Chapter 54: Ending the Charade

The sky was filled with stars this night.

The full moon cast its light on the world below, making for a bright night in the city of E-Rantal.

Ainz floated above the Bareare Shop, watching the ongoing battle below.

Unsurprisingly, Lupusregina dominated Clementine, giving her no chance to harm the trio of teenagers hiding behind a Principality of War missing one of its arms and the Shadow Demon he had assigned to Enri.

He would have wanted to be the one to fight, but he couldn’t justify teleporting while operating as Momon, so he had Lupusregina do it.

3 dead in the fight, 4 if I count Lizzie Bareare.

His gaze swept the battlefield, lingering briefly on the 4 small gatherings of death energy.

Using the modifications given by the [Blessing of Life], he could identify both the death aura and the lingering life force from someone freshly killed.

I suppose this could still be considered a good outcome.

This Clementine was simply too powerful for this group.

A  cold, rational assessment popped into his head, as naturally as breathing was for a living creature.

Clementine looked like an experienced warrior with level in the 30s, while Sword of Darkness was a group of novice adventurers who had at most reached level 10.

Nigun was in the mid to late 20s, and the Shadow Demon was probably even worse in combat, so having only half the group dead was a result worth celebrating.

Level differences were brutal in combat, and once it reached 10 or more levels, it became almost impossible to win in a fight against someone with a similar build, especially at the lower levels.

In this case, all of them could be counted as low-level individuals, but since Clementine looked to be at least 20 levels above the members of Sword of Darkness, their participation in the battle was completely irrelevant, which made this a battle of Nigun and Clementine, with the later addition of the Shadow Demon.

Having half the group survive under these conditions was almost a miracle, one brought by Clementine’s complacency.

He knew that.

But seeing the grief on Enri and Ninya’s faces, Ainz didn’t feel like celebrating.

What if it were Enri and Ninya lying on the ground?

He pictured the scene in his head, and then it refused to leave, replaying over and over in quick succession.

He felt restless.

A voice, his voice, echoed through his mind, questioning him, accusing him.

If it was them who died, would you still feel the same way?

No, he knew he wouldn’t; how could he?

Those two were special to him in a way he couldn’t yet articulate, but that he knew to be different from the way he felt towards Peter, Dyne, and Lukrut.

Anger flared through his body, leaving a tingling sensation as it moved.

At that moment he hated Clementine, not for what she did, but for what she might have done had he not interfered.

He might be able to resurrect Ninya, but what about Enri?

At her level, he would be lucky if the resurrection spell didn’t turn her into a mindless undead.

The thought of it left him seething with powerless rage.

He wanted to torture this woman who put them in danger, to march upon the Slaine Theocracy from where she hailed and make them feel the weight of his fury, to make them regret the day they chose to cross his path.

Ideas of how to destroy that country popped into his head in quick succession, fueled by his anger.

But just like that, the feeling was gone, expelled by his own body.

And without anger, Ainz was left with only cold reasoning.

Sigh.

In the end, this is all my fault.

As he went through the sequence of events, it became clear he was to blame for this result.

When he went to the Cemetery, before even dominating Zuranon, he already learned that Clementine would kidnap Nfirea.

If he had acted then, it wouldn’t have taken much effort to neutralize her before she even reached the group, but he didn’t, and why would he? Clementine was a convenient tool to bring Nfirea to him without risking a rift in his relationship with Enri.

He looked at the bodies of Peter, Dyne, and Lukrut on the ground.

In a way, I was the one who killed them.

Not directly, but through my inaction.

Despite having the power to protect them all, he hadn’t done anything.

And why was that?

Because he didn’t want to attract other players' attention?

To not expose the powers of Nazarick?

Even an alliance of 1500 players couldn’t conquer Nazarick, so what was there to fear?

Ainz clenched his fists.

When did I become such a coward?

Where is the man who brought a world to its knees?

He was no stranger to setbacks,  for his campaign to conquer a world had been filled with them.

How many times had he faced situations that all but spelled his destruction?

And yet, he faced them all one way or another, ultimately coming out victorious.

So why was he so afraid of facing enemies in this world when he had so many trustworthy companions?

Companions- is that why I changed so much?

When he was just by himself, he could face all the odds without thought, but now he had people to protect. He had something to lose.

I can’t expose the NPCs to unnecessary danger.

This was a point he would never compromise.

I only want them to live happy, safe lives.

But he looked down at Enri and Ninya. As time passes, there will be more and more people I want to protect, so I can’t continue to be so passive, only operating in the shadows.

Staying in the shadows won’t allow me to protect those under my name. I need a base of operations, one the people of this world recognize.

If there’s a need to endanger someone, let it be me. 

Yes, I will openly show some of my power and be bait for any enemies that might come.

He was Nazarick's most experienced combatant, with extensive experience battling other players in Yggdrasil and centuries of combat against an entire world.

If anyone could adapt to situations and guarantee his survival until reinforcements arrived, it would be him.

Ainz looked at the city beneath him and remembered everything he had learned since stepping into it.

The Annual Wars, the two factions fighting for power in the Re-Estize Kingdom, the organization Zuranon, and the emissaries from different powers moving to Carne. 

It didn’t take long for a plan to take form.

This might just be doable.

Ainz gently landed on the ground without anyone noticing and took leisured steps until he was behind Clementine, then, after casting [Create Greater Item], he was once again Momon.

Not that it matters, anyway.

Then he deactivated [Perfect Unknowable], silently cast [Perfect Warrior], and appeared in front of everyone, his hand on Clementine’s shoulder.

“That’s enough, Lupusregina Beta.” His voice came out with a surprising mixture of resignation and conviction.

“Yes, Ainz-sama!” Showing she understood his words, Lupusregina hesitated only a moment before dropping to her knees and speaking his true name.

“You did a good job here.” 

His acknowledgment left her teary-eyed, with a beautiful smile blossoming on her face.

“Ainz-sama?”

From behind the angel, Enri cast a confused gaze in his direction, with Ninya being no different.

I suppose it’s time to end this charade.

In an instant, his armor vanished, revealing his usual attire.

A mask covered his face, and other items hid his skeletal body. 

He looked exactly as he had when he first went to Carne.

“It’s really you, but how?”

“I’m sorry for deceiving you two. Although I had my reasons for doing so, it was still wrong to do so.”

He wanted to continue the talk, but suddenly he lost his grip on Clementine.

Is this a martial art?

The woman seemed to ignore physical obstacles, appearing to his right and turning to flee.

This is interesting, although pointless at this point.

Before she could even take another step, he caught her and returned to his original position.

Crunch!

“Arghh!”

A scream escaped her mouth as some of her bones broke under his hardened grip.

It was an accident, but he didn’t feel bad about it.

Clementine screamed at first, but after only a few seconds, she closed her mouth and locked gazes with him.

Her eyes, he noticed, carried a feral quality to them. He wasn’t sure if it was good or bad, but it was certainly memorable.

Whisps of light gathered in his hand, quickly healing her bones.

“Just let me deal with this woman, and then we can talk.”

Leaving these words for the two girls, Ainz held Clementine by the neck and lifted her.

Her body is strange.

He had suspected it while watching from afar, but now that he held her in his hand, he confirmed it.

Her life energy is different from that of regular humans.

Is it because she is in the Realm of Heroes? Do humans in this world change after reaching this level?

Hum… Most likely it’s another thing.

To put it bluntly, her life energy was strong, but messy.

A normal human had yellow life energy, but hers was many shades of orange, constantly shifting as she breathed.

It was an interesting thing to research, but this wasn’t the moment for that.

“You’re a bit interesting. I wonder what type of life you had to make you so resistant to pain, but,” he brought her closer to his face, “I’m still not sure if I should applaud your bravery or mock your stupidity.”

“To dare endanger my people is something I’m sure you’ll live to regret, but in a way I should also thank you for waking me up from my own foolishness.”

“Maybe I’ve been too soft, too gentle with this world, and that’s the reason why idiots like you feel comfortable enough to mess with me.”

He cast [Hold Person] on Clementine, and after confirming that she was paralyzed, he tossed her on the ground.

“But I must say, the higher-ups of the Slaine Theocracy must really have a death wish. First they send the Sunlight Scripture to kill villages I wanted to save, and now a former member of the Black Scripture comes and tries to kill Enri and Ninya?” 

An ominous light flickered through his eyes.

“Since they feel so comfortable interfering with other countries, and are too incompetent to control their own people, then maybe I should let them have a taste of their own poison.”

At first, he only planned to capture the Black Scripture for the chance of a World Item, but since they pissed him off, he wouldn’t stop at that.

“If I am to no longer deceive you, there’s still something I need to show you two- oh, and also to you, Nfirea- but this place is inconvenient for that, so please follow me.”

He cast [Gate], producing a black portal, then he grabbed Clementine and turned to Nigun and the Shadow Demon.

“You two, go and grab the others.”

With that, he stepped into the portal.

***

“Pestonya, please resurrect them.” From the throne, Ainz commanded.

“Yes, Ainz-sama!” The maid(beastman?) answered promptly.

She had a dog’s face with a scar that vertically split her head in two halves that seemed to have been stitched together.

Black cloth covered her eyes, but she walked with such certainty that Enri was sure she could still see.

But how?

With magic, of course. 

Carne had no one who knew about magic or could cast spells, so the villagers tended to attribute anything they couldn’t comprehend to magic.

With magic, everything was possible, even creating armor and swords out of thin air, or binding a powerful warrior who was even stronger than the Warrior Captain with invisible rope(at least that was what she thought happened).

Magic could create portals to a palace with tons of beautiful maids and expensive-looking furniture that made her afraid to touch anything.

It was something straight out of a storybook, only she wasn’t a princess, and neither was this a joyous situation.

In this story, Ainz would certainly be the hero: a man who was both a powerful warrior and an incredible magic caster. It was a strange combination, but it also felt very fitting.

For her, Ainz was a man she had no hope of understanding but whom she could trust completely, so she wasn’t offended by his ‘deceit’.

To her, if Ainz had done that, he must have had a good reason, and it wasn’t her place to question it.

But Ainz-sama seems to be feeling guilty.

I wonder what he wants to reveal to us.

Seeing Pestonya approaching, Enri turned her attention to her.

Once Pestonya reached the bodies, she produced a lot of gold coins out of thin air. She let the coins fall freely on the ground until they formed a pile half her height.

It was more gold than she had ever seen in her life.

This amount, she thought, could pay for all the village’s expenses for more than 10 years(maybe 20?). She had no idea, but it was a lot of gold coins.

Then Pestonya put her hands above Lizzie Bareare's body, and as part of the gold vanished, color returned to the old lady, and she opened her eyes.

“Grandma!” Seeing that, Enri and Nfirea jumped towards her, hugging and crying.

***

Seeing Enri crying and thanking Momon, or rather, Ainz, Ninya felt uncomfortable.

This man had betrayed her trust.

He lied to her about who he was, and she still didn’t know why.

It was painful.

She didn’t know how much of Momon was a lie.

She didn’t know if what he said about himself that night was a lie.

Looking at Enri, she understood why it was so easy for her to accept this transition. She met Ainz before Momon.

She looked toward Ainz and wondered who this man truly was.

He had enough strength to defeat someone in the Realm of Heroes without even trying, and his magical prowess…

She had never seen anything like it. The spells he used were completely unknown to her, but even then she could tell that they were way above the 5th tier.

And it’s not just him.

This maid just casually cast a resurrection spell, and it was not [Raise Dead], but something of a higher tier.

Lupita, or rather, Lupusregina, was also incredibly powerful, but here she seemed to be just another maid.

If the maids are so powerful and have so much money, then just how powerful is this man?

She cast another glance at Ainz, only for him to turn his head at the same time.

Their gazes met through his mask, making her feel incredibly awkward.

“Do you have any questions, Ninya? If so, feel free to ask me anything.”

His voice was as gentle as she remembered.

“Ainz-sama,” the name felt uncomfortable in her mouth, “about the things we talked…” 

She struggled to find the courage, feeling ridiculous for even trying to ask.

“Go on, don’t worry about it.” His voice reached her again, and she noticed she was crying.

“How much of it was a lie?”

For the first time in her life, she found someone to whom she could lay down her most painful memories, someone who gave her a sense of security she didn’t think would be possible after her home was destroyed.

But now, here she was, asking if that was all a lie, if everything was only a joke for him.

She feared he would confirm it.

“I see. So this is what is bothering you.” Ainz paused for a moment.

“I am not a knight from a special order on a pilgrimage. As such, be it the restrictions or the motivation I gave you, they were all lies.”

“Everything else, and especially the contents of our conversation that night, was true. Not only that, but I deeply value the bond we made.” His tone turned sorrowful, confusing her.

If everything was true, then what’s the problem?

“Hmm. Everyone seems to have returned to the living.” Ainz said, pointing at her companions as they got up one by one.

Tears filled her eyes, and she ran toward them, hugging them and running her hand through their confused faces.

Hearing the dumb sounds coming from their mouths, Ninya felt the tension melt out of her body and laughed.

It took a while, but she helped her companions understand their situation.

Yells of gratitude filled the room as Peter, Lukrut, and Dyne awkwardly faced Ainz.

“There’s no need for thanks. I consider this to be the bare minimum I owe you guys for my lapse of judgment.” Ainz’s voice hardened. He sounded hesitant, and even, anxious?

“Sigh. There’s no point postponing this any longer.”

With these words, Ainz reached for his mask.

**********

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