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Rumble, rumble...
The massive double-leaved doors of the Throne Room completely closed, and the heavy reverberations melted away into the silence.
The presence of the several individuals who had filled this space until moments ago vanished entirely.
Left behind in the vast divine sanctuary of chalk-white and gold were only myself and the Skeletal King seated upon the Throne of Kings, Ainz Ooal Gown.
The emptied Throne Room was enveloped in a silence so profound it physically ached.
Remaining slightly levitated above the floor, I slowed the rotation speed of the pages orbiting me and made my body of black fog undulate quietly.
My hundreds of bluish-purple pupils unconsciously began to drive themselves to scan and optimize the minute magical remnants and spatial coordinate data of the Throne Room.
...This is no good. I'm trying to think 'mechanically' again.
I intentionally interrupted the scan and contracted my fog, as if letting out a non-existent sigh.
Ever since transferring to this unknown world, I had begun to realize a fatal change occurring within me.
My emotions and conscience as a human were fading with each passing day.
The [Omniscient Flesh] composing my body, and my grotesque racial traits as an Elder Aberration.
These were far too specialized in processing all phenomena as mere data.
It was the same during the meeting earlier. When Shalltear declared she would "turn humans into blood bags," the first thing that surfaced in my mind was not anger at her cruelty, but a cold thought that it was inefficient.
If left unchecked, my mind would be completely swallowed by this ominous avatar, and I would be reduced to a genuine monster that viewed the inhabitants of the outside world as nothing more than numbers and resources.
What kept me tethered was the memory of my past self—specifically, the memories of the Anime I used to watch through a screen.
The sensibilities of an ordinary person, whose heart ached at the tragedies beyond the display, and who would quip, "Isn't that going a bit too far?" at Demiurge's atrocious plans.
By intentionally ruminating on those memories and continuously playing them back in my brain, I somehow managed to maintain the shape of my conscience, using the fact that I was once human as the anchor for my soul.
Lying at my foundation is only one thing: an extremely biological desire to survive in peace.
A quagmire of a war washing blood with blood, or a dystopia where the entire world directs its hatred at us, is the absolute worst environment for survival. That is exactly why I must guide the path this Nazarick takes toward a direction that is not ruinous.
I had absolutely no intention of remaining an NPC who merely obeyed orders submissively.
"——Tawil Balah. We are alone now."
From atop the throne, Ainz's heavy voice descended.
I could tell that the taut, intimidating presence of the Absolute Ruler from moments ago had been intentionally relaxed, if only slightly, in that voice.
He was still wearing the mask of a majestic Demon Lord, but beneath it drifted the presence of someone groping in the dark, seeking the correct answer from someone else.
"Yes. You have my utmost appreciation for Your hard work during the meeting just now, Lord Ainz. I imagine holding the reins of such hot-blooded individuals must surely be back-breaking work."
I responded with a dignified attitude, careful not to be overly subservient.
A competent right-hand man is not someone who constantly flatters their boss while walking on eggshells, but someone who can accurately verbalize the heavy pressure their boss shoulders and share the burden.
"M-Mmm... Exactly. Shalltear's loyalty and valor are unquestionable, but she has a tendency to be somewhat too impulsive."
The red points of light in Ainz's eye sockets wavered with slight relief.
It was proof that he had slightly lowered his mental guard toward a subordinate who had implicitly validated that he was exhausted.
"Tawil. I could not ask this earlier since we were before the others, but... in this vast, unknown world, how do you define the Final Destination that our Nazarick should truly head toward?"
A probing question.
He wanted to hear my take on Narazick that my vast knowledge and processing power would calculate.
I smoothly extended a single black fog tentacle upwards and answered immediately in a voice brimming with confidence.
"It is Rule, Lord Ainz."
"Oh. Rule, is it? ...Not Annihilation through overwhelming military might?"
"Yes. Meaningless slaughter, or a holocaust that eradicates the weak, is an act of folly that brings a hundred harms and not a single benefit."
The pages orbiting me emitted a powerful blue light in tandem with my thoughts.
"The power of our Nazarick is absolute. However, if we turn all opposition to ash simply to show off our power, all that will be left behind is a barren wasteland where not even a single weed grows. With that, we can obtain neither the materials to maintain Nazarick's greatness nor the subjects to praise the majesty of the Supreme Beings. True domination means gripping the right of life and death, and upon that foundation, efficiently managing them and making them work for us."
Ainz listened to my words in silence.
Emotions could not be read from his skeletal face, but there was no sign of denial.
"Nazarick should reign over this world as a proud and overwhelmingly powerful entity. Not binding them through fear alone, but making all living creatures in this world understand that coming under our protection is the safest and happiest path. ...That is what I consider to be Rule."
"...I see. It is logical."
Ainz stroked the armrest of his throne and nodded slowly.
"However, Tawil. If there are no entities that threaten us, wouldn't we also have the option of simply shutting ourselves in this great tomb and passing the time quietly, without going out of our way to construct a troublesome system like Rule?"
A leakage of extremely conservative and petty-bourgeois true feelings - very typical of Satoru Suzuki.
But I had been waiting for that. The exact timing to play my ultimate Joker to drag him completely into my logic.
"Lord Ainz. That is a far too optimistic assumption based solely on the current difference in military strength."
I intentionally used a strong tone that directly denied my Master's opinion.
"During the meeting earlier, I mentioned the risk of unknown players... World Champions existing. However, the worst-case scenario that I truly fear and believe we must prepare for is not them."
"What...? A worst-case scenario that surpasses even World Champions?"
Clear tension ran through Ainz's voice.
"Yes. You, too, Lord Ainz, must be thoroughly familiar with YGGDRASIL's systems. ...If the irregulars transferring to this world are not players or guild bases, but... World Enemies, what will You do?"
Dead silence.
Every single sound vanished from the Throne Room.
I saw the dark red points of light wavering in Ainz's eye sockets literally freeze stiff for a split second.
World Enemies.
In the game known as YGGDRASIL, they were the absolute worst raid bosses, where a full party of thirty Level 100 players would have to unsparingly dump World Items just to maybe secure a chance at victory.
What if such an irregular monster had transferred somewhere in this world? Or what if one suddenly popped up several hundred years from now?
With Nazarick's current military strength alone, no matter how excellent the Floor Guardians are, there is a risk that the entire Great Tomb would be completely blown away.
"W-... W-W-World Enemy... you say...?"
Ainz's voice cracked just the slightest bit.
He hurriedly cleared his throat (a sound like bones grinding together) to cover it up, but having memories of my past life, I could clearly read that internally, he was in a massive panic: "Are you kidding me!? I never considered that possibility! This is bad! Super bad!"
"...M-Mmm. Mmm! Just as you say, Tawil Balah!"
Overcoming a terrifying mental freeze that lasted a few seconds, Ainz fired up his innate Majestic King's Acting to maximum capacity and leaned heavily forward from the throne.
"To tell you the truth, I was fearing that exact same point! ...A-As expected of our Nazarick's Keeper of Knowledge. It seems you perfectly understand my concerns!"
"Your words are wasted on me."
I did not do anything as boorish as pointing out his desperate bravado, and instead reverently lowered my tentacles.
"If You, Lord Ainz, had already seen that far ahead, then this will be quick. That is precisely the reason we must Rule the outside world."
"...You are saying that ruling will lead to our preparations against World Enemies? Tawil, explain that logic from your own mouth once more for me... no, so that it may serve as our guiding principle moving forward."
"I can't think of anything myself, so you explain the whole thing for me!" I could hear his painful, internal scream.
Suppressing the urge to chuckle inwardly, I continued my flawless presentation.
"The logic is simple. To oppose an irregular threat like a World Enemy, Nazarick's standalone military force and resources will eventually run dry. That is exactly why we must remake this world itself into Nazarick's massive rear-support base."
In the air, I drew a conceptual map of the world using lines of light.
"Even if the humans outside possess low technology and fragile military strength, if we can integrate the resources of the entire continent into a single system, it will become a massive wall and a shield for us. If we kill them indiscriminately, it amounts to zero, but if we let them live and rule them, they will become the hands and feet that produce food, construct intelligence networks, and excavate unknown items for us. This is the most rational and efficient strategy befitting the path of supremacy of the Absolute Ruler, Lord Ainz."
Ainz simply listened in silence to the grandiose, yet extremely logical vision I presented.
To him, my proposal must have been like sweet rain after a long drought.
There was no need to order cruel slaughters, yet it could satisfy the Guardians' expectations of ruling the world, and furthermore, it provided a justified cause against unknown threats.
"...Magnificent, Tawil."
After a long silence, Ainz let out a deep sigh of admiration.
"It is exactly as you say. Simply trampling with power and scattering terror is the work of a third-rate Demon Lord. We of Ainz Ooal Gown shall rule this world correctly and place all resources under our management. ...That will become the one and absolute board that can repel even the one-in-a-million chance of a World Enemy attacking, correct?"
"As You command, my Lord."
It feels like a cliché light novel development, but this is fine.
Inwardly, I quietly confirmed my victory.
I made Lord Ainz himself define a scenario of ruling through terror accompanied by meaningless pain—like Demiurge's—as third-rate. With this, Demiurge's influence is reliably curtailed.
Though I must not forget, Demiurge's schemes are not born from mere cruelty.
His plans, however grotesque, are architecturally brilliant and always oriented toward Nazarick's long-term dominance. He is a chess grandmaster who simply does not flinch at sacrificing pawns by the thousands.
That is precisely what makes curtailing his influence so difficult, and so necessary
A merely obedient NPC could never guide their Master's will to this extent.
It was the moment my will, and my calculations for survival, clearly steered the helm of the massive ship known as Nazarick in a different direction.
And yet, I harbor no illusions. Even if Lord Ainz internalizes this policy today, Demiurge will not simply stand down. He will find ways to fold his own ambitions into whatever framework is established, bending the rules of rational rule until they accommodate his most efficient atrocities.
Redirecting Ainz was necessary, but it is only the first move on a board where my most dangerous opponent has not yet played his hand
"Tawil Balah. Your wisdom far exceeded my imagination."
Ainz stood up, descended a few steps from the throne, and looked down at me.
"I shall adopt your proposal as Nazarick's most crucial policy moving forward. I command you to continue gathering information on this world from your abyssal vault, and to function as the ultimate Brain supporting my path of supremacy."
"Yes. My omniscience exists solely to guide You, Lord Ainz, to absolute victory."
This time, with genuine loyalty and a sense of kinship akin to pity, I bowed my head deeply.
The Skeletal King who sat at the pinnacle of an unknown world, shivering in loneliness, unable to reveal his true feelings to anyone.
I snuggled up to his loneliness and perfectly paved a road he could walk with peace of mind.
My omniscient flesh clearly sensed that between Ainz and myself, a bizarre complicit relationship transcending the mere bond of Creator and creation - a rock-solid trust as someone he could actually talk to - had been forged.
Only the pleasant sound of the pages orbiting me cutting through the air echoed in the Throne Room.
Now then, the policy has been decided. All that's left is to move the hands and feet to execute this grandiose plan.
I took my leave from the Throne Room and quietly began constructing a teleportation gate to return to my own abyss.
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A/N: Next chapter (aka tomorrow) will feature a battle scene!