The analysis of the unknown samples Demiurge had brought was complete, and the Executive Summary report prepared for Lord Ainz had been finished in perfect form.
I could have delivered it to the throne room at once and basked in the king's approval.
But I did not.
Before setting a major project in motion - or before passing critical organizational data up the chain - you share the information with the relevant department heads in advance and align your perspectives. What is commonly known as nemawashi. Laying the groundwork before the fact.
The first target in the underground alliance I was about to build. The sooner I made my approach, the better.
"I'll be stepping out briefly. I leave the defense to you."
"Understood. Go well, Keeper of Knowledge."
"Shululu…. A walk? The all-knowing monster goes for a stroll. Try not to get lost."
Leaving those brief words with Ra and Apep, I glided my body of black mist toward the internal transfer circle installed in the back of the Vault of Wisdom; the gate connecting each domain of the Eighth Floor.
For just an instant, my vision was swallowed by light as the spatial coordinates rewrote themselves.
When my hundreds of eyes opened again, what filled my senses was a dizzyingly sweet and rich fragrance of flowers.
Spread across my entire field of vision: a blizzard of pale pink.
Cherry blossoms in eternal full bloom scattered freely throughout the space, never once falling for good.
Looking up, I saw ancient, massive cherry trees stretching their branches wide, as though trying to conceal the vast ceiling fashioned in the likeness of a blue sky.
Beneath my feet lay carefully maintained white gravel, and beyond it, magnificent vermillion torii gates stood in row upon row.
Within the silence, the clear sound of water reached me from somewhere, and the satisfying, rhythmic knock of a shishi-odoshi, bamboo striking stone, marked the passage of time with clockwork regularity.
One of the Eighth Floor's isolated domains; the Cherry Blossom Sanctuary.
I was fully aware that my body of black mist, something that looked as though it had crawled straight out of the Cthulhu Mythos, was hopelessly out of place in this elegant Japanese space.
Feeling faintly apologetic as cherry petals that drifted into contact with my hovering form were quietly dissolved into the ink-like mist, I passed beneath the torii and made my way toward the shrine at the heart of the sanctuary.
"— My, my. What a rare visitor."
Seated on the wide veranda of the shrine was a girl.
By human reckoning, she looked perhaps seventeen or eighteen years of age. Skin as white as snow, and lustrous black hair that fell all the way to her back.
She was dressed in the traditional garb of a shrine maiden; a pure white kosode above, and vivid scarlet hakama below.
Resting in her lap was a beautiful kagura bell crafted from unfinished white wood.
The only immortal human within the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
The youngest sister and leader who commanded the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters.
Area Guardian: Aureole Omega.
"Forgive the unannounced visit, Aureole Omega. As part of my duties, there is data I wished to share with you directly."
I came to a halt above the white gravel, several meters from the veranda, and extended a tendril from my black mist to float several sheets of reports in the air between us.
Aureole fixed me with eyes like black obsidian and smiled with quiet elegance.
"You came all this way from the Vault of Knowledge… you are more than welcome, Lord Tawil Bara. Standing out here seems a shame. Please, come closer."
She rose with a light sweep of her hakama, and at the small vermillion circular table beside the veranda, two cups of tea appeared as if by magic, wisps of steam rising softly from each.
"I took the liberty of preparing tea. I was aware through the Eighth Floor's network that you are fond of reading The Elven Art of the Perfect Afternoon Tea… but I'm afraid this is a sanctuary of Japanese tradition. I hope you'll forgive me and settle for gyokuro."
My hundreds of eyes blinked.
It seemed that the information about my tea-reading habits had reached her ears through either that loose-tongued great serpent Apep, or the chatty little angel Victim.
"…Gyokuro. More than acceptable. My sincere gratitude for the thoughtful gesture."
I drifted closer to the veranda and suspended myself in the air across the small table from her.
I had no organ with which to drink tea, of course, but I extended a single ink tendril and rested it gently against the rim of the cup, recording the warmth and the rich, fragrant scent of the tea leaves into my database. It was a ritual; a way of genuinely savoring the hospitality of a colleague.
"A wonderful fragrance. The tea you brew brings me more peace of mind than any alchemical record in my possession."
"Fufu. To receive such praise from the Keeper of All Knowledge, I am deeply honored."
Aureole smiled with evident pleasure, wrapped both hands around her own cup, and brought it slowly to her lips.
Her appearance was that of a delicate human girl, but the aura she wore was unmistakably that of one who had reached the domain of Level 100.
Combined with the defensive mechanisms of this Cherry Blossom Sanctuary, she alone could annihilate an army with ease.
"Even so, this floor has grown quite restless of late, hasn't it." Aureole murmured softly, her gaze drifting toward the garden where petals continued to fall. "Between Lady Albedo's patrol earlier, and the activation rate of the transfer gates to each floor rising sharply…"
"The effects of our Nazarick having transferred to an unknown world. The sisters under your command… the combat maids of the Pleiades. Are they keeping well?"
At my question, Aureole's expression softened, shifting, just slightly, from that of an Area Guardian to something more like a big sister burdened with worry.
"Yes. They are all in high spirits, eager to serve the Supreme Being. Elder sister Yuri continues to oversee floor security as seriously as ever, and Shizu and Solution are carrying out their assigned duties with precision."
There, Aureole let her brow droop ever so slightly and released a small sigh.
"However, there are a few I find myself worrying over. …Narberal in particular."
"Narberal Gamma. If I recall correctly, she was assigned to accompany Lord Ainz and infiltrate human society on the outside."
"Precisely. Being permitted to serve at Lord Ainz's side, there is no greater honor for a maid. And yet, that girl's contempt for humans runs far too deep. I lie awake worrying she might lose her temper at some insignificant moth's behavior during the infiltration, accidentally reveal her true nature, and cause trouble for Lord Ainz… it makes my stomach turn."
"I see." I swayed my black mist in a gesture of agreement. "Lord Ainz is currently exploring this world with utmost caution. Narberal's loyalty is beyond question, but in the outside world, excessive hostility can easily become a liability."
"Precisely. And then there is Lupusregina… that girl presents a cheerful face at all times, but at her core she is dreadfully sadistic. I worry that if left to her own devices in the outside world, she will forget her mission entirely and become absorbed in her games, by which I mean slaughter. And as for Entoma, the moment she steps outside, I can perfectly imagine her treating every human she encounters as a snack without a second thought."
One after another, her grievances about her sisters came spilling out.
Even the Pleiades - feared as elite combat maids - were, from the perspective of their commanding officer, nothing more than a handful of troublesome sisters who kept her perpetually occupied.
"You never get a moment's rest, do you, Leader of the Pleiades. But those sisters have you as their steadfast guiding hand. When the moment calls for it, your command authority should be more than sufficient to keep them in line."
"Yes, of course. Any misconduct on my sisters' part, I will take personal responsibility for setting it right." Aureole flushed faintly, gave a small, composed cough, and straightened her posture. "…Oh, I do apologize. I let myself ramble on with personal complaints."
"Not at all. Sharing this kind of information is precisely what keeps an organization running smoothly. …Now then."
Having confirmed that a sufficient softness had settled into the air between us, I moved the report pages I had been holding in standby to float above the small table.
"This is the true purpose of my visit today. The preliminary analysis of the outside world's weapons and magic, brought in by Demiurge, is complete. Before presenting this to Lord Ainz, I wished to hear how you, as Nazarick's only human, and a formidable warrior in your own right, would evaluate this data."
The pages glowed pale blue, and the runic script of the Executive Summary I had compiled translated itself automatically into language readable to Aureole, unfurling in the air before her.
Aureole set down her cup and began following the aerial display with a focused, intent gaze.
"…This is… The magic of the outside world operates on the same tiered system as Yggdrasil. Yet the ceiling it reaches is desperately low, a mere Fourth Tier is apparently enough to be hailed as a hero…"
With each line her eyes traced, they opened just slightly wider.
"My, this is astonishing. A magical structure that, by our standards, amounts to the play of an infant. Are the humans of the outside world truly such fragile creatures?"
"In terms of magic, apparently so. But I would ask you to look at the other entry."
I moved a tendril to highlight the section on Martial Arts.
"Whether to compensate for their magical weakness, or whether it represents an entirely separate line of evolution, they have developed an unknown self-enhancement system referred to as Martial Arts."
"Martial Arts… A technique that consumes mental energy to layer physical-limit-transcending buffs upon oneself…"
Aureole rested a hand beneath her chin and sank deep into thought.
This was precisely why I had sought her perspective. She was human. Regarding the limits inherent to the human species, and the approaches by which those limits might be broken, she held an intuition that aberrant beings like myself, and the other guardians, simply did not possess.
"Lord Tawil Bara. Just as your analysis concludes… this must not be taken lightly."
After several seconds, Aureole spoke, quietly, but with full conviction.
"Certainly, at their current level, none of them could so much as scratch a Level 100 NPC such as ourselves. However, if this system called Martial Arts is an uncapped ability premised on limitless breaking of ceilings… then the possibility exists. Across generations of refined technique, a singular anomalous individual, or one who becomes linked to an unknown World Item, could give rise to an irregular capable of overturning the very laws of Yggdrasil from the foundation."
"I am in complete agreement."
I nodded deeply, swayed my black mist up and down.
"Lord Ainz, too, is wary of precisely that unseen threat. Which is why we must not look down upon the humans of the outside world as mere fragile moths, but rather, continue to deeply understand and analyze their society, their technology, their history."
Aureole held my gaze with clear, unwavering eyes, as though my words had resonated within her at a profound level.
"What magnificent insight, and what a flawless report, Lord Tawil Bara. Once you present this to Lord Ainz, the Supreme Being will surely be most pleased. As one who shares the duty of guarding the same Eighth Floor, I am deeply grateful that you saw fit to share this information with me in advance."
"No thanks are necessary. We are colleagues entrusted with the same line of defense."
I narrowed several of my countless eyes and allowed my voice to drop one deliberate register lower.
"…Which is precisely why I determined that I ought to share one more truth with you as well. Regarding a certain department, and the extremely dangerous… no. Inefficient plan it is moving to set into motion, in the name of unraveling this Martial Arts system."
Aureole's hand went still.
Into the tranquil air of the sanctuary where cherry blossoms drifted in full bloom, I let that name fall, like a single drop of venom into clear water.
"Demiurge. As for what he intends to do with the humans of the outside world… are you aware of it?"