Chapter 112: Pandora's Actor
Ainz was stunned by Demiurge's line of reasoning for a long moment.
He came back to himself at last and said: "R, right — yes, exactly — leaving Narberal in E-Rantel was precisely for this moment."
"Ahem. I've decided — I will reactivate the adventurer identity 'Momon' to gather hidden intelligence from the outside world."
He was following along with Demiurge's train of thought.
No sooner had he spoken than two voices rose almost simultaneously.
"I strongly advise against it!" Demiurge stepped forward, an unusual urgency breaking through his usual composure.
"Absolutely not, Ainz-sama." Albedo's voice followed immediately, her golden slit-pupils filled with unconcealed worry.
Ainz's jawbone opened slightly.
He had assumed his proposal would be accepted. After all, following Demiurge's own chain of reasoning, this should have been the natural conclusion.
The sudden opposition left him momentarily wrong-footed.
Demiurge explained quickly. "Ainz-sama, our conclusions regarding the dragon are not yet settled. Having the adventurer Momon venture out alone is still too dangerous."
He pushed up his glasses and offered a careful analysis. "Although I have deduced that the dragon most likely cannot read Shalltear's memories, this deduction remains unconfirmed. If the dragon's offensive power truly reaches the level Sebas described, the risk of you acting alone in the field would be far too great."
Albedo picked up where he left off, her voice carrying suppressed emotion. "Ainz-sama, regardless of whether Demiurge's deduction is correct, I cannot possibly agree to you personally going out to take risks. Nazarick cannot lose you."
The remaining Guardians nodded in agreement.
Their meaning was clear. Ainz-sama must under no circumstances be put in danger.
Ainz watched this unfold, a complicated feeling moving through him. These Guardians were always like this — they treated his safety as more important than anything else.
"Then." Ainz's voice regained the steadiness befitting a Supreme Being. "What do you propose?"
Demiurge inclined slightly. "This subordinate believes the task should be entrusted to someone else, impersonating Momon."
Albedo's eyes brightened briefly, then she added: "Yes. The adventurer identity Momon, which Ainz-sama personally created, is far too valuable to risk. Under the current circumstances, having someone else conduct intelligence gathering in your stead until safety can be fully confirmed, at which point you personally resume..."
Ainz rubbed his jawbone.
The proposal did make sense. Considerably more cautious than his own idea.
Then who would impersonate Momon?
The red light in Ainz's eye sockets flickered slightly.
Pandora's Actor. The level-100 NPC he had built with his own hands. The Area Guardian of the Treasury.
As a Doppelgänger, he could copy forty-five different appearances and make use of the corresponding abilities, though the copies ran at eighty percent of the original's power.
If anyone were to impersonate Momon, Pandora's Actor was the optimal choice in both capability and reliability.
However.
Against his will, a particular image surfaced in Ainz's mind: a smooth, bald pink egg-shaped head. The exaggerated saluting motion. The theatrical German lines delivered with maximum dramatic effect.
If Ainz were still capable of sweating, he would have been drenched by now.
But there was genuinely no better candidate.
...Fine. This is how it has to be.
Ainz rose from the throne.
"Albedo. Come with me."
The teleportation light of the Treasury faded. Ainz and Albedo appeared in that familiar landscape of golden mountains.
A faint purple vapor drifted through the air — the lethal poison of Jörmungandr's blood.
Ainz paid it no attention. As an undead, toxins had no effect on him.
Albedo had already prepared herself against the poison as well.
"Ainz-sama." Albedo followed a step behind him, her golden slit-pupils moving across the mountains of accumulated gold coins and the treasures scattered throughout. "This place is..."
"The Treasury. The domain Pandora's Actor is charged with managing." A brief answer. Ainz walked on.
His pace was slightly faster than usual.
The two passed through the golden mountain ranges and came before a pitch-black door.
When the prompt appeared, Ainz spoke the release password aloud: "Thus, thou alone shall seize the glory of the entire world, and all darkness shall flee from thee."
The black shadow dissolved as though drawn away by some force, revealing the passage leading into the armory.
The armory's display was as magnificent as it had always been.
Broadswords, greatswords, armor-piercing blades, flame-edged swords, scimitars, sword-breakers — tens of thousands of magical weapons in orderly ranks along both sides, giving off faint glimmers of many colors in the dim light.
Albedo's gaze passed over them, an expression of admiration crossing her face.
Ainz didn't stop. He walked straight through the armory and into the empty room that served as a reception area.
A sofa and table stood quietly in place. The passage at the far end of the room led deeper in, toward the Mausoleum.
"Pandora's Actor."
Ainz's voice echoed in the empty room.
Almost in the same instant, a figure emerged from the depths of the passage.
A being with a smooth pink egg-shaped head.
The flat face bore only three voids — where eyes and mouth would be were three hollows that appeared to have been painted black, containing no eyeballs, no teeth, no tongue.
The hat on his head bore the guild crest of Ainz Ooal Gown. He wore a uniform that resembled a military coat.
He snapped his ankles together with a sharp, crisp sound, then raised his right hand to the brim of his hat in an exaggerated salute.
"Welcome, my creator Ainz-sama!"
The voice rang out clear and resonant, every syllable saturated with deliberate theatrical flair.
Ainz felt something in the deepest part of his soul twinge with quiet pain.
"...Pandora's Actor. I have a mission for you."
"Oh! Please issue your orders! Whatever the mission, I shall carry it out with the most perfect execution!"
Pandora's Actor held his salute. That egg-shaped head gleamed with particular roundness in the dim light.
Ainz reached into his dimensional space and produced a set of jet-black full-body plate armor. The surface carried a dull sheen under the magic lamps.
Beside it, two equally black greatswords — broad-bladed, extraordinarily heavy.
Momon's equipment.
"Put on this armor. Then take my appearance."
Pandora's Actor's hollow eyes fixed on the armor. He performed another exaggerated salute.
"As you command!"
The black plate settled over his body. Vambraces and greaves were buckled into place, and last came the full-face helmet.
Then Pandora's Actor activated his racial ability.
The figure beneath the full-face helmet began to shift and reform. The silhouette of the armor adjusted in subtle increments.
When the transformation was complete, the warrior standing before Ainz was a perfect double of Momon.