“In that case, we’ll respond in kind to His Majesty the King of Darkness’s goodwill… Would everyone besides me turn in your swords? Apologies, but mine is a national treasure. I hope you’ll understand that I can’t turn it over.”
“Yes, of course.”
Albedo signaled with her eyes, and the undead who came out took everyone’s swords.
Probably some of them felt uncomfortable as paladins, having to hand over their personal blades to undead, but they couldn’t refuse their commander’s orders.
Neia turned her sword in, too, and observed Albedo.
Her pretty smile remained on her face, so it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. Or rather, all Neia could gather from her expression was amiability. She seemed to genuinely want to be as kind as possible to them. But was Neia’s interpretation correct? If not…
We were allowed to enter with our swords to meet her master. Was that his order? Or was it because they knew we wouldn’t be able to hurt him anyway?
The King of Darkness was an immensely powerful caster. Maybe he was boasting that he would be victorious no matter how many of the Sacred Kingdom’s paladins came at him.
Or maybe he has undead guarding him. Lady Albedo doesn’t appear to have any combat skills…
The beautiful prime minister who seemed the furthest of anyone from fighting in this world smiled gently.
“Come, everyone. His Majesty is waiting. Shall we go?”
•
As expected from the building itself, the throne room wasn’t anything special. This was undoubtedly being used without any changes from the way it was before the takeover as well.
But the throne itself was gorgeous. That is, it had a conspicuous golden sparkle. It couldn’t have been solid gold, but given its size, even coating it with gold leaf would have been a considerable expense.
And the flag behind the throne was splendid as well. She wasn’t sure what kind of thread it was woven with, but the color was deeper than black alone could achieve. In the low light, it seemed like it might have been dark purple.
“His Majesty will see you now.”
“Let’s bow our heads, everyone,” Remedios instructed.
Neia, taking a knee, was mildly surprised that Remedios would choose to have the paladins bow to an undead, but she had no objections. As a squire she was well-drilled in the etiquette. That said, she’d only ever had occasion to attend an audience with the holy king. With her head lowered, she moved only her eyes and stole desperate glances at the paladins around her.
Seems like…I’m okay…
Of course, she could only see them from the back, so it was possible that from the front there was something strange about her posture, but…
It’s fine! No one said anything to me the time with the holy king! My dad even told me I did a great job!
“Presenting His Majesty the King of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown.”
Albedo, standing slightly ahead of the throne to one side, spoke, and there was an extremely small ksh of crumpling paper that surely only Neia could hear and then footsteps accompanied by the clack, clack of something hard tapping on the floor. Eventually, she sensed someone sit on the throne.
“You’ve been granted permission to raise your heads.”
Getting the timing right on that was rather difficult. Being either too fast or too slow would be rude. She counted a couple seconds silently and then raised her head.
She couldn’t believe what she saw in front of her.
Th-that’s the King of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown.
The face of bare skull. Red flames burning in vacant orbits. An appropriate appearance for an undead. But this one was different from any Neia had ever known.
The first thing that surprised her was his clothing.
He was wearing more expensive-looking garments than any noble she’d seen since beginning her service as a squire.
His costume was long and loose with extremely wide sleeves. The fabric was pure, immaculate white, and both the cuffs and the hem were embroidered with gold and purple accents. He seemed to be closing it at the waist with a belt, but it didn’t strike Neia as strange. It was weird, but it had the air of foreign customs, and she could only rate his outfit magnificent.
And his gloves, the same color as his clothing, had plates that shimmered in the colors of the rainbow set in them. He held a staff made up of a rainbow of snakes intertwined. That was what produced the hard clacking she had heard.
But what was most surprising was the halo of darkness behind him.
…This is an undead? No way…
Neia’s idea of undead were skeletons, zombies, ghasts, and the like.
She didn’t feel like the King of Darkness could be described with the same word undead. Bizarrely, she wasn’t repulsed by his skull face and even felt that he was pure and sublime.
He was more immensely strong—terrible—and didn’t exist in the range of power humans could imagine; he transcended it all.
Forgetting Albedo, next to the throne, Neia inadvertently stared at the King of Darkness.
What brought her back to senses was the “Now then” he uttered.
“What a long way you’ve come from the far-off Sacred Kingdom, Lady Custodio. The other paladins in your party, as well.”
“Not at all, Your Majesty, King of Darkness.”
“I would have held a state feast to welcome you, but I figured you don’t have the leisure to be entertained. I carved out a slot in my schedule for you instead. Let’s not waste any time—we can cut out lengthy euphemisms, flattery, and the like, wouldn’t you say? Let’s speak our minds. Any objections?”
“None, Your Majesty.”
“Good. Then I’d like you to tell me how things are currently in the Sacred Kingdom. If you speak truthfully, and without omission, I think the Nation of Darkness may be able to offer you something in the way of assistance.”
Remedios indicated she understood and spoke eloquently on the country’s status.
What instinct made her want to volunteer that information, Neia didn’t
