with Madness Enhancement Rank EX no less…

Kiyohime’s intimidation factor had just increased several folds.

Ainz was somewhat accustomed to a certain level of madness from the Servants. Whether it was Angrboda and her predilection for cannibalism, Jack and her murderous ways below her childish naivety, and Nobunaga and her desperate arrogance.

But, he had never actually interacted with a Berserkers’ brand of madness before.

There were not so many berserkers in Chaldea itself… Actually, there’s only Kiyohime and Asterios, only two of them. And even if Ainz was not particularly afraid of Asterios, the fluffy guy looked like he couldn’t hurt a fly, for Ainz, Kiyohime seemed to be something scary.

At the very least, because of her unpredictability.

“Yes, Kiyohime?” Such a small figure approaching Ainz shouldn’t have elicited such a reaction out of him. A figure that didn’t even reach Ainz’s shoulder with the top of her head, shouldn’t be making him feel that he was being cornered.

However, some strange feeling of impending doom made Ainz reconsider his decision to just teleport himself out of his own room.

It was not a sense of an impending threat as if from an impending battle, but rather a strange sensation of an impending inevitable event that Ainz should have foreseen earlier… Something inevitable was going to happen.

“My Master, my Anchin.” Kiyohime’s languid steps had brought her almost chest to chest with Ainz. Now, making him feel his inner siren howling, warning of danger. Ainz could feel the hand holding his mug of coffee tremble slightly. “I've been waiting for this for so long…”

"I… I.” Ainz stuttered, feeling his last chance to resolve the situation in a way he would prefer to disappear. He was cornered, it was too late to escape now. “Can’t… can’t we just talk?”

Kiyohime smiled, letting some sense of hope to bloom in Ainz’s chest. All before, her cheerful reply caused it to die an ugly death. "Of course not!"

Ainz felt his heart sink into his stomach… And he was looking forward to finishing his coffee too.

***

Seven hours and forty-two minutes of strenuous ‘exercise’ later, Ainz found himself sitting silently in the cafeteria, sipping on the third cup of coffee that Archer had given him. When Archer saw his slumped figure, he had an expression of extreme understanding and even sympathy.

It seems that whatever it is that he did to accrue Archer’s ire, has been forgiven…

Ainz looked around at the empty cafeteria blankly before diving deep into his thoughts again.

What Kiyohime did…  He liked it, didn't he?

Besides, even in his most hormonally saturated years, he had never gotten the opportunity to indulge himself, didn’t he? That is, there was no reason for Ainz not to be happy about his position at the moment, right?

And the events that happened were also pleasurable…

The first two times were a little scary, Kiyohime was so aggressive. But after the third round, he had begun turning things around. And, after the seventh, Ainz was sure that Kiyohime was no longer in charge. And after the thirteenth…

Ainz sipped his coffee, looking into the distance thoughtfully before exhaling again. “So… That happened.”

That is, he liked it, didn't he? In that case, Ainz had nothing to complain about, did he? Ainz bumped his head on the table, trying to shake off the memory of what he did with Kiyohime.

I mean…  This was okay, right? Medusa and Olga had agreed to this and… It’s not like he didn’t enjoy it.

Ainz took another sip of his coffee, looking thoughtfully into the distance.

If Perroroncino were in his place, he would definitely be happy about his situation. Of course, he would be happy, it was Ainz who was strange to be troubled about such an outcome, right?

Ainz took another sip of coffee before closing his eyes to relax… Only to open them immediately after in fear, hearing the sound of a door being opened.

Of course, there was nothing suspicious or threatening in the very sound of a door being opened. Chaldea was a safe place, no enemy could sneak in here. But Ainz's ears, trained by the events that had recently happened to him, caught something in that sound that made him fear for his safety, looking at the door warily.

What he saw only confirmed his fears.

To be honest, Ainz expected something like this to happen. After Medusa and Olga, Ainz knows that some boundary has been crossed. His suspicion has been confirmed after Kiyohime. And now, the dominoes are continuing to fall.

He was not against such events. If he was to be honest? He really enjoyed it.

But, his activities with Kiyohime was…  a little excessive perhaps? That is, twenty-six times is…     That's a lot.

And, probably for the first time in his life, Ainz thought about the fact that sometimes there can be something as too much sex in his life.

Words for which Perroroncino would surely kill him if he dared utter such things.

In any case, Ainz already had a suspicion of who would ‘visit’ him next. It was like a sixth sense, telling him that right now he should complete the incompleteness of his strange relationship with so many girls.

Therefore, Ainz could determine that it was Serenity that had entered the cafeteria even before he saw her. And, as you might expect of the great mind of the great genius that is Ainz Ooal Gown, he turned out to be right.

With his peripheral vision, Ainz noticed Archer giving him one last sympathetic look before leaving from the side exit of the kitchen, leaving Ainz to his fate.

It seems that he really could not hide from his fate.

Ainz exhaled, looking at the approaching Serenity with grim determination…

***

“I…” Ainz stuttered at the worried Roman, whose working place he was hiding in. “I'm not sure, I want to talk about it.”

At these words, Roman only shrugged his shoulders. He was about to open his mouth before he saw a black shadow behind Ainz's back, glancing at Roman for a second. The threat of death, implied in the shadow’s eyes, made Roman shut his mouth with a click.

For some reason, the eyes of this shadow were those of Kiyohime - or maybe Serenity - but the phantom passed as quickly as it had appeared.

“If you are sure that you can handle it yourself, then…” Roman looked at Ainz’s haggard posture with no small amount of pity. “Remember, if you need someone to talk to, I’m always ready to listen.”

“Thanks, Roman, I appreciate the offer.” Ainz smiled a worn smile before looking away. “I…  I’ll    figure it out somehow. Later, by myself…”

Ainz paused for a second before sighing and shaking his head.

Roman only nodded before looking at Ainz’s pale face and closing his eyes. “I understand that this is not what you want to hear right now… But, we managed to establish contact with another Singularity… ”

“No! No.” Ainz suddenly interrupted Roman, now looking much more lively. “That is exactly what I want to hear right now! A change of scenery and a bunch of bloody battles is exactly what I would rather do right now.”

“Of course,” Roman just nodded before continuing. “Now, you would probably like to know why I’m briefing you alone. You see Olga…”

“No,” Ainz immediately shook his head. “Whatever the reason, I’m not interested in it right now… Actually, I would even prefer it to remain a secret forever.”

“Okay,” Roman nodded reluctantly, somewhat confused by Ainz’s strange behavior. “In that case, I'll get right to the point. We had managed to establish contact with the Singularity and this…” Roman sighed before pointing at the holographic image that had appeared in front of him. “This is America, and while we couldn’t determine it for sure, the time period is close to the times of the Wild West.”

“Okay,” Ainz nodded, he’s somewhat familiar with the Americas. But the Wild West? Like from the movies? Is it possible for a Singularity to arise from fiction?

Well, it didn’t matter, Ainz would prefer to be anywhere else right now…

Somewhere calm where he could ponder about his life…

Maybe cry a little…

His Emotional Suppression activated once more before he could break out in nervous giggling. The rush of cold allowed Ainz to breathe out, shaking off the numbness that had ruled his mind after his ‘interaction’ with Serenity.

He… He knows that he was trying to escape the inevitable, and that the girls didn’t do anything wrong. It was just that…  He got a little more than he wanted.

Much, much more. He thought that Kiyohime was insatiable, Serenity was just…

And so, a chance to be somewhere else at the moment, even if only for a few days, was like a breath of fresh air for a drowning man.

“Furthermore, the number of Servants that we detected in the Singularity is enormous, as well as the level of the Servants themselves. I would even go so far to say that, so far, the number and quality of Servants in this Singularity is the greatest so far.”

“Hah,” Ainz exhaled. Servants, Servants, and yet even more Servants again. Okay, the Servants weren't such a problem, actually… He’s really hoping that it’s all male Servants.

“But that's not all,” Roman continued. “We’ve found something else…”

“What exactly?” Ainz looked at Roman curiously.

“A Distortion, a large one.” Before Ainz could ask for clarification, Roman continued. “The Distortions in the previous Singularities was…  Significant, Okeanos being the largest one so far. But never so huge.”

“In other words…” Not in the mood for word-games to display his ‘genius’ Ainz just waved his hands for Roman to continue.

“Someone has incredibly disfigured the natural history of mankind in this Singularity,” Roman sighed.

“How much,” Ainz looked up at Roman, wanting to hear a little more of the specifics.

“More than the existence of Poseidon in Okeanos did.” Roman added sourly.

“So, there’s something pretty strong in the Singularity.” Ainz summed up.

Ha, the mutilated history of the world…  Ainz wondered how it happened this time?

“And that's not all, either,” Roman, however, continued, making Ainz sigh.

“What else is there?” Ainz prepared himself to hear more negative news from Roman.

“It’s…” - Roman paused for a second before sighing, - “Solomon.”

Ainz was immediately preparing for the worst.

Solomon, the so-called Grand Caster.

He was the first opponent who could not only put up a fight against Ainz, but had even retreated without suffering any permanent losses. The first opponent that Ainz was not able to defeat with a crushing victory. Someone whom he would have a real battle with…

“What about him? Is he also in this Singularity?”

“We don't know for sure,” Roman sighed. “In retrospect, we can determine that he was in Londinium because he blocked all possible ways of observing the Singularity. And, now our observation of the Singularity is happening without any problems, so it should follow that he’s not there…  But this does not mean anything. Solomon is a magus beyond the capabilities of our imagining. So, if he wanted to remain hidden…”

“There is no way to determine whether or not he’s present, I understand.” Ainz sighed, - “Any other problems with this Singularity?”

“Yes,” Roman’s response caused Ainz to frown, what else could it be? “The findings of our observation suggests that the incredible level of historical disturbance in this Singularity is due to the sheer number of Demon Kings present…”

Ainz sighed. Demon Kings, then…

They were not so dangerous opponents for Ainz, but at the same time they were quite smart, making them a troublesome enemy to face… Smart enough to trick Ainz several times already.

“So… this is troubling.” Ainz sighed.

“The situation is indeed difficult,” Roman nodded, looking at Ainz before smiling. “But I believe in you. All of Chaldea believes in you, Ainz.”

"Thank you," Ainz sighed and closed his eyes.

So, the situation was not perfect. He would be facing a lot of Servants, as an ally or enemy, either way his head hurts from imagining just meeting them. Then the Demon Kings, their plots a source of unending paranoia. A highly twisted history of mankind, and, potentially, Grand Caster Solomon…

Exactly what Ainz needed to get a little distraction from his love life!

“Okay,” Ainz nodded happily. “In that case, I’ll be bringing…” He needed a good detox from the girls in his life, so definitely no Medusa, Kiyohime, and he shudders, Serenity.

“Cú Chulainn,” Ainz raised his hand, counting on his fingers, “Tesla…”

Although…  all of Ainz's female Servants probably shouldn't have been ruled out, it was best to take those girls who definitely didn't have any romantic feelings for him.

“Mashu,” Ainz was absolutely and definitely sure that Mashu only felt respect and loyalty to him at best, but absolutely nothing romantic. “Nobunaga…” Ainz was pretty sure that Nobunaga hated him.

After that, who else? Hmm, he seems to have picked up a good team, but in this team, he lacked someone who was able to uncover traps, physical or figuratively speaking. Baal? No, not Baal. Although Baal was smart, for some reason, Ainz felt like he shouldn’t let him interact with so many Demon Kings. Oh wait, speaking of Baal.

“Medea…” Yeah, the Witch of Treachery was sure to be able to spot any traps.

After that, who else? What if, for example, he had to fight against Solomon again in this Singularity? Likelier than not, Ainz would be able to deal with him. But, as his past encounter with the Caster had shown, few others than Ainz himself could compete with him.

He needed someone really strong to at least be able to defend the other Servants against him.

Baa…  no, for the above reasons. Cainabel?

Cainabel was a good option, but at the same time, Ainz had heard little from Cainabel lately. Besides, as the meeting with the twins had shown him, she was slowly settling down in Chaldea at the moment, even making new friends. So Ainz shouldn't cut such a positive action short right now…

What about Angrboda? She’s strong enough, and if her interaction with Jack were to go by, letting her stay in Chaldea could be extremely destructive.

And of course, Ainz did not plan to take Jack with him, he would prefer not to bring children with him to the Singularity!

As for decreasing his interactions with the female Servants in the future…  He really doesn’t see any way for him to do so. He… He just needed more time to get used to it.

That’s right! Just like the gradual introduction of increasing doses of poison to one’s body in order to train your resistance to them, he would also slowly get used to the female attention! He hoped.

“Angrboda, yeah, that’s the last one.” Ainz nodded.

“Six Servants, hmm?” Roman looked at Ainz before nodding. “Of course, if you're sure it's for the best.”

Ainz was absolutely not sure which option was the best, but too tired to even think of engaging in the usual verbal dances, he just nodded. With his imminent vacation in sight, Ainz taut shoulders slowly relaxed. Before he detected a presence that made his spine shivers.

“I have to go somewhere!” Ainz shouted at the confused Roman, before disappearing in a flash of teleportation.

Roman didn't even have the time to respond to such a sharp change in Ainz's behavior before the door to the meeting room swung open with a bang. On the threshold of the door, a small figure of a girl, Berserker, Kiyohime who immediately started looking around the room with manic energy before spotting the frozen Roman. “Who? Roman?! Roman, where is my Anchin?!”

Roman felt a herd of goosebumps run down his spine before looking away. “He had already left…”

“Damn it!” Kiyohime swore before immediately turning around, running full tilt to whatever it was her destination.  “Anchin! My dear Master! Your Kiyohime will find you wherever you are!”

After another moment, Roman blinked at the Servant’s strange behavior before exhaling and looking up to the ceiling. He was frozen in fear when his eyes met someone else’s.

His eyes met the soft eyes of Serenity’s, whose face could be seen through the ventilation grill installed on the ceiling.

Roman blinked before speaking, unsure if his eyes were playing tricks on him. "Serenity?"

“Master has already left,” She concluded after a moment, ignoring Roman’s question, easily disappearing into the darkness of the ventilation.

At the passing of the tornadoes that are Servants, Roman only blinked before closing his eyes and exhaling.

Indeed…  Roman only have sympathies for Ainz. Perhaps, indeed, under the current circumstances, the Singularities were the least of his problems…

***

Excerpt from the book: The Mythology of Madness: Artemis, Diana and Selena

… Although the mention of ‘lunar madness’ is recorded in the historical literature, quite often in fact. And at other times could even serve as an argument in defense, proving the defendant's mental illness. The history of the development of such a thing is connected more with mythology than with any real science.

Still, stories and myths about such madness caused by the moon are numerous and widely known.

In particular, the story that Caligula was driven insane by the moon goddess is quite popular. However, what is less well known about the story, is that the moon goddess herself is also considered insane. At least no less than that madness that Caligula possesses.

Although Diana - or Artemis, if we take the Greek way of calling the moon goddess - is more often presented as the patroness of the hunt - it is also in this telling of the myth that the Moon Goddess was driven mad by the influence of other gods. In particular, Vaal, a creature whose existence was taken by the Greeks from the Phoenicians - and which, later, would be transformed by the Christians into the demon Baal.

The madness of which, in particular, led to the birth of the legend of Orion. The great hunter, whom Artemis drove crazy, before turning into a wild beast. Ending with the maddened beast being encased in ice, as a personal exhibit for the mad goddess’ own amusement…