The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom: Part 1

In the Dwarven Kingdom, I told Demiurge that I wasn’t that smart, but at that time it didn’t seem like he believed me completely… this is bad. How great a person am I in his eyes? Or rather, it seems I’m getting greater and greater; am I imagining things? Normally, wouldn’t it be the other way around?

The expectations placed on him hurt. They were not weighty; they just hurt.

In the past, he had pondered how heavy and painful the word “loyalty” could be. In particular, the part where his subordinates viewed Ainz as a great being was the most painful of all.

I guess I should take this opportunity to tell Demiurge that I’m not really that amazing, but what would happen if I did? What should I do if it caused the plan that Demiurge labored for so long over to end in failure? If I spent several years courting a big client, only to have it fall through because of a stupid comment from my boss...

Ahhh, Ainz said as he scratched his hairless head.

What should he do?

What was the best answer he could give?

No matter what simulations he ran, they all ended in Demiurge looking at him in disappointment. He could not reach a conclusion that he could accept.

He’s expecting too much of me — the higher the climb, the longer the fall. That’s why I said I’m nobody amazing...

And then, Ainz’s own plan had been quite the failure.

Ainz reached into his pocket space and drew a sword.

It was an ordinary sword inscribed with runes.

However, it contained power comparable to the bow he had lent to Neia.

Of course, these were not Dwarven runes. The runes carved on it had no power at all. This was a piece of equipment made with YGGDRASIL techniques.

“Haaaa…”

Ainz sighed. He had several weapons like this. The original plan was to lend these weapons to the Holy Kingdom.

The people of the Holy Kingdom would be awed by the overwhelming power of the sword and think, So this is the power of runic weaponry, which would in turn improve the reputation of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s rune weapons.

This was the other reason why he had lent Neia the weapon.

He felt that the people of the Holy Kingdom would see that weapon and secretly borrow them from Ainz.

However—

Ainz grabbed his head.

Why didn’t anyone borrow them? I even thought people would talk about it because it was so flashy… I guess I should have forced her onto the frontlines and made her fight, huh...

Just then, there was a tok tok tok as someone knocked on the door.

He quickly checked his robe and other messy places before putting the sword back into his pocket dimension. Then he put his hands behind his back, looked at the door like a sovereign, and spoke loudly:

“Who is it?”

“Your Majesty, may I enter?”

There was no way to tell if it was a male or female voice through the door. Normally, he should have asked the visitor’s name, but Demiurge had already told him that someone was coming, and so Ainz granted his permission without any hesitation.

“Ahh, it’s fine. Come in.”

The person who entered Ainz’s room closed the door behind himself, and its body changed as well.

It had an egg-shaped head with a mouth and two eyes that looked like sunken holes. Its three-fingered hands were as slender as stick insects.

It was a Doppelganger.

It was a Doppelganger he had lent Demiurge at his request.

Since it was a monster Doppelganger, it was not very strong.

Even when transformed, it could only copy level forty abilities, and it was even weaker without transformation. Its more potent abilities was how it could freely make use of karma-restricted gear. That said, it could not use magic items above legacy class.

Its vacuous hole-like eyes turned to Ainz, and then it bowed deeply.

“I sincerely apologize for the many offenses I have caused you during the course of my duties. I pray you will forgive me.”

“Don’t worry about it. You were just doing your job. I have nothing to say about that.”

“Your servant is grateful for your generous words.”

Ainz looked at the room’s door.