"Ugh... my head is spinning... ugh... I want to throw up..."
This was Iri's first reaction upon waking up.
When she opened her eyes and saw the familiar bed canopy, realizing she was lying in her own room, Iri breathed a sigh of relief.
She seemed to have had a rather interesting yet terrifying dream; interesting because she actually had a good fight with Ainz-papa and even managed to suppress him, and terrifying because in the end, Ainz-papa still knocked her out with a terrifying method, and he was still at full health and unharmed, which was quite awkward.
Just then, she saw Qiya Lei by the bed, who 'revealed' a smile after seeing her wake up, and even wrung out a towel to wipe her face.
Uh... Qiya Lei was taking care of her!
Hmm? That's not right, is it? Usually, Qiya Lei wouldn't take care of her like she was tending to a sick person, would she?
Ugh... my head hurts. Wait a minute, why am I lying in my own room?
I remember... my last memory, wasn't I going to the Empire, and then I found the Four Strategists Squad and traveled with them, then entered Nazarick and then encountered...
Ah!!
Iri suddenly sat up, startling Qiya Lei, who was beside her.
This wasn't a dream! She had indeed fought Ainz-papa and was completely crushed by him.
She remembered that in the end, to protect the Four Strategists, she used Albedo's body double to shield them from the skills.
After that, she didn't know anything. What happened during the time she was unconscious?
The Four Strategists weren't slaughtered by Ainz-papa like in the original work, were they?
No!!! She had worked so hard to get to this point, she said she would protect them, but was it still impossible!
"Iri-sama, are you awake?" Qiya Lei, seeing Iri's anxious expression, asked cautiously.
"Qiya Lei-jie! Where are the others! Where are the others who came with me?" Iri asked hurriedly.
"I... I don't know. Iri-sama was out for so many days, then You Li-sama and Solution Epsilon-sama suddenly brought you back and told me to take good care of you. I don't know anything else," Qiya Lei shook her head and replied.
"Princess Elizabeth, your companions have been settled in the guest rooms according to Ainz-sama's wishes. Do you have any instructions?" On the other side, Cicici, a maid who was originally on standby in the corner of the room to serve Ainz-papa, stepped forward and said something that put Iri slightly at ease.
"Then quickly take me to see them!" But without confirming their safety with her own eyes, Iri was still uneasy.
Who knew if they were in good condition or had been transformed into some grotesque living specimens! Iri finished speaking and jumped directly off the bed.
"Um, Princess Elizabeth... please allow us to help you change," Cicici said.
"Oh! Okay! Come on! Hurry up!" Iri didn't care about anything else and directly agreed. After Cicici and several other maids who took care of her fussed over her for a long time, Iri finally changed her clothes and, led by Cicici, headed to the guest room where the Four Strategists were.
Of course, Iri could have directly teleported there using the ainz ooal gown ring, but she still chose to walk. Although Iri was anxious and eager to confirm the safety of the Four Strategists.
But at the same time, she also had to think of an excuse for when she met them later. Although the act she and Ainz-papa put on in the arena basically explained the problem, she still had to pay attention to the details. Iri thought as she followed Cicici to the guest room.
Iri arrived at the guest room and saw that there was no guard at the door, which she found a bit strange. Basically, with Ainz-papa's cautious 'nature', shouldn't he have arranged some guards?
Uh... thinking about it, there didn't seem to be any need. Anyway, this was the eighth underground floor, and there were traps and surveillance everywhere, so they couldn't escape, could they?
Seeing Iri stunned at the door, Cicici glanced at Iri, as if to confirm whether Iri wanted to go in. Iri nodded, and Cicici, understanding, knocked on the door and then opened it.
The door wasn't even locked? This move is truly vicious! Nazarick is full of all kinds of traps everywhere. If the Four Strategists didn't stay put and 'randomly' walked around...
Iri saw Cicici open the door and couldn't help but think to herself, then immediately walked into the room and saw Hellank, Imina, and Arshe lying on the bed sleeping, and Uncle Roba sitting on the sofa keeping watch, which made Iri breathe a sigh of relief.
"Iri-meimei! Hey! Hellank! Get up! Iri-meimei is here!" Uncle Roba was very happy to see Iri enter and called everyone up.
"Cicici-jie, please go back first!" Iri said to Cicici. Cicici nodded and withdrew.
"Oh! It's good to see Iri-meimei safe and sound." Hellank yawned and got out of bed. Imina and Miss Arshe also got up.
"It's good to see you all safe and sound too. I was worried about you, afraid you would just run away," Iri asked with great concern.
"Is that so, you're afraid we'd run away?" Imina said quite unhappily, perhaps because Iri's expression was a bit problematic? Or perhaps the previous attack on Hellank made her unhappy? Iri thought so.
"Does Iri-meimei not want us to run away?" Hellank asked with a grinning expression.
"No, it's not that. This is the eighth underground floor of Nazarick, and it's surrounded by deadly magic traps. I'm worried you might encounter danger..." Before Iri could finish speaking, Hellank laughed, and Uncle Roba also 'revealed' a very kind smile.
"I told you, Imina... Iri-meimei is still our companion, right?" Hellank said. Imina turned her head away, a little embarrassed.
"Hmph! But it's a fact that she attacked us!" Imina said.
"I already said, at that time, Iri-meimei was in a state of 'blood frenzy', almost unconscious, so you can't blame her, can you? Besides, Iri-meimei has been desperately protecting us, right?" Uncle Roba defended Iri.
Hmm... Iri noticed a detail, how did Uncle Roba know about the 'blood frenzy'? Could it be that Uncle Roba knew about the Vampire True Ancestor? She needed to pay attention to this.
"Alright, alright! I know, Iri-meimei... I'm sorry, I doubted you." Imina apologized to Iri, blushing and a little embarrassed.
"No... I should be the one apologizing, for using you to bring me here," Iri said, feigning a guilty expression. Before this, Iri had already thought of an excuse, and now she just had to put on a good act.
"Um... Iri-meimei, are you really the princess here?" Hellank got straight to the point. It was clear that Hellank really trusted her, otherwise he wouldn't have asked this way.
And how did Hellank know her identity? Earlier in the arena, Ainz-papa also called her the bloodline of Nazarick throughout, so there shouldn't have been any place for it to be 'exposed'. It seems someone might have let it slip when they brought them here?
"Yes." Iri nodded without hesitation. She couldn't show any hesitation here, otherwise it would give people a sense of distrust, as if she was trying to hide something.
"That's truly surprising... I'm a bit confused now. So, that skeleton and you are...?" Hellank sighed and then continued to ask.
"He was my former father... No, he is my father, and always has been," Iri said, lowering her head and 'revealing' a very bitter expression, which was, of course... also feigned.
"Father?? That skeleton??" Everyone's eyes widened, looking at Iri with great incomprehension.
"Yes, it's a long story, and I don't know where to begin," Iri replied with great distress, thinking to herself that she didn't know where to start making things up.
"This... this ruin, no... this tomb should be about six hundred years old. If that skeleton is your father, then Iri, you...?" Arshe was quite surprised.
"I... I should be like a monster now, right? I don't even know what I've become..." Iri lowered her head, looking at her outstretched hand, appearing utterly sad, still feigning it.
"What exactly is going on?" Uncle Roba asked with great concern.
"It's a long story, at least going back five hundred years..." Iri said earnestly. Yes! Just make it up directly to the era of the Six Great Gods and Eight Greed Kings. Anyway, there's no way to prove it, and she can even use myths to drag it to a national level.
Aha... Iri, you're so smart! Iri thought so.
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