Narberal had been fleeing from them recently. 'Maybe we were a bit overzealous.' Lupusregina and Solution had decided that there was clearly some sort of polycule going on. But after a night and morning of consideration Yuri now figured it was more likely Narberal had just been exasperated by the assorted shenanigans interrupting and extending her already very long and very busy day; whist the demons and Lord Ainz just found the situation funny.
'But it would have been very cute if it was.'
It also hadn't actually answered the original question about the Momon-Nabe rumours, hence plan B: just ask directly.
'Really that should have been plan A, I got too carried away.'
Of course that was difficult when Narberal kept fleeing. Not an insurmountable obstacle except that 'hiding behind Albedo' seemed to be her preferred strategy this morning.
It was best not to ask with Albedo in earshot, in case of a favourable answer she hadn't already known about which was probably not the case. Better to be safe than sorry however.
'We're going to need to do something nice for her.'
Yuri was very glad then, to receive an invitation to join Lord Ainz in touring villages in the parts of the former Re:Estize kingdom that were rebuilding as Aureum province of the Sorcerer Kingdom.
"I would be grateful for the opportunity to join you, Lord Ainz." She said, kneeling before the throne with the assembled floor and area guardians of Nazarick, all now receiving assignment.
Yuri made eye contact with Narberal when Lord Ainz finished speaking and made to depart. She shivered and fled to join Ainz, Pandora's Actor, and Demiurge as they left, leaving Albedo to continue to address everyone else.
'We definitely went too far.'
Also interesting was that while Lord Ainz called Pandora's Actor and Demiurge to join him, he didn't mention Narberal, and yet he and the other great minds were apparently perfectly fine with her choosing to go, Albedo even smiled towards their backs. 'Something is still up though, but what?'
"They only meant well my dear."
"I know, Pandora. I just can't believe they all thought…" Narberal shook herself, "really, it's just a bit much."
"By all means make your sister's sweat for a while," Demiurge added, "but don't let anything important break."
"I won't."
"If nothing else it was a good bonding experience for most of Nazarick." Ainz said as they exited the throne room's antichamber.
'The atmosphere between the four of us had not been formal at all by the end, after dealing with them all day.'
Narberal looked back to where Albedo was finishing the address in the throne room. She caught Narberal's eye and gave a quick smile.
'Yes, much more casual and friendly even when working, almost no risk of having any of the Greats look on in disappointment or anger. Only ever looks, but that was still dreadful. This was probably for the best.'
"Oh ho," Demiurge spoke again, "so that is why you let the rumour spread, Lord Ainz. Truly an ingenious plan, we shall endeavour to keep a more inviting atmosphere at all times. I see now that it is vastly superior to our old motivational techniques."
Well that basically settled it, 'luck strikes again.'
"Umu…it is as you say, Demiurge. A pleasant working environment within all of Nazarick for everyone at all times is essential."
It would not actually impact most people's days at all, everyone else already having that, except when reporting to Ainz directly. And that only because everyone else was worried about upsetting the master plan that Ainz didn't actually have and having Demiurge or Albedo enact proportionate vengeance. Not that such a thing had ever actually happened before, but it was a worry for many. 'But conveniently this makes everything much less stressful for everyone when reporting, and you all of the time now.'
"Amazing foresight, to have arranged such a perfect demonstration without anyone the wiser. As expected of Lord Ainz!"
She could almost hear a deep sigh within the echoing thud of Ainz's staff striking the floor as they continued walking. 'This bit is never going to stop being hilarious to me.'
This place was essentially rubble. 'Barely one stone atop another, and they are still living here?' The once village looked as though rebuilding hadn't begun at all, not as though it had been ongoing for months.
The villagers, a few frightened souls where there should have been dozens were gathered at what was once the centre of town in an unseemly heap. 'Very like to their homes.' The few were very thin and sickly, 'emaciated? We provided foodstuffs to be distributed.'
"This doesn't look right." Ainz echoed her thoughts. Yuri glanced around 'perhaps it is only the nearby buildings still in total ruin?' It was not. Rubble until the edge of town in every direction.
"It looks like the last one, except some people are still here." The people hadn't been at the last village, having seemingly abandoned the place. It hadn't been hugely surprising, the reconstruction effort wasn't being handled by Nazarick directly, rather through various surviving nobles that had sworn fealty. Some ineffectiveness was to be expected. 'Still, two in a row is suspicious.' Especially as it was the first two they checked in this particular noble's territory, and the neighbouring lands were doing fine.
"It looks rather like we left these places in the war actually. Have they done nothing at all?" Ainz seems to be talking to himself so Yuri stepped out of the shadows of the burnt grove they had teleported into and made her way towards the assembled villagers. "I will go find out what has happened, Ainz."
Ainz hummed, being pulled from his thoughts. "Yes, see if you can't get them to explain what is afoot. I will scout around the place."
They, all twenty or so, looked frightened, not an unexpected reaction to Lord Ainz, if a sacrilegious one, but they also hadn't appeared to have noticed either Ainz or Yuri yet. 'Are they afraid of this place?' One, an older woman, probably the village chief, was holding one of the scrolls Nazarick had teleported to each village informing them of Lord Ainz's tour.
'Well, if this is the extent of rebuilding efforts then unease at inspection is not unwarranted.'
Yuri cleared her throat and the assembled lot jumped and nearly fell over themselves in surprise. 'Not quite this tense though.'
The village chief recovered first and, contrary to expectation, smiled widely, ran over, and knelt. "Great one! Are you the saviour sent by the Sorcerer King?"
'Saviour?' Save them from what?
"I am a servant of the Sorcerer King. From what do you need saving?"
"Bandits, Great One. They have taken everything, and lain a curse on this village."
'A curse?' The place didn't feel cursed, but she was less attuned to that than some. 'But banditry shouldn't be a problem, the nobles have means of communication with Nazarick agents to prevent that.'
"Has the noble entrusted with this land done nothing? Ah, and you may stand if you wish."
The chief rose and Yuri looked over to the others. Still wary, but much less obviously afraid of something. 'If they believe this place to be cursed, that explains it.'
"No, Great One. The lord has not, he said that since there were only three we should deal with them ourselves. And none of the people who went to ask for aid have returned save the first."
'Rather extraordinary bandits then.'
"I see," Something would indeed have to be done about that. 'But first, lets get out of this depressing rubble.'
"I have brought an item to create a feast. Your people should tell me of these bandits and this lord over a midday meal."
The prospect of food seemed to perk up the people more than she had expected. 'Clearly, they were not doing well.' "Although, perhaps we should get out of the village proper first?"
This place probably wasn't actually cursed if they had been fine waiting for her and Ainz, but better to be safe. While walking in the centre of a clump of now very excited villagers Yuri took out the chat-earring Ainz had given her.
'It seems that bandits have been preventing them from rebuilding the village.'
Ainz replied a moment later. 'And most of the outlying farm buildings, though they seem to have made a variety of temporary shelters in the woods.'
'I will learn more over a meal with them. Apparently the local lord left them alone to deal with three very effective bandits.'
'Umu. That will ensure that you are in their good graces. And it is only right of course, we committed ourselves to providing for these people.'
Over the next hour Yuri learned of how the former adventurer group that helpers in these lands turned bandit, and must have bedazzled the son of their local lord, their friendly ruler having perished suddenly of illness and replaced by his heir.
'Hmm, possible.' Was Ainz's opinion 'But it may also be a greater scheme from this new lord, who hired these former adventurers; with the secrecy and the messengers no longer returning.'
'There are another two villages in this area, could they know more?'
'Likely not. But we should go and verify, then investigate this lord of theirs.'
The other villages had similar stories, and were even worse off.
'How dare these bandits take for themselves what we have given to the populous!'
"Ainz," Yuri asked as they strode up the large and reasonably well maintained - by new world standards - road towards the manor in the centre of the estate of what was either a hopelessly inept or foolishly malicious local lord. "About yesterday and the audit…"
Ainz brushed an overhanging branch aside, necrotic aura rotting it back until the branch no longer blocked the way. "Ah, yes the Pleiades never did officially report. Everything was fine, however, so that is not a problem."
"I have a file with me and can present it, but I was also wondering about some rumours we had heard. We got a bit out of hand looking into them and were disruptive, for which I apologise."
"Umu, yes Pandora's rendition of that rumour was… something to behold." Ainz paused on the road and shook his head. "However, do not feel the need to apologise, we all enjoyed the distraction. In fact, it was…" He paused again as if searchng for the right words, eventually continuing "precisely according to plan."
'The plan? What plan, the Grand Plan? How?'
"Or so Demiurge insists anyway. Albedo and Narberal seemed to agree so we will say that everything worked out. It was most definitely an excellent demonstration of comradery that brightened our day."
Yuri paused in their walk as well and turned. "I'm not sure I follow."
Ainz cocked his head to the side again, and then stepped back to lean against a tree. "What I would like for Nazarick, Yuri, is a place where all its denizens can be happy. Of course, that is not always possible for everyone all of the time, and seeking out endless happiness is the quickest road to none at all. Still, we must do our best."
She had read something like that in a philosophy text from Ashurbanipal. Yuri nodded and Ainz went on.
"We are the great and powerful in this world, and outside, we must act like it. These humans, elves, dwarves, the beastfolk, and so on, they all see us as some mix of divinely powerful and tyrannical conquerors. We work to ensure our image is that of benevolent overlords, that is after all, our ultimate goal, to rule this world and to rule it well."
He waited and she connected the dots. "But that is a tiring image to maintain at all times, that's why we get to have these casual interactions. To ease that burden for you." Yuri was confident in her conclusion.
"It is, and I'm glad it gives us a chance to be friends, Yuri." She squealed in her heart. "But it would not be fair to have that only for ourselves and leave the rest of Nazarick out."
"We have work to do and must act seriously outside, but within Nazarick we must take what joy we find, and act like it. Be casual, relaxed and happy even when performing our duties or else it will be a cold and lonely lordship for us all. You all ended up demonstrating that for us poor auditors yesterday, by the end everyone was following your example, if not so extravagantly. "
That made a lot of sense. 'And we had a part in that.' She felt a small flicker of pride. 'I understand Ainz, the gift of comradery should be shared by us all. There is a time and place for form and formal, and it is not always."
"Exactly so. And we will all be better off for it, 'balancing work and play' as it is called."
'Amazing.'
"So," She asked, "the rumour about a sparkling romance between Momon and Nabe that we heard that morning was just to get us to show that casual and fun-having behaviour to all of Nazarick?"
It was clearly an amazing master plan, but why not just ask us to play that part? 'I suppose we aren't all great actors, we might not have looked natural.'
"Ahhh," Ainz put a hand to the back of his head and looked down. "No, that was actually just a rumour. I didn't know about it until after. But you looked like you were having fun so we just let it happen and things ended up working out very well.
'It wasn't planned?'
"If I did want you or your sisters to act out something like that I would ask." Ainz went on, "that sort of manipulation is not the kind of leader or friend I want to be."
Yuri was a little puzzled. 'That is very nice but hardly necessary. We are all happy to do what is most effective.' Still, it was good to know, but… "Was it not part of your plan then? If you didn't start the rumour on purpose?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Ahh... how to say this?" Ainz looked off into the middle distance for a moment. "The most important part of a plan is your goal, the major goals and minor ones. Sometimes orchestrating plots is the most effective way to get there, and other times it is by making the most of what situations you find yourself in."
"To tell you the truth, rather more of my devious plans are improvisation and making good use of happenstance than otherwise. You were having fun, and as it happened, this was exactly the best way to teach everyone else the importance of not being so serious all the time. So the best course was to make sure you could until everyone else realised what the lesson was."
Amazing. That was even more impressive. 'To still get everything to go perfectly anyway, despite having such minimal direct involvement.' Ainz was clearly a master of this.
"That makes a lot of sense." She said after a moment, pushing off of the tree and getting back to the path. 'I had always wondered how you foresaw everything that everyone would do. Knowing the best way to adapt everything to your goals makes so much more sense, but is just as amazing."
Ainz rose as well. "Err… something like that, yes, thank you. Fortunately it is an easier skill to learn than omniscience."
"Is that what Narberal is learning? Since it isn't a starlit romance after all." They continued along the road, the manor was just around the next bend and a few hundred feet down.
Ainz chuckled. "Yes, in a manner of speaking. And it is very helpful to have another mind working like that to balance out Demiurge and Albedo's very layered and meticulous plans."
"Because the more detailed a plan, the more room for things to go wrong and need to be improvised back on course?" She asked.
"That is a great way to look at it. The attention to detail is ideal unless a factor behaves unexpectedly. They are incredibly intelligent and quite fond of… extreme complexity. Which isn't to say they can't improvise, no, they are both amazing! Ah, it warms my heart to see everyone in Nazarick learning and growing."
'And this new world is full of surprises.'
"Metaphorically anyway," Yuri added. Her own would have been thumping in excitement had it possessed the ability to do so.
Ainz laughed again as they approached the manor, two trembling soldiers warily stepped out from their position by the door at the approach. "And speaking of metaphor, let's find out what that one villager meant by 'prouder than the top brick, and blinder than Ol' starnose.'"
The noble, a short round little human who looked as though he had never once done anything manually, ever, got progressively redder as the interview went on.
Not because Yuri or Ainz were doing anything in particular, Ainz was sitting comfortably on a couch he had conjured - the noble's own being less than acceptable - and Yuri herself was sitting prim on one of its arms. They had hardly said anything, the man had simply been monologuing about his destiny for nearly an hour and was finally running out of air.
Most of Nazarick would have found this aggravating, but it was a little funny really. 'Like watching a bad play.' She would have pitied the man, but he had quite proudly admitted guilt in taking all of Nazarick's humanitarian aid for his own estate, and not assisting with rebuilding the destroyed towns and villages.
He had also badly alluded to the murder of his own father and taking over as lord after he interpreted some of Ainz's and her nods as approving, rather than the baffled they were. 'I wonder how long he can talk consecutively?'
Alas, they would never know, her watch chimed, they were rather behind schedule. "Lord Ainz," Yuri interrupted the diatribe which had somehow moved onto how the wine he was drinking was proof of his families - but mostly his own - right to rule. "We are now two sections behind on our tour."
Ainz looked a little disappointed, clearly he had also enjoyed watching this man dig his own grave. 'Justice for those poor peoples will be sweet and satisfying.'
"Well then," Ainz set down the wine glass he had, for some inexplicable reason, been provided with. She had received one as well, the drink was atrocious, very nearly an insultingly bad attempt at wine; sadly par for the course in new-world circles.
"It seems this interview is over, you will of course be removed from rulership. This will be a fine case for the trial courts system we have been setting up in E-Rantel. I must thank you for providing such clear and… engaging testimony of your crimes against the people."
The man spluttered at Ainz's proclamation and managed to grow ever redder. Yuri sighed inside, the court system had been coming together nicely and this probably was the best use of the opportunity provided by an insanely corrupt official. 'But a direct application of justice would have been immensely satisfying.' It was kind of Ainz to so explicitly demonstrate the earlier instruction on making the best use of oppurtunities however.
"I think not!" The man, having clearly never once thought at all, declared. "Guards!"
With a move that was presumably supposed to be fast and unexpected the liveried guard closest to her drew a blade and held it to Yuri's neck. The other stepped around from behind the noble and pointed their blade to her chest.
'The maintenance on those things are awful. You should be ashamed of yourselves.' It had not been the adept or skillful swing of a person physically capable of bypassing her damage resistance so she had not moved. Ainz, aware of this, also neglected to move.
"Back off, or she loses her head."
'I do hate it when that happens.' She mused as Ainz, unimpressed, said nothing.
"I mean it, Sorcerer King. You'll let me take our valuables and go without interfering, or your maid's head will roll."
Rolling sounded unpleasant. 'These floors are filthy.'
The silly little noble stood, striding to the window and looking out of it with arms crossed behind his back. "I've heard that you actually care for your subordinates, foolish undead. So I know you will not stop us, you may have discovered my embezzling, but you make the mistake of leaving me to talk while my people put everything onto carts for transport. And so I shall take all that is rightfully mine, build a new estate, and rule it like is my destiny."
'Well that will make transporting things to the villages faster.'
The idiot turned to look at Lord Ainz, who by now had leaned down on one arm of the couch and was reclining in clear amusement. "And you, creature, will help me do it. Or off with her head!"
'Why the specific insistence on decapitation? Would he be trying to melt Solution? Curse Lupusregina into a beast like that fairy story?'
Ainz was possibly having similar incredulous thoughts as he began chuckling. "Oh by all means, give it your best shot. Yuri, you may do as you please."
The sword at her throat slashed into her skin just below her choker, or rather, tried to. It was incapable of bypassing her defenses but, 'goodness have you ever washed that thing? Disgusting.'
"Oh my." She deadpanned, " I should sure hate to lose my head, things might get unpleasant afterwards."
Only Ainz got the joke, but he laughed so she counted it as a win.
Yuri dropped down and swept a leg out from under the unwashed man, as he fell twisting she rose and planted a fist into his sternum with the exact force - and a little Ki - required to shatter the entire bone, splinters shredding his heart and lungs and exploding out his back. He collapsed like a previously used burlap sack.
'And they call this luxury? I'll need a bath after this place.'
A side door burst open as she batted away the blade of the second guard that had been in the room. Three more entered, but were on the far side. She stepped forwards and planted a foot into the side of the man's leg, he screamed as she shattered bone and he fell. She stepped forwards again and planted a fist through the mans back and out his chest.
By now, the others had made their way over to her, she caught another blade in the corpse of the second. The three additional 'guards' that had burst in from a side room matched the description of the 'bandits' the villagers had mentioned. 'Oh good, I can clear out that trash as well.'
Yuri spun and threw the now-skewered corpse at the furthest person, some sort of caster. She then evaded a glaive that embedded itself into the floor, and stomped on the weapon, burying it beyond the strength of the wielder to retrieve.
Having been swiftly disarmed the pair of warriors began to back up. 'No, it's rather late for that I think, for the both of you.' Yuri stepped forward faster than their mortal eyes could follow and grabbed the taller by the throat and swung them at the shorter. Both crashed together in a wet crunching of flesh and bone, leaving them little more than paste. 'Perhaps that was just a little overzealous,' a sharp crack sounded as her movement briefly broke the sound barrier.
The last, the mage, somewhat sprayed with blood and pinned under a corpse, unleashed a ball of fire at her. Yuri did not bother evading, the room erupted in flame and the idiot noble screamed in pain before the immense heat scalded his lungs on an inhale and he began to choke.
'Surprisingly powerful spell casting for a new-worlder, I almost took damage.'
She stepped over the burning woolen carpet and the slowly igniting wooden floor. The mage struggled and tried to scramble back, shouting wordlessly and sending another ineffective fireball.
"It seems you have potential, human. Why work for this fool noble?" She asked, only a little curious. He had been tormenting what few villagers remained alive on this land for selfish gain, and so would perish like the others.
The shaking mage did not answer, simply screamed about a monster, so she crushed their head between her palms with a swift blow, taking care to direct most of the blood and brains towards the far wall.
"Well that's done now, we can make sure those villagers can actually rebuild." She commented to Ainz, still lounging on the couch, as she tried to shake the sticky and unpleasant blood from her hands and gauntlets. 'So messy, these are such a pain to clean.'
"Not quite, there are a few more at the door." Ainz lazily pointed a wand at the dying noble, the fire having been rather intense, and most of the burns healed. " Entomb: Binding Iron " Chains burst from a conjured portal and dragged the crying man into an extra dimensional prison where he would be entirely wrapped in chains that would gradually get tighter and more restrictive. Solution had told her about that spell once, it was apparently a favorite of Shalltears. Yuri deliberately did not imagine how Shalltear used it, that way lied madness.
Instead, Yuri looked to the door and sure enough another two had just entered the room while she was trying to shake the blood off her gauntlets. One held a bow drawn and aimed at her chest, The other held a spear and was poised to throw it at Ainz. She recognised neither from the villagers' descriptions.
"You may surrender if you wish." She told them kindly.
They did not, one loosed their arrow, the other the spear. Yuri dove to catch the spear, it would not have harmed Ainz of course, but it was the principle of the thing. The arrow embedded itself into the far wall, her dive having been faster than its flight. "Want to reconsider?" She asked and they fled screaming.
"At least take your spear back." She called, throwing it and impaling the mortal who dared strike at Ainz. They would take a while to die, pinned to the floor with his own spear.
Yuri did not pursue the last so Ainz reached out a hand, " Grasp Heart " and the last fell over dead.
"Now we can begin setting this to rights." He said benevolently and cast " Prestidigitation " to clean the rest of the viscera from her gauntlets.
'Wonderful!'
"May I oversee some of these nobles during reconstruction, Ainz, when we're done here? To make sure nobody else takes advantage of your generosity."
"Of course," he said, standing, "that sounds like a wonderful idea. But for now Create Mid Tier Undead: Death Knight let's take what remains of the grain and building materials to the villagers."
Death knights were surprisingly effective pack mules, as it turned out. The creature, properly harnessed, was able to pull all three caravans like a sort of grisly train without issue. Not that it needed to pull them far, just through the conjured Gate that Ainz had cast to the least ruined of the three villages.
Yuri had suggested that with so few people between the settlements still alive, and their shared torment, they might be better off founding a new settlement. The villagers, surprisingly resilient in spirit, disagreed, though they were all moving to a single town. The one Ainz had 'ritually cleansed of its curse.'
A ' detect magic ' from Ainz had shown no actual curse on any, but the show made the people feel better, apparently.
"I do not understand that man at all." She commented from where she and Ainz stood atop a tower he had conjured, overlooking the small army of skeletons assisting the humans in reconstruction. "He was so insistent on being the 'rightful ruler' but he neglected every part of actual rulership."
Ainz hummed, and waved an arm, imparting some finer control of skeletons where they were presently laying a sewer system for what would eventually become a decent-sized town. "That is surprisingly common with hereditary rulers, or at least it was historically in my world. They have very little idea of what life is actually like for most people and the disconnect has them act…strangely."
"Were terrible rulers to blame for what happened to your world?" Yuri still didn't know much, but there were some history texts in Ashurbanipal from Ainz's old world. Although apparently they were several centuries out of date.
Ainz thought about that for a moment. "We did not have hereditary monarchs anymore, but essentially yes. The people in charge thought only for themselves and acted with only greed in mind. Our whole system was flawed, it punished good people and let the ambitious and greedy climb the ranks to positions of power. The benevolent and the meritorious were a sad and ineffective minority, as is also the case in this world."
Yuri looked down at the gradually constructing village, the people now being uplifted from destitution not necessarily to luxury, but to fulfilled needs and security. "Is that why we must rule them? Because we are superior and won't make those mistakes but can instead teach the people to be better?"
"So long as we don't fall to hubris, yes. My people had examples of truly good and benevolent rulers whose only crime was to die and leave the throne to a lesser person." Ainz turned to her, "Fortunately, we do not have that problem."
There was a shout from below, a pair of humans carried baskets of bread and were calling the workers over. One was waving up at them with a wide smile.
"It looks like they got the public ovens finished." She commented, stepping up onto the parapet and preparing to jump down.
Ainz chuckled. "No surprise there, like you said, they are resilient. See how they call for their hero?"
"I hardly did all that much." She protested.
"Maybe, but it seemed it was exactly enough for them, so well done anyway."
Yuri grinned, proffered a salute, and lept down to mingle with the villagers.