"And that's what happened."
He said as he slurped his third tea while enjoying its fragrance. As expected of Nazarick, the tea they used is of high quality, and he feels his mind become calm after breathing in the fragrance as he observes the silent Ainz.
Obviously, he only tells Ainz the part that is alright to be revealed; after all, the secret of him having lived a first life and the knowledge that he has about Overlord should stay with him.
Even he doesn't tell Ulbert anything about it.
"Haaah... I understand why you would be getting angry toward Touch Me, considering his inconsideration of your feelings, but for me to not know anything about my friend's suffering, I am sorry."
His eyes opened wide seeing him bow his head toward him, and he hurriedly said something so he wouldn't lower his head.
"It's alright, Ainz. I am also sorry for not saying something to you; despite our friendship, it's partly my fault, so don't lower your head like that."
He breathed a sigh of relief seeing him raise his head again; thankfully, we are alone in this room; otherwise, he doesn't know how the NPC is going to react.
"By the way, Ulbert came on the final day of Yggdrasil, but then he left after going to the 7th floor and after having a talk with me. I regret it now that I didn't try to make him stay."
Hearing that Ulbert came on the final day made him feel glad and sad. He felt glad because Ulbert came as he promised, while he felt sad because he didn't stay until the end.
Now that this matter has come to his mind, he remembers that he didn't exactly tell Ulbert to stay until the end, so this is also his fault for not saying it in detail; he can only regret it.
As he thought about his past, he suddenly yawned. Looking at the watch in his right hand, he could see that it was already past midnight. He raised himself while stretching his body as he looked toward Ainz and said,
"Anyway, it's already pretty late at night. Can you make [Gate] to our camp, Ainz?"
"You can stay overnight in here, you know?"
"No, it's alright, I don't want to leave Ray all alone."
"Is that so? That's a shame; maybe you can stay here sometime."
"Yaaaawn... I'll consider it."
It would be tempting to do that, as he would be served by a beautiful homunculus maid, but for now, he just wants to sleep while cuddling Ray.
As he was about to step on the [Gate] Ainz made, he suddenly felt something cold touching his left shoulder. Glancing at it, he saw a bony hand. He then turned around, looking at Ainz with annoyance on his face.
"What is it? Sleep is already calling me."
"I am sorry about this when you are already tired, but there is someone who wants to meet you."
"Someone wants to meet me?"
He raised his eyebrow in surprise; other than players like Ainz, there shouldn't be anyone who knows him.
Beside, after hearing Ainz's story, it seems he is the only one in the guild, so if not a player who wants to meet him, is it an NPC? The only one that comes to his mind is Demiurge; considering that he is Ulbert's creation, he should have heard a thing or two about him from Ulbert.
"Come inside!"
He looked toward the door in anticipation as it slowly opened, but when he saw who was standing there, he opened his eyes wide and his mouth hung open.
"◇"
As he stepped out of [Gate], he was greeted by the sight of Ray bowing her head toward him.
"Welcome back, master... hmm? Why is there a giant spider on your back?"
"Oh, her?"
He glanced to his back where he could see a giant white spider the size of a cat snuggled into his hood in comfort.
As he narrowed his eyes toward her, the spider trembled and made herself look smaller.
The first time he met her, he almost got killed, as she suddenly teleported and then hugged him tightly.
Any normal person would be happy receiving a hug from a beautiful girl, but when the girl is supremely powerful, you would be dead from the light pressure of the hug.
Thankfully, Ainz hurriedly took out a high-grade potion and showered it on him; otherwise, he would be dead for the third time.
"Haaah... she's Shiraori, a pet that Ainz gave to me."
He felt the spider shudder on his back, but he ignored it.
"A pet? Really? That's nice of him."
"Yeah, anyway, I am tired. Let's just go to sleep. Also, Ain—I mean Momon—will go back in the morning as he seems to have something to do."
"Okay."
He and Ray then entered the tent.
Once inside, Shiraori slowly got down from him as she settled in the corner of the tent and became motionless.
He didn't know whether she was asleep or not, as she didn't have eyelids, but he didn't care as he stripped off all his clothes, leaving him in only his shorts.
Ray also does the same, as she slowly strips her clothes, leaving her in only her underwear while he unashamedly stares at the process.
"Today red, huh?"
"Yes, do you like it?"
"Absolutely, you look so sexy."
"My~"
Seeing her smile flirtatiously, he hugs her and kisses her lips. As he gropes her soft ass, he can feel Ray's hand rub on his penis, making it twitch and hard as he feels excited to have sex.
But not for today, as he separates himself from her while bringing her to the futon on the floor.
"Let's not do it today."
"Why? I thought you would impregnate me."
"I'll do it tomorrow on your husband's bed."
"... evil master."
"He-he-he-he, I take that as a compliment."
He smiles happily as he lies on the soft futon with Ray beside him, dragging the blanket to cover their bodies. He then turns his head toward her and kisses her cheek.
"Good night."
"Good night, master."
He smiled when she responded by kissing his cheek.
As he closed his eyes, he could feel her soft and warm body hugging his arm, feeling his mind getting drowsier and drowsier. He released his control over his mind and then fell asleep.
"◇"
After making a zombie from the corpse his follower gave him, he went to the deeper part of the underground cemetery, where he was the only one allowed to enter.
Walking on the stone path for several minutes, he reached a dead end. He then touched a specific stone in the wall as he poured his mana toward it.
The wall of the dead end parted away, revealing a hidden room inside. He entered without hesitation as the wall closed again once he was inside.
Ignoring everything in the room, he went to the right corner, where a shelf contained a lot of items like scrolls and magic items he owned.
He took a special black box that emitted death from the shelf and brought it to the table in the center of the room as he sat on the sole chair.
He opened the lid, and it revealed the source of negative energy: a dark liquid stored in a glass tube. Even just looking at it, he could feel the unbelievable amount of negative energy stored in it.
"That damn Clementine suddenly vanished, saying that the Windflower Scripture is chasing after her. Thanks to her, I need to lay low for several days and hold back from doing the ritual. Well, I forgive her because she gave me this amazing thing she stole from the Theocracy; otherwise, I would kill her the next time we meet."
He can't contain his happiness as he takes the vial from the box, a grin spreading across his face as he looks at the item in his hand.
"With this death essence, I don't need to gather a large amount of negative energy to turn into a lich, and it's also the perfect time to turn E-Rantel into an undead city, as that alchemist and his subordinate aren't in it."
Reminded about the alchemist, his mood soured, although the alchemist and his subordinate didn't directly bother him, their mere presence was enough to make him extra cautious about doing any activity in E-Rantel; it made him hold a grudge against them.
"Hmph! After I become a lich, humans like them shouldn't be a threat, not to mention that after ingesting this death essence, I am quite confident I can beat anyone, even an adamantite adventurer."
He raised himself from his seat while bringing the vial with him to the left side of the room, where a magic circle made out of blood was surrounded by skulls that emitted a black aura.
He had already made the ritual magic circle to turn into a lich long ago; he couldn't activate it because he lacked negative energy, but with the vial of death essence and the Orb of Death, he could finally cast off his mortal shell and turn into a higher being.
He grinned as he stood in the center of the circle while grasping the Orb of Death in his left hand and the vial in his right.
He activated the circle while chanting the mantra as the skull surrounding the circle turned into dust, their negative energy powering up the magic circle.
After several minutes of chanting, he finally reached the last part as he absorbed the negative energy in the Orb of Death while drinking the vial.
"Aaaaaaaahh!!"
An unbelievable amount of pain, like being burned alive, coursed through his body. He let out a tear as he wasn't accustomed to this much pain, but he kept enduring it, knowing he would gain a lot of power if he did.
After several minutes of screaming and almost passing out, the pain finally subsided, and all of his flesh fell off, revealing his white pristine bones.
He could feel a large amount of power swelling up in him as he cackled in happiness.
"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha— oh?"
He confusedly tilted his head when he suddenly calmed down, remembering the effect of becoming a lich; he finally understood what had happened.
"I see, so this is what it feels like to have the mind of undeath. Although it is a shame to lose greater emotion, I am still happy to become a lich."
With his subdued emotions, he happily walked toward the drawer on his table and took out a mirror made of copper.
Looking at his blurry reflection, without a trace of skin and flesh, he smiled widely. Although there was nothing on his face, it just looked like a skeleton grinding his teeth.
"Hya-ha-ha-ha-ha— oops, with my current power, E-Rantel is nothing to me! I can kill every single citizen here and make myself more powerful! I might be able to kill Dancing Death and make her my subordinate!"
Remembering the power of Dancing Death, he drooled if he still had a mouth. He might be able to create legendary undead from her corpse.
Imagining himself having legendary undead under his command, he immediately got out of his hidden room in excitement, gathering his subordinates to make a plan to destroy the city and create a trap to kill Dancing Death Edström.