Interlude: Arthur (221) (Patreon)

The accommodation of Ainz's newly summoned Servants had gone relatively smoothly – primarily due to the fact that Ainz's last summon had been King Arthur, the one from YGGDRASIL that is. And fitting to this strange world, however, he was transformed into a woman, and Ainz wasn't sure exactly what name he was supposed to use for him… her.

Faced with the most powerful paladin in all of YGGDRASIL, at least the ones who specialized in dealing with beings with negative karma and were not World Enemies, Ainz could no longer afford to bicker with the lesser Servants. Not that he said that last part out loud, he doesn’t think that the royals would react well to his sentiment there.

He had sent them away to deal with their own affairs, as he had more important things to do.

Establishing the chain of command among the Servants was a matter of the utmost importance, one that had to be done as soon as possible after they were summoned… Normally that is. Servants being an eccentric lot, making them work together is a lot of work. But even so urgent a matter was secondary to meeting the newly summoned King Arthur.

Well, the meeting with this King Arthur was also about establishing the chain of command regarding Ainz's newly summoned Servants, King Arthur was simply someone Ainz needed to deal with as soon as possible.

YGGDRASIL's strongest paladin, by general account and specifically in his archetype of destroying creatures with negative karma, was unrivaled in the entire game. One of the strongest Bosses in YGGDRASIL, King of Camelot, the man who embodied heroic archetypes, who was a Teacher to a whole raft of classes. And, something that a lot of Good-Aligned Bosses shared – a man whom Ainz had once killed.

What was unusual enough, though, was one of several bosses that Ainz had killed on his own, rather than as part of Ainz Ooal Gown.

For most YGGDRASIL Players, who preferred the Human races, the ruler of Camelot was a teacher, a valuable ally, and even a very influential quest giver, even if his quests were usually fairly short chains or even single errands. For many, he was the reason for them picking up the paladin, magic knight, priest classes, or derivatives of those. Which made it pretty obvious why a guild like Ainz Ooal Gown, that role-played as the ‘Enemy of the World’, would find King Arthur to be an important target.

In fact, Ainz’s guild were the first to take on the alternate quest lines related to killing King Arthur and destroying Camelot.

The King Arthur storyline itself was simple enough, the story had King Arthur constantly on the move, leading the twelve Knights of the Round Table, occasionally appearing in Camelot in search of the World Class Item, the Holy Grail. Many of Arthur's quests involved finding that, most often fairly simple quests to explore a particular area, which often involved traps, monsters, or both at the same time. And each time, Players would return to King Arthur with nothing.

Many suspected that at some point in time another of these quests would lead to the true World Class Item, but as far as Ainz himself knew, that was it, just a rumor.

Then again, even if there is indeed some path to completing the storyline that would result in a World Class Item, Ainz doubts that such information would be widespread. So, there was a non-zero chance that the Holy Grail does exist, but no information about such an item exists, so it was a theoretical discretion, nothing more… Ainz couldn’t help but be curious, though, since he now possesses multiple Holy Grails, even if not ones from YGGDRASIL.

The Knights of the Round Table and King Arthur himself, in their search for the Holy Grail, become like travelling Bosses, appearing like a bat out of hell in random places to ruin Evil-aligned Players’ days. It is in that understanding that, quite by chance, the guild Ainz Ooal Gown, become intimately acquainted with the Knights of the Round Table and King Arthur. That is, by running away, abandoning whatever it is they’re doing.

It is in one of these random encounters that they came across the Third Knight of the Round Table, Mordred. Whereupon Ulbert, who had originally set out to destroy another knight and thus continue his self-imposed hero-killing quest, returned with the curious information that YGGDRASIL's strongest holy warrior was not so holy after all.

As it turns out, the great paladin King Arthur had carnal relations with the high-ranking demoness Morgana, resulting in a half-demonic child, Mordred himself. Reasonably fearing that such events and their outcome would undermine his image as a guardian of light and holy paladin, and cause significant political costs, King Arthur ordered Morgana to be rid of Mordred.

Infidelity against his wife, an illegitimate bastard child, one from a demoness at that, and it didn’t surprise Ainz why the Paladin would push for Morgana to discard their child.

It also didn’t surprise Ainz that Morgana did not do such a thing. What the hell was Arthur thinking? Trusting a Demoness?

Of course, Morgana told Arthur that he had got rid of their child. Secretly though, Morgana, who turned out to be a powerful succubus, seduced the knights sent to kill her by Arthur to get rid of loose ends, with Mordred taking one of the Knight’s identities while Morgana was presumed dead. Mordred, with his Mother’s magic, sheer spite and talent, manages to rise up the ranks to become a Knight of the Round Table, all the while harboring a hatred for his father who tried to get rid of him. He rose through the ranks, eventually achieving the title of Third Knight, a position only below Lancelot and King Arthur himself.

When Mordred met Ainz Ooal Gown, he suggested that they join forces, as he had plans in motion to weaken Camelot.

While King Arthur was sending soldiers in vain searching for the Holy Grail, Mordred began getting rid of a significant portion of King Arthur's forces by luring them with false information about the Holy Grail.

Using such a ploy, Mordred had already successfully killed three Knights of the Round Table among a multitude of ordinary man-at-arms. Considering that Ulbert wanted to deal with these knights anyway, and the common soldiers were not bad for farming data-crystals and resources, with the quest seeming interesting in theory, Ainz Ooal Gown put their full attention in completing Mordred’s questline. Besides, getting rid of the Knight of the Round Table, or maybe even Camelot itself, would be a relief to all people playing Heteromorphs or just plain Evil Characters.

After a long work, which took almost a month of continuous grinding for quests, Ainz Ooal Gown finally managed to get to the last stage of the questline. An assault on Camelot itself.

Eventually, King Arthur, realizing that someone was deliberately playing against him and getting rid of his closest associates and army, returned to Camelot and summoned the knights who had been sent away, including Mordred himself. Who, once inside Camelot, sabotaged the castle defenses and opened the way for the guild to invade the castle, allowing them to raid Camelot.

The raid itself wasn't anything too remarkable. A series of boss battles, interspersed with rare respites, punctuated by three cutscenes, the moment Camelot was invaded, the moment the battle began and Mordred's treachery was revealed. And the final cutscene in which, after the destruction of Camelot and the murder of all his companions, King Arthur ran into the throne room at the last moment, wounded, only to find Mordred, sitting on his throne.

There were several long dialogues between the two, and, in the end, Mordred forced the half-dead Arthur on his throne, whereupon, taking Arthur's Excalibur from his exhausted hands, pierced Arthur's heart, nailing him to the throne. With Arthur mortally wounded yet not dead, he had no power in him to stop Mordred from removing the crown on his head, and with raucous applause from Mordred’s supporters, placing it on himself for one last insult.

Then, with a dramatic gesture, Mordred would proclaim that he was sickened by the castle built by a hypocrite’s hands and would order it be burned. With the paralyzed but still alive King Arthur inside.

The final cinematic of the raid were of the march of Mordred's loyalists leaving the blazing ruins of Camelot, and Mordred himself taking one last look at the burning citadel. At King Arthur, paralyzed and sitting on his throne with the flames slowly licking at his heels. And with a slight movement of his hand Mordred, grinning a cruel smile, threw King Arthur's crown into the fire, letting it melt in the fire of his vengeance.

Of course, despite the fact that King Arthur's final battle and death was Mordred's doing, the developers of YGGDRASIL were not so kind as to spare the Players a battle with the Super-boss. Therefore, the last battle of the raid was a fight against Arthur, before Mordred would have appeared when the boss health points were depleted and the cutscene could begin.

Barring a fight against the World Eater, it was perhaps the hardest fight in Ainz Ooal Gown’s history.

The problem was that King Arthur specialization was as a paladin, a class extremely effective in battle against the entirety of Ainz Ooal Gown, whose members, barring very few, had extremely low karma. It was suicidal to face such a boss in a one-on-one battle, even in a four-on-one battle, victory was not guaranteed. And so, as raid professionals should, Ainz Ooal Gown had prepared for the battle perfectly, a team of six, including Ainz himself, had distributed positions, selected tactics, laid out many traps on the battlefield. Everything is as it should be for a perfect run against one of the most hated foes of Ainz Ooal Gown.

And Luci*Fer chose this very moment for another of his jokes. He literally threw Ainz into King Arthur's aggro zone, and therefore locking the encounter into a suicidal one-on-one battle with the worst matchups possible.

What followed was perhaps Ainz's toughest battle in YGGDRASIL, second perhaps only to battles with several World Enemies. Actually, no, that was the hardest fight he was in. Sure, fights against World Enemies succeed through only a thin margin of errors, but he didn’t fight them alone. And against Arthur, Ainz, an undead with extremely low karma and low damage potential, against a holy paladin, who specializes in dealing with low karma enemies and possesses Raid Boss Stats.

Ainz only succeeded by literally running from his opponent all over the battlefield, forcing Arthur to land into all the traps and curses prepared for him, knowing that his allies couldn't intervene. Then, once Arthur was in the red, caught him at the moment of a slight frame-slip in his animation. At the transition to the second phase, and before he would have become invulnerable after using ‘Avalon’, managing to activate ‘The Goal Of All Life is Death’ before using ‘True Death’, killing him…

Well, not really. Due to the interference of the cutscene, the effect of this ability didn't kill Arthur, but it did instantly drain the last bar of his health before the third phase could start… It was pure luck, Ainz almost felt as if his brain was melting out of his ears as he accomplished perhaps the best control of his character in his YGGDRASIL career.

Ainz didn't talk to Luci*Fer for almost a month after that, until he accidentally found a World Class Item on his own as a result of a stupid joke and redeemed himself to Ainz.

In general, there was nothing special about the victory over Arthur, and there’s no special connection between the slayer and the slayed. Ainz managed to kill Baal and Cainabel as well, for example. But with Arthur, it did happen only after a long storyline where Ainz Ooal Gown decimated, or is annihilated the best word for it? Arthur’s knights, even his whole kingdom, by supporting a traitor and his bastard son. So perhaps that was the reason why King Arthur reacted so strongly to his presence?

It’s also quite possible that Arthur, being a Paladin, a hero among heroes, whose main specialization was against the Undead, and being an NPC of highest Karma would hate Ainz anyway, attack on his castle or not. Either way, it’s very unlikely that his attack on Camelot would actually make Arthur like Ainz or reconsider his hatred of the Undead.

So, having distributed the rest of the Servants and delegated Olga-Marie to take care of her direct obligations as Commandant of Chaldea… At least, Ainz assumed she was? Ainz had not taken the time to deal with such things before, and now he certainly didn't have the time nor wanted to.

In any case, Ainz immediately took the bull by the horns, and, taking advantage of King Arthur's confusion at the sudden change of gender. Ainz took her to the nearest available room, following her inside, and closing the door behind him, immediately began to speak, lest the King could gather her wits and started blasting everyone. “We don't need to kill each other.”

“Why not?” Arthur, hearing Ainz's voice, seemed to wake up from her previous shock and, taking a quick look at the current situation, grasped her blade, looking at Ainz with a look that was quickly leaving confusion and returning to anger. The same expression with which she looked at Ainz as soon as Arthur took the first step out of the summoning circle. “I will not go down without a fight, you foul Undead…”

“I know, and that's why I'm saying we don't need to fight," Ainz was slightly relieved that at least Arthur wasn't attacking him at the moment, and raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture. This gesture was only symbolic, because, due to his magic, Ainz's fighting ability was not linked to his hand position, so he was not in a vulnerable position… But it still conveyed his desire for peace.

“What has already happened in the past cannot be changed, but at the moment I am saving humanity, so…”

“Saving humanity? You!?” Arthur recoiled in surprise before pulling Excalibur out of its sheath, instantly pointing it at Ainz, forcing him to remember the strongest defense spells he could use just in case. "Not even the village idiot would buy such a lie, monster! You, who would kill thousands with glee, saving Humanity?”

“It's true!” Ainz decided that he would use his trump card right away, in case of a battle with Arthur, he would definitely have to use his Noble Phantasm… And that Ainz could not allow. “You can ask anyone in Chaldea!”

“I'm not interested in the opinions of your lackeys and brainwashed victims!?” Arthur clenched the hilt of her blade, looking into Ainz's eyes as if already considering the trajectory of her lunge,

"Even if magic wasn't involved, you think I'd underestimate you, you monster! I've heard of your adventures, just because there's no magic in the verbal poison you served up doesn't mean it poisons the mind any worse.”

“I've already resolved five Singularities.” Ainz tried to convince the irate king.

“The fact that you've done good deeds in the past only makes me shudder to imagine what you'll need it for in the future.” And the shot missed its target again.

“Even if you defeat me, you'll just disintegrate without a Master.” Ainz tried to use self-preservation as an argument.

“After my summoning, I gained the appropriate skill, Independent Action. I'll just have to deal with the Singularity on my own. And even if I did die after killing you, Humanity is much better dead than under your thumbs!" Arthur slowly shifted her weight to her other leg like a predator preparing to leap, looking at Ainz.

"I'm willing to take the risk…”

Ainz felt his well of arguments rapidly drying up, one by one. What else, what else, could convince Arthur that fighting him was a bad idea? Quietly eliminating Arthur was virtually impossible, Ainz assessed his chances of fighting Arthur without using his Noble Phantasm to be rather what he preferred margin of error. And, using his Noble Phantasm at this point was extremely reckless, if not dangerous…

After all, Ainz wasn't even completely sure what it would trigger and the consequences of that action at this point. Super Tier Magic had given him an extremely unpleasant surprise in the past, what to speak of an entire type of special ability, the strongest and most legendary special ability that he could use. Ones that Ainz had not possessed in the past?

Even the one that he was most familiar with, ‘The Goal of All Life is Death’ might have some nasty side effects that could affect the whole of Chaldea!

Try to threaten her? No, that would only reinforce Arthur's belief that Ainz should be attacked, and unlike with Scáthach, Ainz needed to take any attack from Arthur seriously. Try to negotiate? But what could Ainz promise at the moment, Arthur didn't trust his word, and to entice her with benefits… Unlikely.

Arthur was also keeping her voice down at the moment, looking at Ainz, her posture showing that she was waiting for the seemingly inaudible and invisible signal to start a battle, which made Ainz's mind go into a panic. After which Emotion Suppression calmed him down forcibly, the ability forcing Ainz's mind, which had reached its full maximum capacity, to finally give out an idea.

Without any doubt, an absolutely insane idea. One might even say, an idiotic idea. But if it’s stupid, but it works, is it truly a stupid idea?

“I see," Ainz slowly lowered his hands. The idea was certainly incredibly stupid… But Ainz had no other ideas…

“Then kill me.”

Yes, it was still a stupid idea, but hopefully an effective one.

“What…?” Arthur blinked in surprise, her mouth slightly gaping as all tension left her body. If Ainz’s idea was a prelude to a surprise attack, it had taken King Arthur completely off guard.

“I say kill me,” Ainz said slowly, measuring his voice so that he could appear to be calm, even when he was berating himself at just how stupid his idea is. What if King Arthur decided to accept!?

“If none of my arguments can convince you of my intentions, then perhaps the only way left to convince you of the purity of my intentions… is to let you kill me. I will not resist.”

Of course, Ainz was lying. The moment Arthur even shows an intention to take the deal, Ainz wouldn't risk even an instant to instantly use his Noble Phantasm… But telling Arthur that was completely unnecessary.

However, such words from Ainz themselves made Arthur, clutching the hilt of her blade in her hands, stop for a moment. No, Ainz had not counted on the fact that his willingness to sacrifice himself had been able to convince Arthur so easily. Though he had counted internally on the fact that it would count for a couple of extra relationship points, to quote Peroroncino, in the future.

But this gambit relied on another fact entirely.

After all, who was Ainz in the perception of the other Servants, especially those of YGGDRASIL? A monster, a great mage, a conqueror… And an absolute genius who always had a plan, wasn't he? In that case, why shouldn't he use this, mistaken, belief at this moment and present himself as that great genius that they used to see in him? Reverse psychology, that's exactly what Punitto Moe had called it in the past… He’s really crossing his finger here that this tactic would work, he’s all out of ideas after all.

Well, if this didn't work against Arthur, well… Ainz would have to start fighting at full strength.

However, Arthur did not attack Ainz, at least at the moment, stopping in her tracks as she began taking a careful look at Ainz. Ainz tried to mentally imagine what he could say at the moment, taking advantage of the current lull in the girl's actions, and the fact that his tactics had been effective, if only as a distraction.

But, unlike the image the NPCs of YGGDRASIL have of him, he was no genius, he couldn't think of a topic of conversation that wouldn't disrupt his plan. Or without making Arthur convinced that he really did have his own vile plan for humanity.

And so, he simply remained standing in place, slowly lowering his hands, as if to show the girl his openness and willingness to sacrifice himself at any moment… In truth, prepared to attack first in case of any sudden movement from Arthur.

However, Arthur never moved to attack Ainz. It was clear from her conflicted expression that it was not because she believed in his selfless nature. Though, because of his successfully worked plan with reverse psychology, it had made the King pause to reconsider. And as long as the plan worked, Ainz was not going to worry about the details.

Arthur squinted as if trying to figure out Ainz's plan, to which Ainz looked into that one's eyes, quite honestly and openly that he was not planning anything. After all, it would surprise him greatly if Arthur could figure out his horrifying plan for humanity, considering that Ainz had no such plan. Although… no, bad example, his Servants had repeatedly guessed his ‘ingenious plans’!

And what if Arthur, too, could ‘figure out’ his next horrifying plan! That is, one made whole cloth out of their own imagination.

His suppression of emotion worked quickly enough, though, causing Ainz to remember that Arthur was not noted for any meaningful intelligence in the game, usually serving as Camelot's charismatic leader and strongest warrior. The real sage was Merlin… whom Ainz ended up not even meeting.

At the time when the battle with Merlin was supposed to take place, Ainz was busy looting his tower. Merlin himself was killed by a squad of Ainz Ooal Gown members, with Ulbert personally delivering the final blow. In any case, at least Ainz hoped that he didn’t need to worry about yet another ‘brilliant plan’ by a brilliant subordinate… Or, in this case, a brilliant opponent.

Hmm, maybe he could try to get Scáthach to join Arthur for the future and move her opinion on Ainz to the more positive side? No, that would only be possible if Scáthach was at least on his side, but at the moment that was nothing more than a dream. It was far more likely that Scáthach would join Arthur in ending Ainz.

“Don't think you can convince me of your peacefulness, monster…” Arthur looked conflicted, her shoulders still tense, as if she was expecting Ainz to attack her the moment she relaxed. She waved her blade in the air as if to choose a direction to strike, looking for an opening, finding many, but was unsure which ones were the trap. None of them of course, Ainz had no idea whatsoever on how to wield a blade.

After another tense moment, Arthur finally relaxed her grip on her blade, slowly lowering it, allowing Ainz to exhale in relief. Slowly, the situation was moving towards a détente, but… Now what?

That is, the fact that Ainz didn't need to fight his enemy, especially one as strong as Arthur, was fine, but it only averted the closest thing to disaster. As soon as Arthur left the room, she would come face to face with the Servants, including some familiar faces from YGGDRASIL, all of them monsters… There’s no way that Ainz could simply say ‘you can kill them too’, at least if only because unlike Ainz himself, some of his Servants, like Angrboda or Cainabel, would not limit themselves and refuse to fight. Baal at least would simply run and hide, a smart move in Ainz’s opinion.

There’s no way that Ainz could shadow Arthur all the time to make sure that no Servant assaulted Arthur’s sensibilities, or with Cainabel and Angrboda, the other way around. Just the thought of having to walk on a constant tightrope with the threat of an Excalibur to the face caused Emotional Suppression to activate a few times. Arthur could also simply get angry and attack him after such an offer…

Arthur looked at Ainz's interested gaze and was silent for a moment before slowly lowering her blade and slowly, almost forcefully, returning it to its scabbard. Without the threat of imminent violence, there was now a very uncomfortable silence between the two for a second, then three, then ten…

After thirty seconds of silently staring into Arthur's face, Ainz remembered that he had already been through this scene before, and very recently at that. It was a staring contest, and as an Undead, Ainz doesn’t need to blink.

A moment later, Arthur, who had been looking at him with hatred, still lost the impromptu contest first, looking away and exhaling irritably, "Don't you have anything better to do?!”

“I do," Ainz sighed. There were still so many Servants to visit before the next Singularity. “But I can't leave you alone either.”

“What, you want to put a guard outside my room!? Make it into a jail cell, instead?” Arthur only snorted contemptuously, "I wouldn't expect anything less, monster…”

“No, I-" Ainz paused in the middle of his excuses before waving those away. What was the point of making excuses now if Arthur wouldn't believe him anyway?

Ainz fell silent and Arthur too fell silent, their dialog ended before it could begin, leaving the two powerful entities standing in silence opposite each other. As if each of them didn't even know what they needed to do right now. While being absolutely true and comical, the current situation was too out of the norm for both participants for them to be comfortable with each other.

Arthur, standing silent, irritatedly glared at Ainz, but this time with slightly less irritation, boredom was a great way to calm a girl down, before sighing. “Well, I'm not going to sit here just staring at each other! Enough, I demand entertainment!”

Ainz mentally considered what kind of entertainment Arthur would like, and regretfully dismissed spars and computer games. Apart from those, remembering the face of a certain generic-looking Archer, Ainz could only make one suggestion. “Alcohol?”

“Hmm, monster, if you are thinking of making me drunk, I warn you that you are scheming in vain!” Arthur looked at Ainz with a victorious smirk.

“No man or monster has yet been born that can out-drink me, King Arthur.”

***

“Whyyyyyy?” Arthur hung on Ainz's shoulder as she continued to sob at the top of her lungs. “I just wanted a ship! A ship! And my father never gave it to me! He and I never had a heart-to-heart talk! He never loved me!”

“I’m sorry to hear that," Ainz, unsure of how he should react to Arthur's actions, took a sip from the can of beer he was holding. It was only the second sip for him, Arthur had gotten to her current state after the first.

“I understood that what I did was wrong, but I couldn't marry her, do you understand?! A king can't marry a demoness, a Paladin can't marry a succubus!” Arthur leaned on Ainz's shoulder, easily changing the topic of her conversation from complaints about childhood family traumas to an outpouring about her past lover. “She was the only one who understood me! All of them at court – idiots and sycophants! And how she sang! And I, a fool, missed it all…”

“That’s rough buddy.” Ainz repeated, taking another sip. Whatever effect Ainz imagined alcohol would have on Arthur, this was farther from whatever it is he imagined. Although he had heard that, under the influence of alcohol, people would become more relaxed and might talk more openly, this was way beyond the pale.

Ainz thought that a bit of inebriation might cause Arthur to slip and talk about her future plans, but this?

Arthur, after just taking a sip of beer, instantly, as if like a cheap cartoon, had her face covered with a pink blush, her eyes glazed over, falling on his shoulder. Soon she started to talk loudly about how her father had always condemned her love of ships, and then that she didn't need ships. Soon, personal details that made the situation even more awkward spilled out, like the fact that Arthur’s father was not paying any attention to her.

"Arthur, the peasants are revolting. Arthur, your knights require new weapons. Arthur, Lady Guinevere, is bored at the castle. What about me?! Nobody cares about me! Arthur do this, Arthur run there, Arthur fetch! Nobody ever says nice things about me, only complaint after complaint, never does anyone say – well done Arthur, sit down, rest, don't be so worried, take the day off!”

One arm around Ainz’s neck, as if they were buddies sharing stories, soon Arthur complaints began dipping into more dangerous topics, like her wanting to destroy the world. Luckily, she was so drunk that she didn’t realize that accomplishing her current ‘goal’ was incredibly easy by just wrecking Chaldea. “All they did was hound me around on errands, and I'm the King! Why did they make me run around like a dog?!”

Ainz only dared to use the previously safe word in response, not risking triggering the intoxicated King. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I envy you so much!” Without any transition between stages, Arthur hung completely on Ainz's shoulders, looking at him jealously.

“You're fine, your friends have always been there for you… Me?! Rats, bastards and traitors, even Merlin! ‘Arthur! Hold the monsters back while I evacuate the library’, yeah, how much of that library did he evacuate?!”

Ainz didn't even bother to respond to these words, correctly realizing that his response wasn't needed at the moment.

Arthur, however, panting with anger, was silent for a moment, then looked at Ainz, almost as if she just noticed that he was there, before she spoke again. "I really respect you…”

“Yeah, here we go," Ainz sighed, getting closer to his expected moment of final alcoholic frenzy when Arthur couldn't manage another single sip of beer.

“No! I really respect you!” Arthur looked at Ainz with an understanding look, as if at a brother she had never met before, but had suddenly found overnight. "You know, all these knighthoods and paladins? It's all fake! The main thing is what we really are! And we really are so much alike that I respect you!”

‘Amazing, I haven't told you anything about myself, but I already look like the strongest paladin in YGGDRASIL.’ Ainz sighed, judging by how quickly Arthur's condition was progressing - Ainz didn't have long to wait for the next stage.

“To hell with them all! What have they given us with you besides eternal problems?! To hell with it, just the two of us taking over the world for the two of us! Just the two of us, two equal brothers against the whole world, with your intelligence and my strength, we'll have no equals!" As Ainz predicted, Arthur jumped from the fraternizing stage to the stage where the two brothers prepared to take over the world.

Ainz shifted his gaze to Arthur, then raised one eyebrow as she stopped abruptly, then, unashamedly, put her hand to her own chest and instantly shifted her shocked gaze to Ainz, "I am a woman!”

Thinking for a moment to utter words of sympathy again, Ainz only nodded slightly, looking at Arthur, who, as if amazed by the incredible discovery of her own changed gender, slowly slid down the table leg, then covered her eyes. And made a powerful sound of snoring, poorly matching her feminine figure.

“Well, at least that went off quickly.” Ainz sighed, rising from his seat before looking at Arthur, "I wonder if she'll sober up and wake up as quickly as she got drunk.”

Arthur didn't react to these words, only drawing out her snores even louder, causing Ainz to sigh. It had all happened so quickly and literally out of nowhere that Ainz was unsure of how exactly he should have reacted to it? Should he have kept Arthur permanently intoxicated now, and would it even work? After Arthur woke up, would she even remember how she had unexpectedly fraternized with her worst enemy, decided to conquer the world, and then fallen asleep amidst the sudden revelation of her sex change?

Arthur, letting out another snort, stopped abruptly, then abruptly opened her eyes, looking straight into Ainz's eyes, causing him to freeze like a deer in the headlights.

There was a silent standoff for a few seconds before Arthur spoke up. "Forget everything you've seen and heard.”

“Sure…” Ainz replied calmly, then wondered for a second if he could use what had happened to his advantage, and looked into Arthur's eyes. "And this… Ahem, this isn’t the first time this has happened, I would take it?”

Arthur responded calmly and slowly, but she might as well had just unsheathe her sword and placed it on Ainz’s neck with just how much pressure she put into it. “Nothing happened… Right?”

“Sure.” Ainz only shrugged his shoulders, blackmailing Arthur with a weakness for alcohol? It wasn't enough to convince her not to save humanity, and Ainz didn't need to damage her social reputation.

Arthur blinked and rose slowly and sedately, as if she hadn't fraternized with Ainz a few seconds ago, then tried to regain the aura of the powerful paladin that she wanted to appear to be… But she wasn't very good at it, at least in Ainz’s view, especially after he just saw her crying and complaining about her absent father.

After a few seconds of silence, Arthur looked away a bit. "Maybe I overestimated my familiarity with the alcohol of… This world! Yes, the alcohol of this world and my changed body has had a strange effect on me… Yes! That’s it!”

“Sure thing…” Ainz sighed as he looked at Arthur, then he couldn't help himself. Perhaps his sense of self-preservation had short-circuited?

“What about conquering the world?”

“What?!” Arthur lost her re-gathered train of thought, turning to Ainz, her gaze filled with rage. “That's what your disgusting plan was, monster!? To force me to give my royal word, and afterward to pit my essence as a Servant of good and a King, to force me to go against my word!?”

“No," Ainz sighed, then looked at Arthur, "I don't really care… No, perhaps I'd even prefer it if you didn't take over the world. Otherwise, I'll have to fight you to take it back.”

“Hmm?!” Arthur blinked, after which she looked at Ainz carefully.

“If you behave well in Chaldea, without fighting the other Servants for example, and without trying to kill me…” Ainz decided to try to use the argument he had been given, and then, noticing Arthur's eagerness to answer him, made an important clarification, "Until the Singularities are resolved, at least. After that, we can… Think about what happened and deal with each other.”

Arthur looked at Ainz carefully at these words, trying to see any deception on Ainz’s face, then, finding nothing, slowly, as if trying to get blood out of stone, agreed. “Very, well… I agree.”

Ainz sighed at this answer, after which he even smiled a little, at least for a while, that should be enough…

Ainz, nodding at Arthur's words, turned around to head towards the other Servants. Then, remembering that he needed to inform Arthur not only that he was not going to destroy humanity, nor is he trying to conquer the world, he turned back around.

“Ainz…” Only to see Arthur, whose eyes began to fill with tears, a can of beer in her hands. “Ship…  I just wanted a father…”

Ainz sighed and slid his gaze to the open can of beer next to him, and while Ainz looked away for a second, Arthur took a second sip.

***

Servant: Arthur Pendragon

Class: Foreigner

Status: ? (Incorrect summoning)

Gender: Female

Alignment: Chaotic-Good

Attribute: Star

Strength: *

Dexterity: A++

Stamina: *

Luck: A++

Mana: EX

Noble Phantasm: *