The Two Leaders

“Well, it won’t go into combat mode unless I order it to, or if enemies are nearby. But realistically, is there anyone who’s really going to be an intruder here? I haven’t gotten any reports from other floors either.”

“Of course. After all, I placed servants with excellent detection abilities on the 3rd floor. It would be hard for anyone to get through them undetected.”

Aura suddenly stopped moving and turned her head towards the colosseum.

“What is it, Aura-sama?”

“A gate from the 7th floor just activated.”

“From the lower floor? Demiurge’s out right now… Maybe it’s one of his subordinates? Are you sure it’s okay not to check?”

“Mmm— Mare’s there, so it should be fine. If there’s a problem, he’ll contact me.”

Aura touched the earring piece on her necklace.

“It’s not something special either. If someone wants to get to the surface from lower floors, they’d need to go through the gate on each floor at specific points. Speaking of which, we have someone who uses magic so they don’t have to run, right~?”

“Eh-hem! The Great Tomb of Nazarick truly is an impregnable fortress.”

“Yea, even if someone uses the super-tier magic ‘Sword of Damocles’ or the World-class item I possess, they wouldn’t be able to destroy an entire floor. That’s why you must never lose the ring which allows you to teleport anywhere at will.”

Everyone looked at the ring on Albedo’s left pinkie finger.

“That’s right. When Mare goes outside, he always puts it somewhere safe. Thinking about it this way, I can comprehend the importance of that ring— Ah! Mare contacted me.”

Aura put some distance between herself and the group before she grasped the earring and started talking to Mare. Aura slowly frowned and by the time the conversation was over, her expression was quite dark.

“Sorry. I don’t know why, but Mare said he’s preparing to go out. I need to go back just in case.”

“Is that so? Well… then should we return, as well, Shalltear?”

“I have no objection.”

“I’ll finish up with the field before leaving. I also want to talk a little bit with the dryads and the treants.”

“Then let’s disperse for now. Thanks for today. I think I finally learned how to spend holidays. If we get the time again… yea, let’s go for a bath together.”

Part 2

Mare looked away from the book he was reading to check for movement at the gate to the 7th floor.

He felt a little feedback of power and placed a bookmark before setting the book down beside the chair. He grabbed the staff beside him; the Divine-class item, ‘Shadow of Yggdrasil’.

Mare reached for the magic item hanging around his necklace with the other hand but stopped mid-action.

There was no need to contact his sister. Since there were no reports of an intruder, the person approaching had to be a comrade.

Mare shuffled his way down with small steps as he headed toward the gate.

His sister liked to jump down to the colosseum from the audience seats, but Mare didn’t. The stairs were there for a reason and using them seemed like a show of loyalty to the Supreme Beings. They probably intended for the stairs to be used.

I can’t say that to sister… She’d give me a scary glare…

So he decided that at least he would not let the generosity of the Supreme Beings go to waste and went down through the stairs. Beyond the waiting room, there was a figure standing in front of the mirror that sparkled in seven different colours.

“D-did you wait long?”

“Oh oh! Isn’t it the floor guardian, Mare-sama! For you to come here personally, I am honoured.”

The clown, dressed in a pure white costume with a mask shaped like a bird’s beak, bowed to Mare, who did the same.

“Hello, Pulcinella-san. What are you here for?”

“Well, I don’t know if you’re aware or not, but I’m currently working under Demiurge-sama’s orders. Today, I came as Demiurge-sama’s messenger. Please, take this.”

The clown handed over the folder he was holding.

“If it’s from Demiurge-san, is this the memo folder?”

“That’s correct. My, my, for Mare-sama to come out personally. I was really lucky. If it had been Aura-sama I would have needed to ask her to call you.”

“Huh? Is that so?”

The memo folder was a system devised by the ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Ainz Ooal Gown, himself. It was a system that allowed floor guardians to write down non-urgent messages and communicate with each other. Nothing similar existed until now.

When Mare accepted the folder, he got a strange feeling and muttered “T-this is…” while staring at it.

“H-huh? But why couldn’t you give it to my sister?”

Since Aura was a floor guardian as well, there was no reason why the message couldn’t be delivered to her as well. She was also a hard worker, so she wouldn’t just throw the folder in a corner somewhere.

“I don’t know the details myself. But Demiurge-sama gave me specific orders to not give it to Aura-sama and hand it directly to you.”

“I see… W-what about Demiurge-san?”

It was a short question, but Pulcinella understood what he meant.