Time had passed since the destruction of the kingdom.
After paying his respects to the rarely seen Seventh Floor Guardian, Guren, Ainz could no longer find any excuses to delay.
Next, Ainz had to formally receive a special individual, the unique "new guardian" of Nazarick, Renner.
—A troublesome woman, a new source of headaches.
The reason Ainz had such an evaluation of her was, of course, primarily because Renner could view him completely objectively. But it was far from just that.
There was also worry.
Renner, though lacking in power, possessed intelligence on par with Demiurge. She did not have a deeply rooted loyalty to Ainz... no, to the entire Great Tomb.
In Ainz's view, this woman was like a commercial spy who had defected.
According to Albedo's description, she seemed very suitable for intelligence analysis work, but wasn't that a huge potential risk?
Would this woman use her position to guide Nazarick's plans in a disadvantageous direction? Was it really a good idea to entrust intelligence to an outsider?
Was it planned for Demiurge to verify and check her work results? But such a troublesome process, wasn't that putting the cart before the horse?
Ainz had countless doubts and confusions in his heart.
But seeing the confident faces of Albedo and Demiurge, he could only swallow his worries.
He even entertained the thought of using his absolute authority as the ruler of Nazarick to order Albedo to expel her from the Great Tomb and send her to E-Rantel! ——Such a thought had crossed Ainz's mind.
But he discarded it. Although Albedo and the others would surely carry it out immediately, Ainz did not want to issue such an arbitrary command.
Because that would be equivalent to disrupting the layout of Albedo and Demiurge. If he, as a brainless superior, were to forcibly disrupt their plans just because of his unease, such behavior would be truly unseemly.
So, there was no escape, Ainz had to formally receive this woman.
"Ainz-sama, the Ninth Floor Guardian, Renner Vaiself, has come to pay her respects."
Hearing Albedo's announcement, Ainz nodded slightly.
He put on a kingly demeanor that he had practiced for a long time, looking down at the woman who had come to pay her respects with an air of majesty.
Renner, who had just left her adolescence, was dressed in a black backless dress and knelt respectfully in the center of the room.
No other guardians had been summoned for this audience; the audience hall contained only Ainz, Albedo, Renner, and a maid standing by the door.
"Raise your head, Renner."
Last night, while Renner and Climb were reveling in joy, Ainz had been busy preparing for this audience, rehearsing actions and thinking through the process, working tirelessly the entire night.
As one of the conclusions of his thinking, Ainz did not allow her to raise her head as he would with the guardians. Instead, he let Renner maintain her kneeling posture for about ten seconds.
Ainz intuitively felt that Albedo, standing beside him, was pleased with this.
Finally, upon hearing the voice of the Dominant One, Renner let out a sigh of relief and slowly raised her head.
—However, what happened next could probably be counted among the few mistakes in Renner's life.
It was absolutely disrespectful to use a false expression in front of the Supreme One, but Renner did not dare to reveal her true face without reservation, for fear that it would cause the Supreme One's aversion.
Before the audience, she had never thought that she would have difficulty choosing an "expression."
In the end, as a compromise, she displayed "sincere flattery" to Ainz. That is, she deliberately evoked her own flattering emotions and then expressed them without reservation. It was a form of advanced acting based on self-suggestion.
And her failure lay in the fact that last night she could not help but exchange her first time with Climb, and it lasted for a very long time.
Because she had just experienced that sensation, and because she relaxed her control in order to make her expression "sincere," the result was a blunder—her blue eyes actually had a hint of coquetry.
Seeing such a gaze fall on her master, Albedo's smile immediately deepened.
Renner, who keenly noticed this, could not help but tremble her small bat wings near her shoulder blades out of a devilish habit.
This was an instinctive reaction of a lesser devil sensing hostility from a higher devil.
Renner, who had just changed her race, could not control it well, and as she was afraid that this would be disrespectful to the Supreme One and tried hard to stop the trembling, as if seeing through her wavering, the Dominant One spoke—
"How does the new life feel? There might be some discomfort in the short term. Renner Vaiself, the new guardian of the Great Tomb of Nazarick... how does the devil's body feel?"
（I did it! I successfully said it! Yeah, the phrasing is great, it's worth all the time I spent practicing my lines!）
Ainz was far more nervous than Renner.
Because Renner's eyes were too profound, Ainz could not understand them at all, but on the other hand, Renner did not have the preconceived notions of NPCs towards him and could observe him completely objectively.
This was too disadvantageous! He really wanted to run away!
Although Ainz could understand that Renner was a genius among geniuses, he would rather throw this genius to E-Rantel than keep her in the Great Tomb.
（...Although I have thought of finding a suitable time to confess to the guardians that I am actually empty-headed, this point absolutely cannot be discovered by an outsider! Absolutely not!）
It was based on this idea that Ainz met Renner with the spirit of a PVP, and he had made several times more effort in rehearsing lines and actions than usual.
Ainz, who successfully said the prepared line, captured Renner's flickering gaze with his superhuman dynamic vision, and he prayed in his heart that his line would have the desired effect.
"Replying to the Overlord, by the grace of Your Majesty, I am now fortunate enough to receive such bliss. I am extremely satisfied, and I will surely repay Your Majesty with eternal dedication."
—She was sold a favor. Renner thought.
Just now, her trembling wings had already aroused Albedo's displeasure. It was far more serious than having an ambiguous gaze, because it was a disrespect to the Supreme One.
And under this charge, even being "disposed of" for such a trivial matter would be quite normal. Although she had not been there for long, Renner had already sensed this.
But at the moment when Albedo was about to project her silent anger towards her, the Overlord spoke.
And the content was not something else, but a consolation about her racial conversion. A phrase like "might be a bit uncomfortable" sealed Albedo's anger towards her.
It couldn't be a coincidence. When speaking, the Overlord's hand moved slightly towards Albedo's direction, which was sufficient evidence.
"Hmm... Is that so? Then I look forward to your contribution, Renner. Dedicate yourself entirely to Nazarick."
The undeniable "reminder" almost made Renner lose her balance.
"Dedicate everything," this was undoubtedly a "friendly reminder" that saw through her plan to keep some of her intelligence for herself.
Renner observed that Albedo's lips subtly curled up by about one millimeter. Mockery of Renner's petty cleverness and pride in her master's great wisdom, that was the meaning of that one millimeter.
"Also, um... is it Climb? How is he? Is there any abnormality in his resurrection?"
Don't, don't bestow "benevolence" on me anymore! Renner couldn't help but shout in her heart. She had never experienced such emotional turmoil.
The benevolence of the Dominant One was the greatest pressure on a defector. Especially the Overlord, who used the act of inquiring about Climb to bestow benevolence without any cost, was simply playing unfairly.
But she had to continue the conversation thrown out by the Dominant One.
"Yes, replying to Your Majesty, thanks to the help of Pestnee S. Wank, Climb is fine."
In order to interrupt this topic and somewhat reduce the "benevolence," Renner quickly added:
"Your Majesty, please do not worry about this. Just regard Climb as one of my pets."
However, far beyond Renner's imagination, this sentence became a self-dug grave.
Ainz's动摇even triggered emotional suppression.
（Ah...? Pet? "Some kind of abnormal fetish" refers to this? Albedo's report was too understated! Does this woman have such an abnormal fetish? Climb... who is quite good-looking from a human perspective... Ew! Bringing such a woman in, is the Five Great Evils going to become the Six Great Evils now!?）
"Um... well... okay."
Ainz felt that Climb was somewhat pitiful, being regarded as a pet...
（Hmm? Wait a minute, I remember Peroroncino once told me that some women like to whip, pierce, and even... Ugh, no, this is too... When Climb fought me, his gaze even reminded me of that man, Gaiseric Strohnov! Just imagine that warrior being stripped naked and tied up to be whipped... That's terrible!）
Although it's not proper to interfere with other people's interests, and the Great Tomb is not short of more evil interests, but since Renner is an outsider and not set by a companion, Ainz decided to harden his heart and intervene a little.
（Humph, Climb, you owe me a favor now.）
"Ah... Climb, he is a fine warrior."
Seeing Renner and Albedo both look at him with extremely surprised expressions, Ainz raised his hand to signal them to listen to him.
"Indeed, he is very weak and probably has no talent. But in order to fulfill his loyalty, he can overcome his fear and challenge an enemy far superior to himself, which is called bravery. It is not by strength, but by the spirit of a man that I feel... admiration."
Like the warrior, a man of spirit. The word he originally wanted to use was "admire," but Ainz thought that this word would make Albedo's heart ache, so he temporarily changed it to "appreciate."
But even so, the two women felt as if a large number of shock bombs had been thrown into their hearts.
Renner knew that her fate would be to work like an ox or a horse. To be praised to this extent was already a kind of grace, and apart from working like an ox or a horse, Renner could not think of any other way to repay this grace.
But at the same time, she also felt an uncontrollable joy.
Her Climb had never been praised like this before, even though this praise was the truth and what Climb deserved.
Even, driven by a kind of deformed maternal instinct, she felt like crying a little.
Renner felt that there was still a soft part in her heart, and that part had been precisely found, grasped, and subdued by the Overlord.
（—What a terrible and respectable king he is.）
"So... although it is not an order, but Renner, be as gentle as possible with your pet."
Seeing Renner bow her head in agreement and was grateful for his praise of Climb, Ainz felt satisfied, thinking that he had somewhat maintained the humanistic environment of the ninth floor.
He did not want someone to play some dirty and bad games in the ninth floor every day.
（Hmm, it's going well, but since I have already asked her to restrain her fetish, I should propose a soothing suggestion next, what... ah, yes.）
"By the way, Renner, do not call me Overlord. Since you have joined Nazarick, then like all members of Nazarick, call me Ainz."
Ainz felt that since he had included her in the Great Tomb, he might as well unify the titles, otherwise, having someone constantly calling him Overlord would feel awkward.
—So quickly came another trial. Renner immediately woke up from her rare moment of emotion and was on guard.
"Ainz..."
The moment she spoke, Renner keenly sensed the anger from Albedo.
No, even the ordinary maid standing behind her by the door, who had been trying hard to eliminate her presence, showed a sharp dissatisfaction.
Renner knew that if this was not Ainz's command, what she would bear would not be anger, but probably killing intent.
And this might also be a trap set by the Overlord, who was meticulous in strategy. If she showed too much intimacy, she might be severely reprimanded next, to make her recognize her position again.
If it were this drop-water-not-leaking strategist, he might really do such a test.
"Ainz... Your Majesty."
Renner cleverly took a compromise, both fulfilling Ainz's intention and showing that she was lower than other "companions."
She believed she had handled it well, the evidence being that Ainz was silent for a moment, but did not correct her, and of course, the anger of Albedo and the maid also faded a lot.
However—
（Uh... This is bad, this woman is so cautious! Accepting others' kindness only halfway, how cunning! In this way, I, who proposed the suggestion, am not like being made a fool of? Hmph! She is really someone who can't be taken lightly...）
Ainz waved his skeletal arm lightly as if to drive away something in front of him.
"Well, Renner, now tell me the intelligence you want to report."
...
TO BE CONTINUED