In the luxurious and spacious hall, the demon lord Ainz Ooal Gown sat in a throne adorned with gold and agate, carefully reading a long scroll in his hands. On the adamantite table before him were piled several parchment scrolls, hastily bound booklets, and gold-embossed magic scrolls.
These were all the information about the members of the adventurer team known as the Last Defender of the Way, gathered from around the world by his loyal subordinates.
The details on the archer Sean and the cleric Stella were the most comprehensive—two thick volumes chronicled their life stories from birth onward with crystal clarity. As for the adventurer named Barrett, perhaps due to his wandering lifestyle, the information wasn't quite as complete, but it was clear enough that he was just one of the ordinary adventurers in this world.
Only that strange girl named EeDechi had no traceable information about her birth or upbringing.
She seemed to have suddenly appeared on the border between the City Alliance and Baharuth, then walked into the Adventurer's Guild, registered as an adventurer, and rose to fame. Her rank skyrocketed from the lowest copper-level all the way to the second-highest orichalcum-level.
Ainz looked up at the stack of various reports in front of him, and couldn't help but recall his own experiences. When he and the denizens of the Great Tomb of Nazarick had first crossed over, they too had chosen to operate as adventurers. But he had quickly built a fearsome reputation, his rank shooting up to the highest adamantite-level.
Adamantite-level was truly a rare breed! In the entire Re-Estize Kingdom, including Ainz's disguised Darkness team, there were only three adamantite-ranked adventurer squads—the other two being Blue Roses and Red Drop.
Ainz didn't quite understand why EeDechi's adventurer rank was still lingering at orichalcum-level. With her strength, she should have advanced to adamantite long ago.
Perhaps she was hiding her power, Ainz mused. After all, once you hit the top-tier adamantite-level as an adventurer, to keep up that illustrious reputation amid everyone's envious stares, you'd end up shouldering more responsibilities without even realizing it, and miss out on a ton of the pure joy of adventuring.
Thinking about this, Ainz realized he hadn't operated as an adventurer in this world for a very long time.
He'd been putting his all into playing the role of a ruthless, supremely wise and capable Supreme Overlord in front of his subordinates. After wearing that mask for so long, it was tough to take it off and slip into another one as an adventurer.
The red glow in Ainz's skeletal eye sockets flickered as he pushed aside these nagging thoughts. He picked up the next scroll and unrolled it. His subordinates had turned in a mountain of reports, but boiled down, they all pointed to one thing: this uptight girl named EeDechi had crossed over from Ainz's world too. She was on her own, with no other forces backing her.
As for whether she was a player who'd crossed over from the game YGGDRASIL, there wasn't enough evidence yet to prove or disprove it.
If she turned out to be a crossed-over game player with weak strength, Ainz kinda wanted to snag her, kill her first, and run a Player Resurrection experiment.
But she'd actually traded blows with Shalltear for several rounds without looking like she was losing, which meant her power had probably hit level 100.
That made things a bit dicey. Someone packing level 100 combat power was very likely to have a World Item on them, maybe even one of the elite Twenty top-tier World Items.
Still, she couldn't threaten the Great Tomb of Nazarick, since the Great Tomb of Nazarick boasted multiple level 100 guardians and World Items, and Ainz himself was a level 100 high-tier undead.
Faced with this level 100 traverser who popped up out of nowhere in the world, the Great Tomb of Nazarick could go all out to hunt her down, but that wouldn't bring them much benefit.
A level 100 player whose strength wasn't fully clear, clutching a World Item and fighting to the death—that could stir up a whole mess of trouble.
Besides, EeDechi hadn't shown any hostility toward the Great Tomb of Nazarick so far. She seemed to just be playing the role of an ordinary adventurer, exploring and having fun in this isekai world.
As Demiurge, the smartest among the guardians, had suggested, when dealing with this lone-wolf adventurer, they should flex Nazarick's overwhelming power while tossing in a bit of goodwill—carrot and stick, all in one.
The Great Tomb of Nazarick's path to world conquest wasn't done yet, and there were still plenty of unknowns clouding the way ahead. Better to play it safe.
The dragon race, legendary but supposedly in decline, along with that unique Wild Magic they wielded, had already caused some headaches for the conquering forces these past few days. Until everything settled, Ainz didn't want to make too many enemies.
Ainz picked up the last scroll on the table, which detailed EeDechi's recent activities. He read it carefully, a bit surprised inside: "She got hired by Princess Renner of Re-Estize, and even took a teleport to the Re-Estize's capital. This girl's pretty good at cozying up to royalty."
Setting down this final report, Ainz lifted his head from the magic scrolls. A pair of towering, full peaks that even a slim white evening gown couldn't contain trembled majestically before him, the snow-white cleavage plunging endlessly deep. Any man who laid eyes on this sight would have his senses sucked right into that bountiful bosom.
Ainz didn't need to tilt his head up to know the owner of that profound valley was Albedo.
"Ainz-sama~," Albedo purred, her eyes seductive as silk, her flawless face flushed with coyness, golden pupils shimmering with captivating allure. "Do you think this new gown looks pretty on me? I sewed it myself, you know."
Her voice trailed off with a slight upward lilt, carrying a seductive tremor that could stir anyone's soul, while her slender hands, clad in white silk gloves, gently stroked Ainz's breastbone.
Any man with his faculties intact, faced with such teasing, would struggle to hold back the restlessness in his heart, wanting to rip open this beauty's pristine white gown and fuck her hard.
But Ainz... was an undead, his body a skeletal frame of white bones. Right now, all he felt was the frustration of an upright boss being harassed by a horny female subordinate. On one hand, it was because he lacked that kind of... capability. On the other, since becoming undead, his cravings for lust had faded even more.
Even so, Ainz had to admit that when those full mounds suddenly appeared right in front of him, he felt an urge to give them a squeeze. But he held back—after all, he was the straight-laced male superior, not like his female subordinate whose head was full of pervy thoughts.
It was all his fault for messing with Albedo's settings before crossing over. Now her adoration for him had reached incomprehensible, even twisted levels, and it couldn't be satisfied. Every chance she got, she'd come at him with this "sexual harassment," leaving Ainz endlessly frustrated.
"How's the investigation into the legend of the Eight Greed Kings' great expedition going?" Ainz turned his head away, avoiding Albedo.
"It's still underway. Those are events from five hundred years ago—cherishing the romantic moments we have right now is what matters most, don't you think?" Albedo's body pressed even closer.
He needed a way to send her off. Ainz thought for a moment and asked, "That evening gown you made is very pretty. Are you attending some event?"
Albedo leaned down, her dreamlike beautiful eyes gazing deeply into Ainz's skeletal sockets.
"Ainz-sama, have you forgotten? I'm the emissary you personally appointed for the Sorcerer Kingdom. Soon, I'll be attending the banquet hosted by the Re-Estize royal family, mingling with a bunch of inferior creatures. Unless..." Her black wings trembled lightly behind her, "...you prefer uniforms? Should I make a special emissary outfit?"
"No... that's not necessary. You look great as you are." Ainz tactically leaned back, dodging Albedo's gaze burning with desire. I have a mission for you. Aren't you pretty chummy with Princess Renner? That EeDechi girl is with Renner right now. You can represent the Great Tomb of Nazarick and make first contact with her..."