Ainz's Second (Overlord Fanfiction)

- 2: Adjustment -

--- Arakan's POV ---

After his vision adjusted following the teleportation, Arakan saw the statues of the Lemegeton. Looking around the room, he spotted Momonga not far from him leaning against a wall with his head lowered. He'd guessed correctly. Arakan walked over to him, and upon noticing him Momonga voiced his current thoughts.

Momonga: "Why do they think so highly of me...? I thought they were joking at first but it was clear from how they looked and acted that they were sincere..."

Arakan: "It's better than them not knowing what to think of you, or even disliking you. This way they're less likely to look for faults in your decisions."

Momonga: "That's true...but it also means that if I don't act in a way that lives up to their expectations, I might disappoint them, and they might start  to find faults with me."

Arakan: "Yeah...that would be a problem."

Momonga sighed again while Arakan stared at him, not sure of what to say.

Momonga: "...There's another problem too. Albedo. I had altered her settings as a joke believing everything here would be gone for good once Yggdrasil shut down, and now she's in love with me..."

Arakan chuckled to himself for a moment, but responded quickly.

Arakan: "I can see how that might be embarrassing for you, but what's the problem?"

Momonga quickly  looked at him, the red lights that served as his eyes flaring up as if he'd opened them wide.

Momonga: "Don't you get it!? I ruined Tabula-san's settings for a stupid joke, and now Albedo will never be the same! I could never face him again after that."

Momonga seemed to calm down suddenly as if it had been done by an outside source, but it was clear that he was still worried. He also seemed to have dropped the Ruler act he was putting up around the NPCs now that it was just the two of them, but it was still different than what Arakan was used to. His voice had changed and become quite a bit deeper, and changed in general tone as well to the point that it barely resembled his old voice. Seeing that the change had persisted even after he stopped acting, it seemed to be a permanent change. It made Arakan wonder if his voice had changed as well.

Arakan: "I really doubt he would've minded all that much. The most I see him doing is making fun of you for a little while. And if he DID get upset, there's no way he'd let him bother it for too long."

Momonga: "...Think so?"

Arakan: "Yeah."

That seemed to ease Momonga's current worries a bit for the moment, and after a short time he straightened his back with another sigh.

Momonga: "Well. I still have some tests I'd like to perform. What will you do?"