The knock echoed like a question down the quiet hall. Not loud. Not weak. Just enough to ask if someone truly stood behind the door.
It opened without a word.
Sebas Tian stood in the doorway, posture perfect, gaze calm.
"Come in," he said.
Elijah stepped inside.
The room was a blend of dignity and utility. Wood-paneled walls. A low-burning lamp. A simple desk with a meticulously arranged set of papers, a cup of warm tea, and a framed item tucked just barely out of sight—a badge. Old. YGGDRASIL-issued. The symbol of Touch Me's guild ranking.
Elijah's eyes lingered on it for a breath. Then he looked away.
Sebas studied him in silence for a moment before speaking.
"You are Elijah. I have heard of your actions."
"Efficient," Elijah replied, with a half-smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "That's what everyone says."
"You did what was required. That carries weight here."
Elijah nodded faintly, but his expression remained distant. Then, he stepped forward.
"You were created by Touch Me."
Sebas inclined his head. "That is correct."
Elijah spoke slowly. Carefully. As if testing the weight of every word before he let it fall.
"I knew him. Not the name, not the legend. The man. He trained me. Put me through hell most days. I can still hear his laugh when I got knocked on my ass."
He glanced around the room again—quiet, restrained, composed.
"He was a pain in the ass… and the best man I've ever met."
Sebas said nothing. He didn't need to.
Elijah's voice dropped.
"But he's not here. And I am. In a place like this. Among people like them. And I can't stop asking myself—what would he do?"
Sebas moved to the desk and gently placed a hand on the edge of the badge.
"He would not have approved of all that goes on in Nazarick. That much, I believe with certainty."
Elijah looked up.
"But he wouldn't walk away."
"No," Sebas said. "He would have stayed. Not because he agreed—but because someone had to remain. Someone had to keep the flame alive, even if only in the shadows."
Elijah stepped closer.
"He believed in protecting the weak," he said. "Even in a world where monsters make the rules."
Sebas's tone didn't change, but his voice felt heavier. Fuller.
"Touch Me believed strength meant staying your blade when mercy was harder than violence. That the truly powerful never needed to prove it."
Elijah was silent for a long moment.
"I think Ainz is trying to carry Nazarick on his back," he said finally. "Alone. Like it's his burden to bear."
Sebas nodded once. "Then do not let him bear it alone."
The silence that followed wasn't heavy.
It was *earned.*
Elijah looked again at the badge on the desk.
"Would he have liked what I've become?" he asked quietly.
Sebas looked him in the eye.
"He would have liked that you're still asking the question."
Elijah nodded. He didn't smile—but his breath left him a little easier.
He turned to leave.
And behind him, Sebas Tian said softly:
"He would still approve, Elijah. But he would have feared for you, too."