An Eldritch Demon's Odyssey

Explain My Plan To Me!

Ainz PoV:

Location: Throne Room, 10th Floor of The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick

Ainz maintained his act of a dignified, omniscient ruler while fumbling on the inside. His choice of selecting an undead skeleton race for his account had come in handy once more. It had helped him through many such dilemmas in the past.

Only individuals possessing intelligence comparable to Albedo or Demiurge could discern a subtle variance in his emotions. But this was not a common occurrence. The others could mostly discern his emotions only when his emotions were disturbed enough to override his emotion suppression.

During this period of time, Ainz thought over how exactly should the coming conversation with Jircniv and Fluder go instead of listening to the mindless praise flowing towards him.

While Ainz was someone who liked it when things were prepared for in advance with no surprises, this was not the first time he had to adjust to changing situations on the fly. He was certain he could manage this situation as well.

*Thud*

The gates to the throne room opened as Sebas led Jircniv and Fluder in front of him. Both of them followed the example of everyone else in the room and bowed down. Jircniv was no longer an emperor he was in the past but Ainz's subject now.

It was only appropriate for him to bow down as well unlike last time when Ainz had allowed him to speak on relatively equal terms.

'Why does he look like that?' Ainz pondered as he eyed Jircniv who had multiple scars over his body. He looked much the same as the last time Ainz had seen him except for these scars and a more mature air that hung about him.

It had not been a long time since Ainz had last seen Jircniv for such a change to have taken place. Ainz could also see Albedo and Demiurge's brains spinning, coming up with conjectures about this situation.

But it was not like Ainz was completely clueless, especially as he had his own experience to draw conclusions from. Based on the information they had acquired, players seemed to show up in the New World at different points in time.

Even if all of them had stayed playing YGGDRASIL until the very last moment, they had shown up in the New World many years apart. Although Ainz was no scientist and he was nowhere near smart enough to understand the reasons behind this, he could make out that there was a huge time difference between different worlds.

Even if it had only been a little while since Ainz had shown up on Earth, it might have been centuries in the New World. Well, he will have all answers from the visitors who had showed up.

"You may raise your heads. It's a pleasure to meet both of you. I was expecting both of you for a while now." Ainz greeted them while using vague phrases to let everyone fill in the gaps on their own.

Jircniv seemed to flinch when he heard Ainz's words but he was probably mistaken. Jircniv was arguably the one individual whom Ainz would acknowledge as being among his friends. Of course, he was not as close to Ainz as the members of the guild.

Regardless, Ainz had always made sure to treat Jircniv with respect. Being an emperor, Jircniv was one of the few people who could understand him and his worries, after all.

"As expected, all of this was a test from you, Lord Ainz!" Fluder exclaimed.

'What test did I give to the both of you and when? I don't remember doing any such thing! What part of my casual greetings gave you the confirmation that I gave you some sort of test?' Ainz was already thoroughly confused about where this conversation was heading.