"Joke—what a joke!!"
Jircniv roared in a manner unprecedented, pushing everything on his desk to the floor.
Secretary Ronne stood by, trembling and helplessly watching the emperor in an unprecedented state: fury.
"What? They want to find someone to assassinate me, and then they want me to play the bad guy while they play the good guy?! Demons! Only demons could come up with such a plan!"
Jircniv's face was red and his neck was swollen, a state he had never been in since childhood. If Fluder were here, he would surely be shocked.
But Fluder was now with his "teacher," who, before sending Jircniv back to his country, didn't forget to remind the emperor, "Complete the task your teacher assigns you well."
Renner's banquet, Fluder's reminder, and the plan that only demons could come up with. These three things strung together successfully touched the bottom line of Jircniv's patience.
But as the emperor of the Baharuth Empire, as the only man who could protect this country on the political level, he still had to endure and follow Anz's words.
He tried to ignore the few golden hairs that fell on the desk.
"Emperor, please calm down..."
When Ronne tried to persuade him, his eyes did not look at Jircniv, but exaggeratedly scanned left and right. Jircniv understood that he was hinting that there might be surveillance from the Sorcerer Kingdom.
But precisely because of this, Jircniv wanted to have a fit of anger, while still restraining himself and trying not to say anything too offensive.
If he couldn't refuse the order, it was necessary to let the person giving the order understand how much trouble his order had caused him.
At the same time, because it was surveillance, as long as Jircniv was not too outrageous, the Sorcerer Kingdom had no position to blame.
However... the Sorcerer Kingdom was not actually monitoring.
"Ronne! How is that woman named Lakyus now?"
"Yes!... Her condition is very strange, as if she has been brainwashed by the Sorcerer King... Although she has been treated as a distinguished guest, she neither drinks nor eats, only saying, 'I will accurately complete my mission, please do not interfere with me,' like this."
Jircniv and his entourage were not informed of the "Double Phantom" intelligence.
And the entire plan's script is as follows:
Jircniv goes to the Great Tomb and "friendly consults" with the mother country, expressing that he is "very willing" to contribute to the Sorcerer King's plan... and thus brings Double Lakyus back home. Jircniv attends the Sorcerer Kingdom's victory banquet held in Ylan-Tir, during which Double Lakyus waits in the palace like a guest. Jircniv returns home, Double Lakyus bows, and then the moment she draws her sword, she is taken down on the spot by Fluder (Fluder is scheduled to end his "learning" within two days, attend the banquet with the emperor, and accompany him back to his country). Finally, Jircniv announces that the steel-class adventurer team "Blue Rose" failed in the assassination, and all members except for the team leader Lakyus were killed in the chaos.
And Lakyus will be publicly executed in a few days.
The Sorcerer Kingdom will immediately express regret and state that Lakyus, as an extremely rare human who can use resurrection magic, has extremely high value.
Prohibiting Lakyus from resurrecting her teammates is already a very heavy punishment, and it is suggested that she be spared the death penalty.
In response to the Sorcerer Kingdom's suggestion, Jircniv will "fly into a rage," stating that assassination is a bottom line, and merely beheading her instead of using severe punishment is already great leniency.
According to the script, at this point, the president of the new adventurer's guild of the Sorcerer Kingdom, Ainzach, will also take a stance and publicly support the Sorcerer Kingdom's handling opinion.
But in this situation, Jircniv will be "stubborn" and "heartless," insisting on public execution and using a mocking attitude to belittle the adventurer community, implying that there will be increased restrictions on adventurers in the future.
Finally, the Sorcerer Kingdom and the new adventurer's guild will jointly express deep regret, but since the empire is in principle autonomous, it is not convenient to intervene anymore.
"'Stubborn'? Who, me?! 'Heartless'? How... ridiculous!!"
In Nazarick, when the aberrations announced the plan in front of him, completely not allowing a single emperor to interject, he felt like he was about to be checkmated.
This script is equivalent to having the empire - no, having Jircniv bear the negative impact of "the kingdom's destruction."
Between "annihilating the kingdom" and "executing Lakyus," which one weighs more in the eyes of the common people? Although it is regrettable, the answer is the latter.
A beautiful and pure young girl.
A genius who can use resurrection magic.
A well-known leader of the steel-class adventurer team "Blue Rose."
Such a girl will be beheaded by the "Blood Emperor" in a fit of "stubbornness." Although even the Sorcerer Kingdom pleaded for her, that emperor was so "heartless."
Plus, he attended the Sorcerer Kingdom's victory banquet and toasted to the destruction of the kingdom. It can be said that he will replace the cruel Sorcerer King and become the focus of public opinion - of course, a negative one.
... So the question is, what will be the fate of Jircniv after bearing the "negative impact"?
What will happen to the paper towel after wiping off the dirt with a tissue? That is the answer.
This should only be the first step. In the future, there will be more and more opportunities for Jircniv to bear the "negative impact," right?
When Jircniv 's handkerchief became thoroughly dirty, it would be time to throw it away.
And not just a simple throw, but a "just punishment" by the Sorcerer Kingdom, and then use this as an opportunity to completely annex the Baharuth Empire.
The entire Niks family would come to an end.
Thinking of this, Jircniv fell back into his chair, covered his face with his hand, felt nauseous, powerless, and then let out a bitter smile.
He couldn't just sit and wait for death, how could he just sit and wait for death! He must find an opportunity... but not now.
Jircniv beckoned to Rone.
"—Do everything according to His Majesty's plan. Don't... mess it up."
Several days later.
The capital city of Ovental, the "Singing Apple Pavilion".
The middle-aged owner, who had just entered his prime, was seriously considering whether to sell the shop and then go to another country.
Although it was an old shop with some history, in the great changes of the human world, this bit of history was nothing at all. One's own life was more precious.
In an extremely short period of time—less than three days—it had changed from a "worker's gathering place" to a place full of all sorts of people.
Although the regular customers before were also quite mixed, at least their identities were more unified, all being workers. But now? Adventurers, merchants, underground people, brokers... all sorts of people, like the ingredients of a dark hot pot, poured into the small shop.
Faced with the endless stream of new customers, the owner felt a sense of desolation.
There used to be a worker team that he liked very much. The leader was a seemingly slick but actually very responsible dual swordsman, a half-forest elf archer, a simple priest, and a genius young female magic chanter.
A very familiar group, the team was called the "Four Strategists", and they were very powerful... but suddenly they disappeared without a trace. It was said that they went to investigate a certain forest or cave and then were all wiped out.
The times are changing, and things are unpredictable.
How many of the people in front of him could become regular customers? The answer is none—they were basically all planning to run away.
"Why has the emperor changed his character so much? Not only is he delighted with the destruction of the kingdom, but now he also wants to execute that beauty, Captain of the Crimson Rose. Didn't even the Sorcerer Kingdom plead for her?"
"Tch. A change in attitude? Don't be stupid—His Majesty has always looked down on us adventurers! He's only going to get stricter from here on out. This is just who he's always been."
"What should we do? Stay? Go to the City-State Alliance? Or..."
"I want to go to the Sorcerer Kingdom. Ainza is trustworthy, and there are many incentive policies now, right? I heard they built an underground city for training."
"But that's a way of poaching!"
"Humph, this empire deserves to be dug out! Have you forgotten how the emperor belittled us?"
"...'Special brutes who only exterminate monsters'... right?"
"Yeah! That's right! I admit that the most important task for adventurers is to eliminate monsters! But you can't say that, can you?"
"Compared to the 'direction' that the Sorcerer Kingdom gives adventurers, it is really a dream... 'Exploring the unknown'... At least it seems to really care about us."
Everyone fell silent. After a while, someone changed the subject:
"So is that beauty really going to die at the hands of the emperor? Speaking of the Crimson Rose, did they really lose to Fluder Paradyne alone? All wiped out?"
The people talking didn't know that at this moment, a mysterious person was pricking up his ears.
It was an old woman with a stern face, as strong as iron, wearing a hooded cloak, a sword at the waist, and looking very dry and experienced. She was the legendary one of the Thirteen Heroes, the "Necromancer" Rigrit.
She hid her breath and leaned against the wall. Surprisingly, none of the people in the room knew her existence. She was like a sponge, absorbing intelligence.
"Dead for sure, the emperor said assassination is the bottom line. The Sorcerer Kingdom can't do anything either, after all, our emperor still has autonomy... haha... By the way, the Crimson Rose, let me tell you, it wasn't just that triple magic chanter who wiped them out..."
"Then who else? The Four... Three Knights?"
"They are nothing... The emperor brought back several undead guards from Ylan Tiel when he came back, lent by the Sorcerer King!"
"Right. It's not a secret. Those undead even escorted Lakyus to make an appearance. Their full armor and weapons are all magical props! The equipment is better than ours!"
"Then what about that beauty... when is she going to be..." The speaker gestured at his neck.
"Tomorrow. At noon. It's said to be public, but considering the need for security precautions, no onlookers are allowed. But the body will be displayed... for ten whole days."
The people talking didn't know that at this moment, a mysterious person was pricking up his ears.
Rigrit straightened up, walked out of the door briskly—left a gold coin on the inside of the counter.
The setting sun outside the house was accelerating its descent, and the deep orange light would soon disappear completely, right?
She pulled her hood lower, suppressing the burning anxiety in her heart, and quickly walked on the stone slab road of Ovental.
In the room at the destination, a golden-haired, frivolous man was waiting for her.
Rigrit closed the door silently, walked into the room. The man had prepared a cup of coffee and some bread on the small round table for her, but she felt she had no appetite—she had been like this for the past two days, hardly eating or drinking, but she didn't feel hungry or thirsty at all.
And that man was lying back in the lounge chair, seriously enjoying the bread circle sprinkled with sugar.
"Sigh... Allow this old woman to confirm once more, young master of the Ainzach family—you..."
"Azuth. Please call me Azuth, Hero Grandma."
"...Phew, then please call me Rigrit as well."
"Okay! We're even."
Azuth picked up the coffee, raised it like a toast to Rigrit.
"Humph. ...Are you really going to rescue her with me? Do you have such a deep kinship with that child?"
"Not really, it's just because of Char's commission. —I would like to answer you like that."
Azuth' face darkened a bit.
"I watched that child grow up, and now I am the last one. To be honest, even without Char's commission, I would probably come... right."
"...Well. With your mobility, it should be easy to rescue Lakyus."
"My mobility? Hahaha, Grandma Rigrit is really joking. Don't you have teleportation magic?"
"Not, can't rely too much on that kind of thing. Pure physical mobility is very important. There are too many ways to block teleportation. The battle with the demon god is still vivid in my mind..."
Rigrit fell into thought and reminiscence, and Azuth was thinking in his heart: it's really tiring to talk with people who have experienced a lot.
However, the reason why Char—Platinum Dragon King commissioned Azuth was indeed because of his "mobility".
The Platinum Dragon King himself had to guard the guild weapon left by the Eight Greed Kings. And the White Gold Armor that could be remotely operated was severely damaged after the battle with the Sorcerer King. In addition to repairing the exterior, it was necessary to spend time re-injecting the "soul". It couldn't show its full strength in a short time. Moreover, White Gold didn't want and couldn't interfere in the internal affairs of human countries in a big way.
So he commissioned the leader of the "Red Dew Drop", who was also Lakyus' uncle, Azuth Ainz. But the commission was not to "rescue Lakyus".
Assisting in rescuing Lakyus was actually Azuth' own will. And the additional commission given by the White Gold Dragon King was to "protect his old friend—Rigrit".
"Azuth, that emperor seems to have fallen, completely consorting with the "filth"... Not only has he set up more and more undead soldiers in his own country, but also, the reason why he was able to subdue the Crimson Rose this time, and to kill my old friend Iburiel...! Is also because he borrowed powerful undead from the Sorcerer King."
"Azuth! If it's just the level of Death Knight, I won't say anything, but if you encounter the undead of the Demon God level, then give up the rescue and retreat fully!"
Indeed, in practice, Azuth' reinforced armor speed is unparalleled, not only by the Player and NPC, but also by everyone else. If he runs away with all his strength, he can "lead" for sure!
"...Alright. I will. I will try to..."
"Wrong! It's Rigrit!!"
Platinum narrowed his eyes, and even accidentally revealed his fangs like a threat. He seemed very anxious in his heart.
He was really very impatient, very angry. He wanted to destroy that country—Baharuth Empire, and kill the so-called "Blood Emperor", Jircniv.
—Daring to kill his "old friend".
"...If it comes to that, I will cut off my attachment and run away with you." Of course, Azuth did not say it.
He prayed to an unknown goddess in his heart, praying that the emperor had not fallen to that extent, and had not borrowed the Demon God level guard. Then, he drank the coffee with a taste of wine.
"Old me must ask that silly girl personally, why did she do such a stupid thing! And that crybaby, how could she... tsk! Iburiel could not lose so easily! How could she just...!"
Iburiel could not lose so easily! How could she just...!