Chapter 146: Ainz Guessed Right
Inside the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Light from the magic lamps poured down from the vaulted ceiling, filling the hall as bright as daylight. The tall stone pillars stood in orderly rows on either side, the intricate carvings along their surfaces flickering in and out of the light — as though some ancient force were coursing through the stone.
Ainz Ooal Gown sat on his throne.
The semi-translucent [Crystal Screen] hovered before him, showing the capital burning.
Grey demon shapes moved through the streets. The screaming of citizens rose and fell. Even through the magic, the crash of collapsing buildings carried a weight that made the scale of the chaos feel real.
None of it produced so much as a ripple in Ainz.
He watched the scene with an expression of perfect calm.
The Wrath Demon General gripping Barbro like a broken sword and swinging him into Gazef. Brain sent flying. Blue Roses struggling through despair in every direction.
Then Momon dropping from the sky.
Ainz watched the heroics being performed by Pandora's Actor in the Momon guise, and found himself thinking that Pandora's bearing there was considerably more heroic than his own would have been.
He was somewhat tempted to study it.
He watched the carefully choreographed fight move step by step toward its designed conclusion. The Wrath Demon General's self-destruct, the white light swallowing everything, the performer making his exit.
Ainz gave a slight nod and closed the [Crystal Screen].
The hall returned to its quiet dimness. Only the soft glow of the magic lamps remained.
"It's over." Ainz said, his tone even.
But inside, he was somewhat at a loss.
Demiurge's "capital collapse operation" — from the demons' appearance to Momon's entrance — Ainz had not predicted a single step of it.
He was thinking.
What was Demiurge's actual objective here?
On the surface it looked straightforward: make Momon the hero who saved the capital. The captain of the Adamantite-ranked team Darkness, stepping forward during a Demon Lord's attack, protecting citizens, avenging the First Prince.
But.
Ainz tapped a finger bone lightly against his jaw.
If that were the only goal, Demiurge had no reason to go around such a large circle.
Why go to the effort of staging a full demon attack on the capital?
There had to be a deeper consideration somewhere in this. Ainz was sure of it.
He was still turning it over when a faint shifting weight came from his leg.
Mare was sitting on his left thigh bone, both hands around his staff, head lowered, those anxious eyes fixed on the spot where the [Crystal Screen] had been.
His dress caught the soft magic lamplight and glowed faintly. Combined with that timid expression, he looked thoroughly like a frightened little girl.
Aura was sitting on his right thigh bone, considerably more relaxed than her brother. One leg was swinging back and forth. Her hands were braced on either side of her, and her face was full of excitement.
"Lord Ainz!" Aura turned her head, her mismatched eyes bright. "That explosion just now was incredible! I knew it was staged, but it still made me jump."
"Mm." Ainz responded.
Mare also lifted his head carefully. "A-Ainz-sama... a lot of people died just now, didn't they..."
"Yes." Ainz's tone remained level. "A necessary sacrifice for Nazarick."
Mare drew his neck in and didn't ask anything further.
Ainz sensed a subtle shift in the air behind him.
He turned his head slightly, catching it at the edge of his vision.
Albedo was standing there.
Her pure white gown spread like snow around her. Those golden slit-pupils were aimed directly at Ainz — or more precisely, at the two small figures sitting on his thigh bones.
She had her teeth clenched. That flawlessly beautiful face was written over with something she couldn't entirely suppress.
Ainz looked away and pretended not to have noticed.
Albedo had wanted to sit up there too, just a moment ago.
But —
Ainz had declined, on the grounds that Albedo was already an adult. He was quietly calculating as he thought it over.
Albedo was far too perceptive. Every time Demiurge presented a plan, she saw through the deeper intent almost immediately. If Albedo were sitting on his thigh bones, Ainz was fairly certain he would give himself away very quickly.
And if she were there to relay questions to Demiurge, Demiurge's explanations would almost certainly sail straight over Ainz's head again.
Aura and Mare were children. That made them considerably more useful for what he actually needed here.
"Mare. Aura." Ainz spoke. "From what you saw just now — what did you take from it?"
Mare blinked, looking somewhat uncertain.
Aura spoke first. She tilted her head, one ear rotating slightly — the expression of someone who had genuinely been thinking it through.
"Lord Ainz, doesn't this mean everyone will think Momon is the hero who saved the capital?" A slight uncertainty in her tone. "Is that what Lord Demiurge was after?"
Mare nodded along from beside her, agreeing with his sister.
Ainz's finger bone tapped lightly against his own skull.
Bad move. He sighed internally. Children really can't be expected to read too deeply into things. Next time I should have Cocytus sit here instead.
Aura had only seen the surface layer — making Momon a hero. That was all she'd taken from it.
Ainz had wanted to say something impressively deep that would lead Demiurge into explaining the rest.
But he hesitated.
If that really was all Demiurge had intended, there was no way to come back from whatever Ainz said next.
On the other hand, if he simply nodded and confirmed it — and it turned out Demiurge had other objectives entirely — he would expose his own ignorance.
He weighed it for a long moment, and ultimately put his faith in Demiurge's intelligence.
He made his decision.
He would gamble.
Gamble that Demiurge's plan was not as simple as it appeared.
"Think about it more carefully." Ainz said, letting a note of gentle guidance into his voice. "There's more to this than that."
Mare and Aura exchanged a glance.
Both faces were written over with confusion.
They turned back to Ainz simultaneously and shook their heads.
Ainz hadn't actually expected them to come up with the answer.
That was rather too much to ask of them, after all.
"Never mind." Ainz said, in a tone of measured indulgence. "We'll leave it for now. Think harder next time."
He paused, then raised his voice.
"Demiurge. Come and explain it to them."
"As you command, Ainz-sama."
Demiurge stepped out of the shadow to Ainz's right.
The suit was impeccable as always. That calculating face wore its usual elegant smile.
He walked to the front of the throne and performed the German military salute.
"Ainz-sama's plan is indeed not as simple as it appears on the surface."
Demiurge's composed voice carried through the hall.
"Or rather — making Momon a hero is, in a certain sense, only a secondary objective."
Mare and Aura both let out a simultaneous sound of amazement.
"Wow..."
"That's incredible..."
Both of them turned, looking at Ainz with undisguised admiration.
Ainz sat on his throne.
His expression was perfectly composed.
Inside, he quietly exhaled.
Good. The gamble paid off.