The Two Leaders

Ainz lowered his head, and the guildmaster crossed his arms. He stared at the ceiling with a stern expression on his face.

However, that passed in moments.

“I understand,” the guildmaster said to Ainz. “I can’t refuse Momon-kun’s request. Then, can you tell me this friend’s name?”

“She is Enri of Carne Village— no, her name is Enri Emmot.”

“Enri, is it? Well then, please wait for me.”

After a while, the guildmaster returned to the room, followed by a female receptionist he had seen before. Her body was stiff, as though it was made of ice, and she entered the room in an unnatural way.

“Please excuse the disturbance, Momon-sama!”

This was the first time Ainz had seen someone move so awkwardly, raising their right arm with their right leg. Although he was thinking “Wow, that’s… sad” or “You don’t need to be so stiff, do you?”

he maintained his resolute attitude and nodded sagely. The need to maintain one’s dignity was the burden of those with an adamantite rank.

“She attended to the request from Enri Emmot of Carne Village. It would be better if you asked her directly. Please, ask anything of her that you need.”

“About that… then— no, before that, guildmaster, please tell her to have a seat. I’m not the owner of this room, but still...”

“No! That would be overstepping my bounds! I’ll stand, thank you very much!”

To Suzuki Satoru, it felt wrong to have his counterpart standing while he sat. However, for Ainz Ooal Gown, the ruler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick… it wasn’t a problem at all.

With that, he could easily deal with the differences between a leader and a follower. It would seem his daily practice had not been wasted after all. Indeed, it felt like he had slowly increased his experience total.

...How much more XP until I level up, hm?

“Is that so? Well then, let’s begin. Please tell me, in detail, about the request she made. Since this is very important, I hope there will be no omissions.”

“Y-yes!”

Sticky sweat beaded on the receptionist’s forehead.

“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”

“No, it’s…”

The receptionist’s gaze was flickering back and forth.

“Am I asking the wrong questions? ...Well, that might be so. Then, let me ask; was it a request to find someone?”

“No, i-it’s not like that…”

“Ah, then what is it like? Was it not a request, then?”

“...Actually, it was more of a consultation for a future request. It concerned monsters called the Giant of the East and the Serpent of the West, monsters of the same level as the Wise King of the Forest that Momon-sama tamed. That, er, was it, I think.”

Momon considered that being too direct and forceful would only scare the receptionist, and continued asking.

“Then, will this be a problem in the future?”

“N-no! I-I didn’t know she was a friend of Momon-sama! If I had known I would have gotten more details from her! It’s true!”

The sight of the receptionist on the verge of tears perturbed Ainz. Could someone with so little control over their emotions work as a receptionist?

“—Guildmaster…”

“...Forgive me, I have not instructed my subordinates well enough.”

“But, no! That was the guild’s rule!”

After listening to the two of them, Ainz realized that they might have gotten the wrong impression.

They thought that since Enri and Ainz knew each other, Ainz could have taken the request for free, but as a way of saving the Adventurer’s Guild’s face, Enri had come to request via the guild.

But the receptionist had treated Enri coldly and kicked her out due to monetary issues. They were arguing over who was responsible for slamming the door on an adamantite-ranked adventurer’s friend.

But… wouldn’t that be the right thing to do, according to the guild rules?

Ainz turned a disapproving eye to the guildmaster, who was chastising the receptionist.

It’s the duty of a superior to protect their subordinates when they make mistakes. Or perhaps he’sputting on a big show of scolding her in front of a customer to win sympathy for her? What amasterful technique… looks like he’s really getting into it.

To Ainz, the receptionist had done the right thing. The guildmaster probably thought so, too.

However, be it Ainz’s entry through the back door or his audience with the guildmaster, it would all be forgiven because he was an adamantite-ranked adventurer. It was because adamantite-ranked adventurers were worth keeping around.

“But I really didn’t know!”

With the receptionist almost in tears, Ainz cut in with gentle words.

“You were not wrong.”

The receptionist’s eyes went wide in surprise, and the accumulated tears finally fell.