Before the Storm: Act 8, Chapter 4
Chapter 4
“Ainz-sama.”
A heavy malaise hung over Ainz Ooal Gown, Supreme Overlord of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Sovereign of the Sorcerous Kingdom, and the man who had recently been made aware of how clueless he was about running a country. Not that he ever thought himself good at it. He knew he was bad – that was why he left the task to others, after all – but not that bad.
Caught in a trap of his own making, Ainz had little choice but to spend the entire night in the Great Library of Ashurbanipal as Baroness Zahradnik explored His Majesty the Sorcerer King’s mastery of societal engineering with Aura and Mare. He never realised how much work the Sorcerer King supposedly put into guiding his subjects to the bright and shining future he had promised them. All he could remember was skimming through the paperwork that Albedo brought to him and making futile attempts to understand what was going on before giving up and putting his seal on each document.
Perhaps the most concerning thing was that, even as Ainz struggled to follow what the Baroness was saying, Aura and Mare seemed to have few issues keeping up. The more the trio delved into the endless depths of the Sorcerer King’s alleged wisdom, the more empty Ainz felt his head was. Reportedly, the twins spent quite a lot of time with the young noblewoman – at least as far as their interactions with the natives went – so perhaps they had gained the prerequisite knowledge to understand her terrifyingly complex analysis during previous discussions.
His bruised and battered mind and ego aside, Ainz figured it was a good thing. As it was with Shalltear, Lady Zahradnik seemed to be a good influence on Aura and Mare. While he rarely worried for the twins’ physical safety as they went about their daily routines, he was worried that a ‘friend’ might latch onto them to take advantage of their power or influence. They were still innocent children, after all.
“…Ainz-sama?”
The crimson points of light in his eye sockets flared to life.
“Hm? Is something the matter?”