"What did you just say, you old hag!?" Shalltear's voice echoed through the Throne Room, thick with killing intent.
"What? Did your ears rot, you flat-chested loser?" Albedo's mocking voice rose in response.
Sigh. Why must these two be like this?
Pandora's Actor watched as two of his colleagues continued to bicker over his creator's affection.
Albedo, who had successfully slept with their master, made sure to rub this fact on Shalltear's face as soon as they entered the Throne Room, something she didn't take kindly.
In less than a minute, the two women were locked into a heated discussion.
Shalltear was in a more precarious situation, but took solace in the perspective of stealing Ainz-sama from Albedo, something she insisted on calling NTR.
Personally, he was not very interested in this topic. In the end, everything would go according to Ainz-sama's will, be it choosing one of them or even both as his lovers, so this exchange seemed meaningless.
"Shouldn't you stop them?" Nyx came to his side after giving the two Floor Guardians some space.
"I don't think there's a need for worry, little sister. These two may bicker, but they wouldn't actually fight. Not here, under the flags of all the Supreme Beings."
"I guess you're right, but it's still worrying how heated they can get. And Shalltear is not the brightest mind around, so if she snaps, I fear she might forget about everything else and fight for real."
"That's a fair point, but if it comes to that, I will take Peroronchino-sama's form in front of her, which should calm her down."
"Thank you, brother." Nyx bowed slightly to him, and he affectionately rubbed her head.
"Fear not, my dear sister, for I'm here~~" To be able to act as an older brother filled him with so much joy that he had to strike a mighty pose to fully express himself.
He silently thanked his creator for bestowing upon him 7 capable little sisters.
"But I must ask, little sister, are you okay with this?" His tone shifted to a more serious one.
"Okay with what?" She shifted her gaze, pretending not to understand, but they were both beings gifted with great intellect by their creator, so how could she fail to grasp his meaning?
"I mean, don't you and the others like Ainz-sama? Are you fine with letting him be taken by these two?"
He didn't dislike Albedo or Shalltear, but if he had to choose between them and his little sisters, he would, of course, side with his family.
He had noticed that Nyx had been trying to dissimulate her affection for Ainz-sama ever since Albedo accomplished her goal, but in his eyes, everything was crystal clear.
Of the creations of the Supreme Beings, he was the most adept at understanding emotions through body language, so it wasn't hard for him to see that this sister of his was deeply in love with their creator.
That by itself wouldn't be a problem, but he was also sensing a subtle pain and bitterness coming from her, and as her brother, he worried about her mental state.
"What about you, brother? Do you also feel this way about Ainz-sama?" Nyx chose to deflect the question.
"Hum… Honestly, I don't think I'm capable of feeling like this about someone unless I'm playing a role."
In their base form, Dopplegangers were completely sexless, so there wasn't really a concept of male and female in their species.
Reproduction occurred when they took the forms of other species and reproduced with them.
The species of the offspring was determined by who their parents were. If the mother were a Doppelganger, the child would also be one; but if the Doppelganger were the father, the child would be of its mother's species.
As such, while Pandora's Actor adopted a male persona, it had more to do with how his creator had intended for him when he made him.
At the same time, he was an actor, someone who could blend into any role and feel the emotions of the one he was passing as. Were he to take the role of someone in love with Ainz-sama, he would be capable of having these romantic feelings for his creator, albeit only for the duration of the role.
As they were talking, one of the maids came inside, announcing the arrival of their master.
***
Ainz sat on his throne, looking at his subordinates who bowed their heads, while waiting for his command.
Emilia had been instructed to wait to the side with the 7 Elder Liches.
"You may raise your heads."
"Yes, Ainz-sama!" They all responded immediately, with the sole exception of Emilia, who lagged behind in her reaction.
"As you may already know, we identified a group of people carrying what is suspected to be a world item that can control people's minds." He paused to let them absorb the information.
From their expressions, only Shalltear looked surprised by what he said.
It's not good to push all your managing duties to Eris, Shalltear.
He suddenly felt a bit sorry for the youngest sister.
"From the information gathered, this group is called the Black Scripture and should be composed of 11 humans with strength somewhere between level 30 and 40, but with one captain who is considered stronger than the others. As for how much stronger, we don't know yet. "
"Pandora's Actor."
"Yes, Ainz-sama!" The doppleganger gave him a military salute.
"This group will be crossing the Great Forest of Tob in the coming days. You shall be responsible for surveilling the forest to find and capture them." Ainz then pointed at Emilia, who had been listening to his words with some dread.
"As you know, that woman is called Emilia. She is close to a member of the Black Scripture and will help you find them. She is to be protected and treated well throughout this mission. If she proves herself useful in this operation, she will be incorporated in Nazarick, so keep this in mind when interacting with her."
Seeing him agree, Ainz turned to Shalltear.
"Shalltear, you're going with them to serve as backup in an emergency, but your main mission will be to capture humans capable of utilizing martial arts. Prioritize capturing humans who wouldn't be missed by anyone, like bandits who use the forest. Pandora's Actor will tell you the locations, but you'll be the one to do the capturing."
"Yes, Ainz-sama~~" She spoke in a flirtatious tone that wouldn't look out of place on a cortesan in old Japan, but when it came from the mouth of someone who looked to be at most 14, it only made him cringe.
She seemed to consider this an easy mission.
I'm sorry, Shalltear.
"And you're forbidden from killing anyone, save for if your life is in danger."
Shalltear struggled to maintain the smile on her face, but it was obvious that she didn't like this.
"Ahm, Ainz-sama?"
"Yes?"
"May I be so bold as to ask for the reason why we can't kill anyone?"
"How preposterous, Shalltear! Do you dare to question Ainz-sama!?" Before he could even reply, Albedo was already yelling at full volume.
Ugh! How annoying.
Calm down, myself. Let's not explode at one of your subordinates who thinks she is helping by being nosy.
Hum… Can she still be called simply a subordinate anymore?
I need to figure out how to classify our relationship, but let's do that at another time.
"Albedo, please be quiet."
"Yes, Ainz-sama!"
I'm getting a bit tired of listening to the same reply every time. Should I ask them to create a list of possible replies for situations like this and then have them alternate between them?
Maybe not. That seems too much like an abuse of power.
"Shalltear, I ask that you don't kill anyone unless absolutely necessary, naturally, because there's value in keeping these people alive. We can't be sure of how useful someone will be to Nazarick at first sight." He then pointed at Emilia.
"See her, for example. At first sight, one might be excused for thinking she was useless, but after a bit of talking, we now have someone who can help us locate and make a trap for the Black Scripture, saving you and Pandora's Actor a few days of work."
"I see. As expected of Ainz-sama!" She seemed to be convinced.
"Now, both of you are Floor Guardians and will be away for a few days, so see that the affairs of your floors are in order, and then wait for me at the Treasury. I will bestow upon you world items for this mission."
***
"Ainz-sama, can I ask you something?"
After Pandora's Actor and Shalltear left, Albedo hesitated for a while before finally talking with him.
"Of course, go ahead."
"Hum… Is it wise to send Shalltear on this mission? Wouldn't someone like Demiurge be a better fit for it?"
Upon hearing this, he turned to Nyx, who was also listening to their conversation.
"Do you also think so, Nyx?"
"Yes, Ainz-sama. Demiurge's skills make him a better fit for capturing weak humans; meanwhile, Shalltear doesn't seem like someone who could complete this mission without killing at least a dozen humans, and if her [Blood Frenzy] activates, she could easily compromise the whole operation."
That's harsh.
But also fair, I guess.
"You are both right. Shalltear is woefully unfit for this mission I gave her."
"Then why-"
"If we only look at her skills, that is." He interrupted Albedo.
"After coming to this world, I became intimately aware of the limitations imposed on our bodies, and I'm convinced that we can't grow stronger by normal means, which makes me want to test unconventional ways for each of us to grow."
"Cocytus is an amazing warrior, and no one could doubt his ability as a fighter, but can he learn to be a competent general? I'm sending him on a minor campaign to see if this is something possible. If he fails, no harm will come to Nazarick, so we only stand to gain from this."
"Shalltear, on the other hand, is the strongest of the Floor Guardians, and a real menace in battle, but is this all she can do? I would like to think not, so I put this limitation on her for this mission. With that, I want to see if she can learn to control her strength when dealing with the weak people of this world. If she can pull this off, then I can feel at ease when assigning tasks to her in the future; if not, then we will only have a bunch of low lives dead, so there's no harm in it."
"Pandora's Actor is the one with the important mission, so there's no need for worry on that front, and with him there, even if Shalltear messes up, the situation can still be controlled."
"Do you two understand now?"
"Thank you for taking the time to explain this to us, Ainz-sama," Nyx answered for both of them.
"You're welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for me to prepare for my own mission." He stood up abruptly.
"Mission? What mission, Ainz-sama?"
"I'm going to E-Rantal to be an adventurer."
With these words, he teleported to the 8th floor.