Текст книги "Overlord Volume - The Two Leaders"

Автор книги: Maruyama Kugane

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Текущая страница: 17 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

‘Spa Resort Nazarick’ was a wonderful place located on the 9th Floor of Nazarick. It had a total of nine types of baths and seventeen baths for the two genders. The most famous bath was the Cherenkov bath with its blue rays that were so bright it hurt the eyes, a bath that exerted an air of elegance. Ainz, who arrived at the bath with Cocytus opened his eyes wide because he met an unexpected person.

“Ainz-sama!”

Hearts seemed to pop out at the end of her words as Albedo shrieked. No, not just her, Shalltear and a tired Aura was there too. Demiurge and Mare weren’t here, were they already waiting inside the changing room?

“Al-Albedo, why are you here?”

“Hmmm? I am here to bathe with everyone… Ainz-sama too?”

“Ah, yes... That’s right, what a coincidence, Albedo.”

“Really, what a coincidence! …I heard that it is better to exercise and sweat a little before entering the bath. How about Ainz-sama and I exercise and sweat together?”

Ainz felt a sudden chill.

“Well, table tennis sounds fine…”

“That’s not what I meant. I was talking about something naughty.”

With the agile movements expected of a level 100 warrior —too quick for Ainz to dodge– Albedo closed the gap with Ainz and tried to write something on his robes. However, her finger poked through the gaps of Ainz’ ribs.

“Ah.”

“Ah.”

Both of them spoke at the same time.

What a laughable sight, Ainz smiled wryly as he pulled his face away slightly in order to speak with Albedo.

“My finger pierced Ainz-sama’s important place…”

Albedo’s entire face blushed red, her eyes were wet and there was a fragrance about her. It was similar to what Ainz smelled on his bed.

“– Hey, I already asked this before, but isn’t this girl really weird?”

Aura asked her question while holding Shalltear back, while Ainz was stunned.

“…My sincere apologies, Ainz-sama. I couldn’t help myself. Eh, please think of this as the result of accumulating too much stress from working for Nazarick. Please.”

“That, that can’t be helped. Yes. Albedo, I am grateful for the hard work you put in everyday.”

Ainz who wanted to walk away in brisk steps was stopped by a hand grabbing his robes. There was no need to wonder who this hand belonged to.

“Albedo, what is the matter? Why are you so reluctant to let me leave?”

“When I hear these words… It ignites a fire in my heart. My abdomen is also squirming. That’s why– Ainz-sama...”

“Hey, wait, calm down Albedo! Co-Cocytus!”

“Leave. It. To. Me!”

The cold air that filled the room instantly lowered the room temperature in no time, making Albedo, who was going berserk, regain her wits.

“I. Will. Not. Forgive. Your. Rudeness. Towards. Ainz-sama. Even. If. You. Are. The. Overseer. Of. The. Guardians.”

Cocytus who put himself between Ainz and Albedo held a silvery white spear in his hand, it was obvious that he would attack if the situation warranted it.

“—Pardon my impudence, Ainz-sama. I lost myself back then.”

“I accept your apology, Albedo.”

Obeying his master’s will, Cocytus stepped aside, but held on to his spear.

“I know you are very stressed from your work, losing control is probably the way you relieve your frustration. Anyway, go take a bath and relieve your stress. Cocytus, good work.”

After Ainz finished, he parted the curtains of the men’s bath, but stopped because of the footsteps following behind him.

“…Why are you following me, Albedo? Just to be clear, this is the men’s bath, not the women’s bath.”

“I want to wash your back for you.”

“…Rejected. Furthermore, I am not alone and will be entering the bath with the other male Guardians. Are you fine with them seeing your naked body?”

She might say it is fine since she is a succubus, Ainz thought, but Albedo replied immediately.

“Well then, there are family baths in another place—”

“Family baths are not meant for that kind of thing!”

“But, Ainz-sama. I think it is too sly to only shower the men with your affection.”

“That’s right”, Shalltear whose mouth was being covered by Aura chipped in. The idea of going in together made Aura’s eyes sparkle, she preferred group activities. Cocytus seemed a bit troubled.

Bathing together is showing affection? …The previous incident too, isn’t Albedo a bit odd? Is she acting strange because of that incident?

“Albedo, let me say this first. I prefer women to men, and I am a pure heterosexual.” Ainz silenced Albedo who wanted to say something in return. “Maybe in the future, a relationship like that might develop. However, while the situation about this world isn’t clear, having such a relationship with one of you will be detrimental to the future of the organization.”

Uuuuu, Albedo furrowed her brows.

“And all of you are like the daughters of my friends– the relationship is too complicated.”

“I was wondering what was happening at the entrance, so it was you people giving trouble to Ainz-sama.”

“O-Onee-san… is dead.”

“I’m not dead”, the girl retorted weakly.

“I was waiting for the two of you.”

“Sorry for being late. However… Overseer-san, isn’t it about time for you to learn how to control your emotions?”

Demiurge’s narrow eyes widened slightly, showing his hostility openly. It was frightening when someone who was gentle became angry. True to these words, the atmosphere became tense. Influenced by the tension, Cocytus took a stance against Albedo too. Albedo was smiling as usual. No, her smile was deeper than usual.

“– Fools!”

Ainz roared angrily.

“Do not quarrel in front of me! Imbeciles!”

All the Guardians went down on one knee and trembled.

“We are very sorry, Ainz-sama!”

“…Enough, get up, everyone.” After seeing that everyone was up, Ainz spoke gently as if to soothe troubled children.

“Stop such barbaric disputes. That will disappoint me greatly, understood?”

After receiving acknowledgement from all those present, the wrath in Ainz’ heart vanished completely.

“Alright, let’s take a bath and change the mood. The men’s group will follow me. Aura, you are now the supervisor of the women’s group. Do not let those two behind you do anything stupid.”

“By your will!”

A fire burned brightly in Aura’s eyes. At first, Albedo and Shalltear thought it was a good chance to sneak into the men’s side, but their resolve was shaken after they saw how hyped up Aura was.

Ainz opened the curtains with the character ‘men’ on it, ignoring the ruckus behind him. He took off his clothes in the changing room. Usually, it was bothersome to remove his equipment, but he had already made preparations in advance and stripped in no time and walked forth briskly.

I’m naked right now, but how should I move…

His body was a skeleton without any meat or skin. It was unthinkable for Suzuki Satoru, but this was natural in this world. Ainz had wondered on multiple occasions how he should reconcile this difference in his actions.

“I will go ahead first.”

“Please, please wait for me!”

The naked Mare followed with brisk steps. He was normally dressed in a girl’s attire, but he looked like a boy right now. As he was still a child, there weren’t any bulging muscles on him. To think that such a soft body possessed such power, this was something unique to the nature of this world, just like Ainz.

Ainz thought that as he looked at Mare, and warned:

“Don’t run here. The floor is wet, it is dangerous.”

Guardians wouldn’t die even if they slipped and hit their head, but Mare looked just like a kid, so Ainz couldn’t help but worry.

“Y-Yes, I am very sorry.”

Don’t apologize so seriously, Ainz thought.

“Sorry for the wait.”

Demiurge and Cocytus followed shortly. Demiurge had a lean and well toned body. He probably followed a proper training regime, but part of the reason was due to the settings of Ulbert.

“Cocytus looks the same as he always does.”

“Well, he is always naked.”

“Could. You. Not. Phrase. It. In. Such. A. Lewd. Way?”

“Sorry. Cocytus’ exoskeleton is his armour. That is how he usually looks, so it can’t be helped.”

Exoskeletal armour was a type of body armaments, just like Shalltear’s nails and teeth. It could be strengthened with the increase of the user’s level and the use of crystal data. The good thing about a weaponized body was the convenience of not needing to replace the equipment, and it would be repaired when the user’s HP was restored. It wouldn’t drop upon death, and it provided its users with many benefits.

The drawbacks were that the hardness, toughness and other stats were comparatively lower than player equipment of a similar level. It was almost impossible for a level 100 weaponized body to reach the stats of divine level equipment. Perhaps that could be done with special skills that enhanced a weaponized body, but Ainz wasn’t sure of that.

For players, the cons outweighed the benefits, but the reverse was true for NPCs. The players could save the hassle of preparing another set of arms and armour.

“Thank. You. Very. Much.”

Cocytus lowered his head. Ainz didn’t really speak up for him, but—

It bothered him so much that he is thanking me– is he being bullied? Should I tell the others to take note of this?

This was probably how a teacher would feel if there was any bullying in class. How would Yamaiko handle this, Ainz thought as he said to the men’s group.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Ainz led them into the bath, which was made up of twelve zones in total. Starting with the largest, the jungle bath, there was also a traditional looking roman bath, a yuzu bath with yuzus floating on it, a carbonated bath, a jacuzzi, an electric bath with low current that electrified the body, a cold bath with charcoals floating on it, the Cherenkov pool —though nobody really knew what it was made of– and a mixed open air bath... although the scenery was artificial.

There was also a sauna, a bedrock bath and, finally, the lounge.

“Which one should we visit? Let’s hear your thoughts.”

“I. Think. The. Cold. Spring. Is. Great. If. Ainz-sama. Is. Agreeable.”

Ainz possessed cold resistance, so he wouldn’t be affected by extremely cold water, but it was definitely weird to recommend the cold spring right off the bat.

“Cocytus-san… We are here to bathe…”

Mare said diplomatically, and Cocytus finally realized he got things wrong. He corrected himself right away.

“Since we are here to bathe, we should go to a pool that will promote blood circulation… Wait, I have a question for you. Can you go into a hot pool? You wouldn’t become a boiled lobster, right?”

“No. Worries. My. Exoskeleton. Is. Resistant. To. Fire. Much. Tougher. Than. Your. Body.”

“Hmph,” Cocytus spoke pridefully.

“Er, erm, I think a normal pool will do…”

“I. Think. A. Cold. Spring. Is. The. Best… As. Comfortable. As. Submerging. In. Ice…”

“You are the only one who will say that, I think that’s an unpopular opinion…”

“Alright, it won’t be fun if we are not doing this together. Let’s go to all of them one by one. We will start with the normal forest pool. My comrades made them with a lot of effort.”

“I’m looking forward to it”, Ainz subordinates said as he led them towards the forest pool– with Cocytus who was feeling a bit lonesome– in tow.

The dense forest might be created artificially, but it looked so realistic that Ainz was expecting monsters to pop out from it any moment.

“This place is modelled after an area that existed in the past, the Amazon river. The creator was Bellriver-san, assisted by Blue Planet-san.”

With his back to the sighing Guardians, Ainz picked up a bath ladle and stool.

Why are all the ladles in this bath yellow? When I asked them, they said it was tradition… So all the bath ladles are yellow.

“This might sound obvious, but you have to clean your body before entering the pool. The way I wash up will dirty the surroundings, so don’t come too near.”

Having said that, Ainz poured a full ladle of warm water onto his body. An amazing amount of water bounced off without touching his body. Wetting his body in one shot was impossible. After repeating this several times and confirming his body had been rinsed, Ainz took out his brush.

After applying a lot of liquid soap, Ainz started brushing his body. There were plenty of gaps between his bones and the bubbles flew all over the place, as if a monkey was doing the brushing.

Huh, I should have brought my cute slime, bathing assistant Miyoshi-kun with me.

He shouldn’t be showing others his goo-covered appearance, but cleaning himself with a brush after so long was a great hassle. While Ainz was working hard and brushing himself, Mare pulled a stool over with one hand. A little nervous with his cheeks red from the steam, Mare smiled:

“Ai-Ainz-sama! I, I will help you wash your back!”

“Hoh? Oh, I see. You want to help me wash up. It is tedious, so use this brush, using a towel will be tiring.”

Ainz turned his back to Mare, who picked up the brush and started cleaning slowly.

“You are doing great.”

“Thank you very much!”

“You can’t do it wrong though”, Ainz responded to Mare’s thanks. He sneaked a peek at the other two.

“I will help you wash up.”

“Sorry to bother you.”

Ainz was all smiles– although he didn’t actually have an expression as he was a skeleton– and couldn’t suppress his grin.

– Right now, this is the best place in Nazarick.

Ainz’ smile deepened when he heard the child’s voice say: ”I need to wash here too”.

“Thank you, Mare. Now, let me help you wash up, you don’t need to hold back.”

Ainz turned the panicky boy around, and filled Mare’s towel with suds. Ainz washed carefully and made sure to apply enough force, relaxing more than when he was being washed.

“Does it hurt?”

“No, no problem!”

After cleaning up Mare’s unusually stiff back, Ainz returned the towel to him.

“You can do the front yourself right?”

“Of-of course!”

Ainz picked up the brush and scrubbed his ribs carefully, taking care not to splash water onto Mare who was cleaning besides him.

“Well then, I will make a move first.”

Demiurge, who was done, swayed his tail as he walked towards the pool. Next was Cocytus. Compared to Ainz, cleaning up was equally tedious for him, but his four nimble arms hastened the process greatly. Mare followed after, and finally, Ainz was done several minutes later.

The pool was large. Warm water flowed endlessly from an exquisite lion head and steam covered the entire place. Ainz watched his steps as he walked over, and saw two of the Guardians in the pool nearby, with Cocytus a bit further away.

“Ah... so comfortable.”

Ainz had the impression that children would swim in the pool, but Mare simply sat there maturely with a towel on his head. The way he talked like an adult even though he had the appearance of a kid surprised Ainz. The position of a Guardian was a tiring job.

“Indeed, I can feel the fatigue flowing out from my body.”

Demiurge took off his glasses and splashed his face as he breathed out, just like an old man.

“So. Hot…”

“Eh, you said you had resistance.”

“I. Didn’t. Expect. It. To. Be. So. Hot…”

“…Don’t release cold air because of that. And don’t come over here. A bath has to be hot.”

No wonder Cocytus was staying further away. The water around him was probably turning chilly.

“It. Feels. Nice. To. You. Because. You. Are. Resistant. To. Fire, Demiurge… Cold. Springs. Are. Great. As. Well. Right?”

“I’m not interested. Also, you can enjoy it without resistance anyway. Can’t you endure this bit of discomfort, Cocytus?”

“Are. You. Taunting. Me. Demiurge– Interesting.”

“Take it easy, bathing is a leisure. Go to the sauna if you want to compete in endurance. Don’t push yourself if it gets too hard.”

“Phew.”

Mare’s forehead was sweating as he exhaled hotly.

“Look, that’s how a bath should be. Don’t push yourself too hard Mare, get out of the pool if you can’t take it anymore alright?”

“No, no problem Ainz-sama! I will use magic if I really can’t take it!”

That would be weird too, Ainz thought without saying it out loud. He shift his gaze towards Demiurge.

“…Is entering the pool with your resistance on the correct way?”

“That is one way of doing it, Ainz-sama. It is similar to Ainz-sama who is an undead creature that can’t get wet.”

“…That’s true.”

He could feel his body warming up a little, but it wasn’t as comfortable compared to his time as a human.

The drawbacks of being undead…

While Ainz was missing the joy he had lost—

“Hmm?”

—He lifted his head above the steam and looked at the surroundings.

“May I ask what is the problem?”

“I think someone is calling my name.”

“Did. It. Come. From. Next. Door?”

Cocytus gestured at the wall behind him.

“That side is– I see, the women’s bath.”

“I see, but… Are the walls that thin?”

“Maybe. They. Are. Just. Too. Loud.”

Ainz focused on his hearing. He didn’t have any ulterior motives, just a bit curious about what the girls were chatting about. He didn’t stick his ears to the wall. That would be an action ill befitting the ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Keeping some distance from the wall, he tried his best to eavesdrop on the sound from next door.

“Albedo is so bushy down there.”

The first thing he heard made Ainz frown.

“—Don’t put it so lewdly, Aura. Ah– Ainz-sama is probably beyond this wall. Are there any holes I can peek through?”

Ainz looked closely at the wall, wondering whether someone had built any strange mechanisms into it. There was a period of time when such devices were all the rage among the guild members, and some of them might have been installed here.

“—Shouldn’t it be the opposite? Boys should be the ones doing that.”

“—That is impossible. Ainz-sama just needs to command me to ‘show me the goods’, he doesn’t need to peek.”

“—Oh, Shalltear is actually making sense.”

“—How rude. Is that a toothbrush? Brushing your teeth in the pool… Could you not do that right now?”

“—It can’t be helped. It is hard for me to clean myself, so I have to do it in a large bath like this.”

Albedo’s voice seemed to be coming from a higher spot, and a loud brushing sound could be heard.

“—Hmm, that looks tedious. Alright, I will allow it.”

“—Thank you.”

“—Wahh, don’t look over here while grabbing your head. Disgusting. Shalltear, aren’t you going to brush your teeth?”

“—I can do that in my room, no need to do it here. Anyway, can we even get cavities?”

“—Even if you don’t have cavities, if you have bad breath while kissing, even a thousand year-old love will turn cold.”

The sound of the brush stopped and heavy footsteps could be heard.

“—Hmm, wait, are you going in like this? At least…”

After a loud splash, sound of water flowing down could be heard. Someone seemed to have boldly leaped into the pool.

“—Wah! Cough cough! If I were a vampire from the storybooks, I would have sunk and not gotten up!”

“—You are not a kid, don’t jump in!”

“—Fufufu. Ah...How relaxing. That’s why I came here.”

“—At least follow bathing etiquette… Oh?”

“—What? Hmm? The lion is moving?”

“—To not know the etiquette means you have no right to enter the bath! Exterminate!”

The sudden male voice made Ainz and the others looked at each other.

“Eh, that sounds like a man.”

“I. Never. Imagined. That. I. Would. Hear. This. In. Person. That. Is. The. Area. Guardian. Of. The. Bath. Right? But. Is. There. A. Man. In. The. Female. Bath?”

“No, I’ve heard that voice before… It’s Luci★fer-san.”

When he heard the ominous voice of that man, Ainz recalled the various troubles that Luci★fer had caused. To be honest, he didn’t really like that man.

“One of the Supreme Beings!?”

“—So hard! This is not a simple steel golem! Albedo!”

“—Die! You scrap metal golem!”

With the loud sound of impact, something crashed hard onto the wall. Even the wall on the men’s side was shaking.

“…Basically, prepare yourselves to charge into the women’s bath in full gear should the need arise.”

Ainz issued his command to the reluctant Guardians.

The fiasco should end if they disarmed the attack mode set up by his comrades, but they should be having an all-out battle next door. With their gear off, the women’s combat potential would drop drastically, so they might need to help them if the situation called for it.

“…I want to bathe in peace next time.”

Ainz said after shaking the water on his body off while walking towards the changing room. The Guardians nodded their head as one in response to the casual remark.

Afterword

I’ve been very busy recently. As a result my tummy and chin have become plump. I am the man who is evolving into Mr. Pig, Maruyama Kugane. To those who have bought this book or have it on hand, thank you very much!

For the most part, I’ve been busy because of the animation project, work and other things.

Right now the animation is going smoothly, with such heart warming exchanges as “How is Ainz going to smile?” “Just play it by feel!” “Save me, Director!”

In addition to the anime, the Overlord manga (drawn by Fukayama Fugin-san) has also begun serialization. By the time everyone has this book in their hands, chapter 2 should have come out. His work makes you feel that “Ainz is a really cool character!”

Then, although there’s not limited edition goodies for this book, but there’s a secret cover under the cover (i.e. the female Guardian bath time picture)

This piece of coloured insert art is on par with those of other light novels. It was made from So-bin-san’s reckless wish that went something like “no matter what I have to sacrifice, I want to draw something beautiful here!”, and I’m sure everyone – myself included – has been touched by that wish keenly as well. As expected, it’s much better than Kyouhukou for refreshing everyone’s hearts.

Although I have the feeling it won’t be possible from now on, I hope that readers who like this sort of thing will send their wishes to me on postcards.

Some people might ask, “Why is the background pink?’ The reason is because Editor-san said that pink was the most ideal colour for those people who wanted to join Ainz in the bath.

If any of you displays the book with the inner cover showing, I hereby bestow upon you the title of “hero”.

Then, after this will be the credits.

Many thanks to So-bin-san, who solved many problems even as the work grew ever greater.

Thanks to the designers at Chord Design Studio, the proofreader Osako-san, the editor F-ta san, as well as to everyone who helped me make Overlord. In addition, many thanks to honey, who spotted a lot of mistakes.

And finally, thank you to all the readers out there. I hope to speak to you again in the future.

December 2014 Maruyama Kugane