Maruyama Kugane - The Invaders of the Large Tomb

Overlord Volume 7 Prologue

Translator: SifaV6-Ohime-sama

Editors/Proofreaders: Ferro-chan, TD-dono, Namo-shacho, Sky-taisa, Rocky-heika

JcqC-bucho, Nigel-bancho, Storm Loki

On the 10th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, in the innermost sanctum—excitement was quietly overflowing the area in front of the throne, where forty banners hung on two sides.

Without any words being spoken, the beings that gathered in the room neatly formed up in a ceremonial fashion with one hand to their chest, knelt towards the throne with their heads lowered, displaying their complete loyalty.

Not only were the floor guardians present, the other NPCs created by the forty-one Supreme Beings, as well as their servants were also gathered. The total number gathered easily surpassed 200. This was the second time the throne room was filled with this many servants since the transfer.

However, different from before, the servants gathered this time were among the strongest within Nazarick, with the average level being over eighty.

The subordinates that were accompanying Shalltear were all high-level undeads instead of the typical vampire brides. In addition, Mare even brought along the two level ninety dragons, both of which have never ventured outside before, to the throne room. The two dragons were ultra-rare creatures that were obtained from the cash shop Gachapon.

Among the carefully selected servants, some still managed to stand out. The most obvious example was the group of one hundred level forty undeads. They were lined up in a different block from the other two hundred servants.

Typically, lower leveled servants were placed near the rear end of the assembly without exception, where the treatment they receive was proportional to their level. However, this specific group of one hundred undead were personally created by the supreme ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick—

Ainz Ooal Gown. As such, their status was different.

Even though every creature that was present in the room was one of Ainz’s subordinates and a loyal retainer of the guild "Ainz Ooal Gown", differences in status still existed. Of course, the ones at the top were the NPCs created by the Supreme Beings, with the NPCs that were appointed as Floor Guardians ranking above all others.

Ranked below the NPCs were the POPs, in other words, monsters that are automatically spawned by the Mercenary System from within YGGDRASIL—the servants. The status of the servants was based on their level and job class, and not the floor they had spawned from.

In that case, how should they rank the undead that were created by Ainz?

This was the question that bothered the Overseer of the Floor Guardians—Albedo—the most.

Should she treat them the same as other the NPCs?

When asked, Ainz had simply smiled softly and shrugged it off by saying he wouldn’t care even if Albedo placed them at the very back.

Although the number of undead Ainz could summon per day was limited, the spells to create undead creatures did not require anything besides mana and a corpse. Compared to the high level servants that require YGGDRASIL gold or real money in order to spawn, it was obvious which were more valuable to Ainz, given that the only requirement for creating undead were corpses.

However, this was only from Ainz’s point of view, which was completely different from what his subordinates thought. Moved by her master’s generosity, Albedo responded with an "understood".

However, regardless of how much she tried, the resulting formation was mismatched. Albedo started to become troubled.

After spending all her brain power, Albedo ended up placing the undead behind the NPCs and in front of the POP spawned servants.

While all this was happening, Ainz silently observed the entire process from the highest position within the room. With the posture of a mighty ruler, Ainz’s presence loomed over the throne room, filling his subjects with awe. To the people who were present, Ainz’s every decree carried the weight of a God.

"To begin, I would like to thank Sebas and Solution for the effort they put in for the past month in intelligence gathering. You have done well."

Seeing the two bowing deeply, Ainz nodded his head in satisfaction. However, the real problem for Ainz had just begun. It was extremely difficult for an average salary man like Ainz to play the role of a ruler. Seeing the faces of countless subordinates radiating with respect and love simply made the pressure even more overbearing.

Ainz felt as if his stomach was aching and his heart beating extremely fast, even though these organs should not exist in an undead made of nothing but bones. However, this feeling only lasted for a fraction of a moment. Even though just seconds ago Ainz was filled with the feeling of wanting to immediately run away, the special condition of being an undead forcefully compelled him to calm down again.

In the end, Ainz managed to continue putting on the airs of a respected ruler.

"The two of you, come before me."

Both Sebas and Solution stood up at the same time and walked towards the steps in front of the throne as if they had practised it beforehand. Once they reached where Albedo stood, the two of them got back on their knees and bowed once more.

"Raise your heads. For your outstanding performances, the two of you shall receive my praise as well as reward."

Ainz then shifted his sight to Sebas and said.

"Sebas, although you previously pleaded for Tsuare’s life, the reason that I decided to protect her is because of a personal debt as a show of gratitude to someone else. It has nothing to do with the accomplishment of your previous work, as such I will still permit you to ask for a reward. Well then, let us hear your wish!"

By giving rewards to servants that had performed well in their assigned tasks, Ainz hoped to provide an incentive to motivate others to perform better. As such, Ainz used the experiences he gained in the human society to create the current scene for all to witness. This was also part of the reason as to why he allowed so many subordinates to enter the throne room.

However, the current situation also came with many risks. In front of his subordinates, Ainz had to maintain the posture and attitude of a ruler who was capable of leadership. For an average salaryman like Ainz, this was very difficult to maintain. Even so, as the last remaining member of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, he had to overcome this challenge.

I cannot betray the hopes and expectations of the NPCs who have displayed so much loyalty to me.

Just as Ainz resolved his determination, Sebas’ mustache quivered.

"Offering my complete devotion to Ainz-sama is the sole reason for my existence, I have no need for—"

As I thought, these subordinates of mine possess way too much loyalty. This makes the pressure all the more harder to bear.

"That is enough, I understand your feelings. However, good work still needs to be rewarded. This is something that I as a master should do. Know that sometimes the lack of ambition in the subordinates can make their master unhappy."

"Ah! Please accept my apologies, Ainz-sama. In that case..." After several seconds of thinking, Sebas said, "I would like to ask for clothing and everyday living goods for Tsuare, who was kindly placed under my care by Ainz-sama."

"...I can provide clothes from my personal collection. Will that be fine?"

In YGGDRASIL, the cosmetic skins released were only available in limited quantities. If one missed out on them, it would be extremely difficult to acquire them. As such, players tended to buy up any new cosmetic item that looked halfway decent. This was the same for Ainz and his comrades. Because the guild had female members as well as many female NPCs, Ainz would often purchase skins regardless of whether they were meant for males or females, as long as they looked good. Sometimes he would give them to members who missed out on the sale, but that rarely happened.