Текст книги "Overlord - The Invaders of the Large Tomb"
Автор книги: Maruyama Kugane
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“It is as you say. However, if that was the case, I cannot help but be worried that they might ‘run wild’. For example, I would imagine Shalltear would definitely recklessly rush out if information regarding Peroronchino-sama was found. I am uncertain what kind of action Aura and Mare would take if it was information regarding Bukubuku Chagama-sama instead.”
“I see…” after thinking about Shalltear, Ainz smiled bitterly. “Indeed, it seems she would act that way.”
“That is why I hoped that you would consider allowing me to form my own unit.”
“…If information regarding Tabula-san were to be found, would you also ‘run wild’?”
“Please be at ease. As someone who holds the position as the Overseer of the Guardians of Nazarick, I would never do something like that. This I promise.”
“…I see.”
It was a lot less likely for someone like Albedo, who was both capable and wise at managing the operations of Nazarick, to run wild. Even though there had been a few odd hiccups along the way, she had been able to manage Nazarick without a problem during the times that Ainz wasn’t there, which showed that she deserved to be trusted.
“Personally, I believe Demiurge is also suitable for this task. However, he is burdened with many other responsibilities at the moment. I think it might be too much to add the task of searching for information regarding the Supreme Beings on top of the work he currently needs to deal with.”
“That does make sense. In that case, how about Pandora’s Actor?”
“Yes, as I had hoped. Please allow me to borrow Pandora’s Actor to be my adjutant for this task.”
“I see. Even within Nazarick, the two of you are among the most intelligent, so there will be less likelihood of making mistakes if the two of you handle it together… … Although there is also the task of managing Nazarick’s treasury… Very well, during the times that you require him, you may have priority in borrowing him.”
“My deepest gratitude. Also, is it fine for me to add a few more suggestions?”
Ainz raised his chin, signaling Albedo to continue.
“For the task of searching for the Supreme Beings, I would like to select only those that are capable.”
“Of course. I will provide you with the highest ranked subordinates.”
“My deepest gratitude. After that, if Ainz-sama would be so kind as to create a few undead adjutants for me, that would be most helpful.”
“That request I will have to reject. It is true that the undead adjutants that I make can reach level 90, however—”
The undead that could be created using Ainz’s special skill, the one which required the consumption of his experience points to make—Overlord Wiseman and Grim Reaper Thanatos—just one of them alone would be stronger than any NPC mercenary. However, Ainz wanted to avoid using any skill which consumed experience points for now, as he currently did not have the means to quickly regain them like he could in YGGDRASIL.
“That’s right, it’s better not to do that. Albedo will be in charge of the team; the adjutant will be Pandora Actor. The rest will be selected from amongst the monsters.”
“Understood. There is also one more suggestion that I wish to make, if possible, can we keep the creation of this unit a secret from the other Guardians?”
“How come? Would it not be better to receive assistance from other Guardians?”
“No, if the handling of the received reports was poorly managed, it might result in the leakage of dubious information before it has been verified. If that was the case, the other Guardians or those that were created by the Supreme Beings might end up wanting to come along to check as well. If the received information was a trap, it would put everyone in danger. Because I specialize in defense, it would be possible for me to get away. However, I fear it might be difficult for the others to successfully retreat.”
“A valid reasoning. Very well then, Albedo. Do as you like.”
“I express my deepest gratitude! Ainz-sama!”
Albedo bowed her head deeply, causing her long hair to hang down, covering her face.
“Good. I will be leaving this matter to you then.”
“Of-course! This secretive, specialized unit will carry out the most important order. We will definitely not allow Ainz-sama to regret his decision.”
Albedo’s response seemed a bit strange. If he had to express the feeling in his heart, it would probably have taken the form of a head tilted in puzzlement.
Well, forget it.
“Well then, select your subordinates. Pick from the newly created ones, as long as they haven’t already been assigned with other duties. How many do you need from those that are around level 80?”
“I believe fifteen will be sufficient for now.”
“Fifteen? Isn’t that a little too much…” Ainz stopped speaking and shook his head. Searching for his comrades was an important task. In that case, he shouldn’t be so stingy about it. “Ah, is that so? I understand.”
“Well then, I would like to ask for one more thing. Is it possible for me to take command of Rubedo as well?”
“Rejected.”
Ainz answered immediately.
Nazarick’s strongest individual, Rubedo. Her battle potential was well above that of Sebas, Cocytus, and Albedo in terms of pure melee combat. Shalltear would be a weakling in comparison, given the fact that even Ainz in his full equipment would most likely lose against Rubedo.
The only few that could possibly win against that one would be those stationed on the 8th Floor, and only if they were to use World class items. As expected, I don’t think they could put up a decent fight against that individual otherwise…
“The experiment to start up Rubedo has been more or less a success. I don’t plan on moving her for now. Besides that, is there a reason you require such a high amount of combat power?”
“It’s embarrassing to say, would you still like to hear it?”
“Not a problem?”
“It was rare for a chance like this to happen, so I wanted to create the strongest team.”
“Hahahaha—!”
It was such a childish yet understandable explanation from Albedo which had caused Ainz to burst into laughter. Although his emotions were almost immediately suppressed, a mild feeling of pleasantness still lingered like ripples spreading across water.
“Ainz-sama!”
Ainz smiled to Albedo, who had put on a troubled expression—although his facial expression did not change—and gave the following reply.
“My bad, my bad. Ah, ahem. That was amusing okay? Very well then, in that case, I will allow you to take command of your little sister.”
“Is that fine?”
“Not a problem. Go ahead and make your team. Perhaps in the future, this team of yours could even be used for other things.”
“My deepest gratitude, Ainz-sama.”
Albedo bowed her head deeply once more, hiding her face from view. Even though Ainz was unable to see her expressions, he imagined that she must still be making her usual, gentle smile. As he was about to turn his attention back onto the monitor, Entoma suddenly entered the throne room. With her back straight and upright, Entoma walked until she reached the throne. With one knee touching the ground, she bowed.
“Please excuse my interruption.”
“What is it, Entoma?”
In response to Albedo’s harsh tone, Entoma replied “Yes” without changing her kneeling posture.
“I am here to report that it is time for Aura-sama and Mare-sama to carry out the next part of the plan.”
“Is that so? …Raise your head.”
After replying once more with a short “Yes”, Entoma raised her head.
“There’s still a bit of time left. So let’s send them off properly. It would be inelegant to do it via telepathy, so I will have to cause some inconvenience for Entoma and have her go and inform the two in person.”
“Understood.”
Albedo quietly watched the figure of Entoma as she stood up and walked away from the throne. She then carefully observed Ainz and asked the following.
“…Ainz-sama, were you feeling unhappy? They should have arranged for a maid other than Entoma to come. I will go and reprimand them later.”
“…What for?”
“For letting Ainz-sama to hear that rude little girl’s voice once more—”
“Ah, I wasn’t bothered at all. What’s more, I was the one who called for Entoma—wait up! Entoma!”
“Yes! Is there something I can do for you?”
Ainz made a gesture towards Entoma who was rushing back in a hurry, indicating that it was fine for her to answer from where she was.
“What happened to the other parts? Were they put to good use?”
“Yes. The head was given to a Silk Hat Demon. The arms were split between the Deadman Strugglers. Demiurge-sama took the skin. The remaining parts were given to Grant’s children to feast on. All in all, I believe that every part had been effectively utilized.”
“Is that so? In that case, it is fine. It is a hunter’s responsibility to not make waste of their prey. Any hunter would most likely have done the same. Think of this as a memorial service.”
“How…very benevolent. To be able to display such kindness to even the dirty thieves that dared to intrude, as expected of a Supreme Being. If Ainz-sama’s words were to be heard by everyone within Nazarick, they will undoubtedly be moved to tears.”
Ainz couldn’t help but feel a little distressed after hearing Albedo’s words overflowing with emotions while seeing Entoma’s eyes shining, filled with respect.
“…Umu. Well, ahem… This was just my personal view; it is not something that I had wished to force onto you guys. But from the looks of things… think of it as a form of etiquette to not waste anything.”
“Understood. In that case, we should also make better use of the others!”
Watching the two of them bow, Ainz couldn’t help but feel that somewhere, somehow, something had gone wrong, and replied with an “umu”.
Part 4
The ministry of magic had several conference rooms which served as reception rooms, and Fluder was currently headed towards the one that was the most luxuriously decorated. It was the room used only when the Emperor, or those second to him, had arrived.
Before entering, Fluder checked his outfit.
The robes he wore could be considered a first grade clothing suitable even for the grand banquets hosted by the Emperor, and the perfume on his neck and sleeves had a nice fragrance as well.
Originally, Fluder did not concern himself with political or social issues. Rather, in order to concentrate on magic research, he considered everything else to be trivial in comparison. However, due to his position, he still had to maintain awareness of these things.
His own accomplishments were related to the prestige of the Empire, although this was not done intentionally.
Good, no problems.
After confirming to himself that his clothes were flawless, he knocked on the door and entered.
There were two adventurers in this luxurious room. One was a warrior clad in jet black armour, reminding him of the Death Knight he had been staring at not long ago, and at his side was a woman whose beauty caused even Fluder to be taken aback for a moment.
So this is Momon of ‘Darkness’ and the ‘Beautiful Princess’ Nabe.
“I am extremely sorry for having you wait for so long.”
Fluder gently closed the door, then felt a sense of discomfort.
…How strange…
He stood in front of the door, staring at the peerless beauty.
“…I can’t see it?”
Fluder’s eyes should have been able to see the amount of magical talent one possessed, but he accidently voiced his surprise since he was unable to do so.
Fluder had a natural talent to determine the tier of magic one was capable of, just by observing the aura given off by a magic caster.
Despite having heard that the ‘Beautiful Princess’ Nabe from ‘Darkness’ was an arcane magic caster, Fluder’s innate ability was unable to see any aura around her
An anti-detection spell?
This was the only conclusion he could draw, but that raised another question. Why would someone protect themselves from being investigated? Ordinary adventurers would not need to use this. It was difficult to discern one’s strength, and as a result, few people would bother taking precautions against such situations. Besides, it was rude to be casting this kind of defensive magic while meeting with someone.
Well, I was also quite rude myself for using a detection ability on them… But why did they try to hide their power level?
Fluder’s talent was quite well known, so was it a countermeasure against him? He couldn't reach any conclusions.
Addressing Fluder, who was still surprised, Momon spoke.
“Excuse me, is something wrong?”
“Hohoho, sorry for being rude.”
Fluder sat in front of Momon, but he could not take his eyes off Nabe who stood at Momon’s side.
“Ah I see, so this is what’s going on, well then let’s begin.”
Begin what? However, before Fluder had any chance to ask, Momon continued talking.
“...Nabe, I think it’s about time to remove the ring.”
Nabe took off her ring, and in that instant—
Fluder felt as if he had been hit by a storm.
“What!”
He exclaimed without thinking.
Nabe radiated an overwhelming power.
This overflowing storm of pressure did not really exist. Only Fluder and others with similar abilities would feel the torrent of power washing over him.
His body shook violently, as if he was exposed to the icy north wind.
“Im-Impossible…”
Impossible. How could it be possible? How was it possible for someone stronger than himself to exist?
But, even if he tried to deny it, what appeared before his eyes was still reality. Up until this point, his ability to perceive a magic caster’s tier had never failed him.
“7th tier... No, with the huge amount of energy pouring out, could it be... proof of the 8th tier…?”
If that was the truth, then it bordered on the realm of legends.
Fluder was already unable to speak. The 5th tier was already in the realm of heroes, and the 6th tier that Fluder had reached was a realm that nobody had ever attained before. However, someone who had easily attained the higher tiers had suddenly appeared before him.
And it was a young and beautiful woman.
Does her age not correspond with her appearance?
While Fluder was still trembling in shock, he caught sight of Momon taking off his black gauntlet, then removing one of the rings he was wearing.
“– ！ ”
In that instant, the world was dyed in bright light, and Fluder felt his consciousness fading.
What happened in front of his eyes was unexplainable. Even Fluder, who had lived for over two hundred years, someone who had reached the highest peak of magic attainable for humans, could not understand what was going on.
“What... what... how is this possible?”
Fluder felt something warm flow down his cheeks, but he did not bother wiping it off—or rather, he no longer had the strength to do so. The shock had caused his emotions to descend into chaos.
Who could have seen this coming? The person praised as the Dark Hero was in fact an arcane magic caster who had attained a level that Fluder could never reach.
“If that is the 8th tier, no the 9th tier… No! ……… What….. hoooo, god!”
The overwhelming energy released by the dark warrior Momon easily surpassed that of Nabe beside him. If he could surpass Nabe, who was presumably in the 8th tier, then what were the heights of magic that Momon could aspire to?
Fluder answered the question in his mind with his soul.
The 10th tier. Although it did exist in legends, there had never been anyone who could provide absolute proof of its existence. Someone who was in a position to do so had deigned to appear before him.
Fluder, who was standing before, knelt before Momon with tears flowing from his eyes as he spoke.
“……My faith lies in the god that rules and presides over magic. But if you are not that exalted being, then I shall immediately recant my faith, for the one true god has finally appeared before me.”
In his haste to prostrate himself before Ainz, Fluder struck his head on the ground. Yet the pain he felt was nothing compared to the joy he felt surging up from the bottom of his heart.
“I know it’s disrespectful, but allow me to kneel here! Please enlighten me with your knowledge! I want to peer into the abyss of magic! Please! Please!”
“...What are you willing to give in exchange for that?”
The voice was as cold as ice. If a hundred people heard it, they would all answer the same, but what Fluder heard was a sweet voice that soothed the heart. Even if he knew that the voice was laced with poison, what of it?
Fluder did not hesitate for a moment, even if it meant giving up his soul in exchange.
“Everything! Yes, I will offer everything to your royal being! The master of the abyss! The supreme being!”
“…Very well, as long as you are willing to offer everything, what I know will become yours. I will therefore grant your wish.”
“Oh! Ooooohhh!”
His head still pressed to the ground, Fluder cried tears of joy. The jealousy that had frozen his heart for so long seemed to have melted. At long last, his wish from over two hundred years ago might finally come true.
The absolutely overjoyed Fluder did not raise his head, but instead crawled towards Momon’s feet and kissed them. Although he had wanted to lick it at first, he realized that his god-like master might get annoyed if he did that, so he compromised, drawing on the tiny lucid fragment of himself in the corner of his mind.
“So be it. I accept your fealty.”
“Hooo! I am very thankful!… My master!”
“Now then, I will give my first order. Deliver sacrifices to my dominion—”
♦ ♦ ♦
“Gramps! Gramps! What is it, gramps?!”
Fluder, who was recalling his past, regained his awareness after realizing someone was calling him. The shocking encounter from a few days ago still gripped his heart, and if he did not focus, his mind might take flight into fantasy again.
Fluder immediately remembered where he was, and nodded slightly to the person addressing him.
“Pardon my rudeness, your Majesty, my mind was elsewhere.”
In front of Fluder was the only person who would call him gramps, the Emperor of the Baharuth Empire, Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix, and they were currently in the Emperor’s study.
Normally, there would not be so many people gathered in this room. The ones currently present were the Emperor Jircniv, who was accompanied by four of his bodyguards. The Empire’s highest ranked magic caster, Fluder Paradyne was there as well. In addition, even though the Emperor possessed remarkable intelligence, he had ten trustworthy ministers who were capable enough to assist him. One of the Four Imperial Knights, ‘Lightning’ Baziwood Peshmel, was also in attendance.
They all sat at their preferred places, and until recently, they had been discussing the future plans for the Empire. The papers scattered around the room spoke of how intense the meeting had become.
The young man called the Blood Emperor started talking to Fluder in a tone no one else would dare to use.
“No, don’t worry about it. It must be tiring for you to do so much work since you are getting on in years, so you might want to take it easy, but in the end it’s still a job that only grandpa can do. Sorry about that.”
“I am deeply grateful for his Majesty’s kindness. However, I am your Majesty’s loyal subject. Please feel free to give me your orders.”
Fluder, who had come so far, lightly nodded his head.
Ah, I raised a really good child, Fluder thought while looking at the beautiful face of the youth.
Fluder had been serving the Empire for six generations now.
Initially, he did not have a really good relationship with the Emperor from six generations ago. Even so, he had been a skilled magic caster at the time, so when he was recruited, he ended up reaching a prominent position even among the court wizards.
Due to this, his relationship with the imperial family had gradually become closer over the next five generations. When he first acquired the position of head magician, he started educating the Emperor’s children from the fourth generation on, but it was mainly related to magic.
Ever since the third generation, he had been instructing them in various subjects, most of which concerned politics.
And now it was the current emperor—a child that everyone adored.
Until now, he had seen many different types of emperors but none of them were incapable. All the children were talented as if they had been picked by the gods—but despite the current Emperor’s youth, his talents and abilities outshined the previous emperors by a wide margin. Even though it could be argued that Fluder had been aiding the preparations since two generations ago, the autocratic centralisation of power within the Emperor’s person had only been possible due to Jircniv’s exceptional skills
Fluder loved Jircniv Rune Farlord el Nix.
He had educated the Emperor and treated him like his own child, and Fluder believed that the Emperor treated him like a father as well.
But even if that was the case—
Fluder was still willing to abandon someone who he saw as his own child.
I wish to peer into the abyss of magic, Jircniv. I will not lose sight of that goal, no matter what I have to sacrifice for it. Even if it is an adorable child like you.
“Then your Majesty, is this why we called off the Kingdom’s invasion?”
“That’s right. The details about the devil calling himself Jaldabaoth are far more important. Gramps, have you found anything from your investigation yet?”
“Regretfully no, your Majesty. Even after the investigation, we still could not find any information about him.”
That’s right. That was how things had turned out.
“Paradyne, can’t you investigate it through magic?”
Fluder narrowed his eyes and looked at the speaker with a serious expression on his face.
“It is true that magic can be all powerful, but that is—”
“—Gramps, sorry. But if you start talking about that subject it’ll take quite long. So, it’s better to stop for now.”
“I understand, your Majesty.”
For a moment, Fluder looked dejected, and then adopted the tone of a teacher and started lecturing the people who seemed like students that kept missing the point.
“There are ways to prevent magical investigation. For instance, did you know this room is proofed against eavesdropping by magic? There are also other things that this room is protected against, and magical investigation is the least of such things.”
“…I understand. Because there are so many counter-measures, it would be difficult to do it.”
“That’s right. However, we would be lucky if the magic simply failed to work. High-tier magic casters can prepare retaliatory countermeasures to such spells. Some of them can even kill the spellcaster immediately if things go badly.”
How could someone of my ability be compared to the Supreme Being? There’s no one else more deserving of the title of Supreme Being than him. I need to prove my usefulness to him quickly….
Some people blanched with expressions of distaste as they heard Fluder talk about being killed, but he paid them no heed.
“Taking that into consideration...”
One of the ministers took out a piece of paper.
“There’s a place which seems to be the stronghold of a magic caster who goes by the name of Ainz Ooal Gown. Since Paradyne-sama found it through magic, does it mean that the person is less powerful than Paradyne-sama?”
“That’s too naive!”
Fluder shouted out loudly as he tried his hardest to forcefully suppress his urge to smile bitterly. This showed how anxious he was.
“Your thinking is too naive. Consider that he saved Carne Village, or rather, only Carne Village. With that in mind, I placed a magical surveillance field around the entire area and it was purely by chance that I saw someone who appeared to be Ainz Ooal Gown entering them. If you forget that this was nothing more than a coincidence, you’ll regret it.”
Part of that was the truth. Taking the Supreme Being lightly was a foolish move. No, despite the fact that he also used to be like that, he realised how scary it was to be ignorant about it.
Fluder laughed on the inside at how foolish he used to be. He was truly ignorant.
“My apologies.”
He raised his hand to beg his pardon.
“Ah ha, speaking of which, gramps. What happened to the workers that broke into the suspected stronghold?”
“Although our spies, who had been tailing them, have only sent a preliminary report via ‘Message’, they estimate that the workers have been wiped out.”
Jircniv snapped his fingers, and slightly opened his eyes. He had heard that multiple skilled worker groups had been deployed, but it was quite a shocking turn of events for them to be wiped out in just one day, or perhaps even half a day.
Fluder was not really surprised since it was the outcome he had expected, but still showed a surprised expression.
“……Is that so? But speaking of which, it is information gathered through magic, and you know how unreliable that is. How much time will it take for the adventurers to return?”
“Considering that it was an urgent situation where none of the workers had returned, they should have retreated immediately, so it’s estimated that it will still take around four days in total.”
“Including the time needed to gather information from the adventurers… At least five days. So before that, we won’t be able to take any action.”
‘Message’ was not reliable, due to the content becoming less clear over long distances. Many countries did not rely on ‘Message’, for several reasons.
One of them was the tragedy in the country called Gartenbarg.
It happened in that country about three hundred years ago. It was a nation founded by humans who were mainly magic casters with cities centred around quick exchange of information using ‘Message’. But because they trusted ‘Message’ too much, when they received three falsified messages, a civil war broke out between the cities. Then it was destroyed when monsters and demi-humans invaded.
There were also other examples, such as the songs the bards sang about a man who murdered his wife based on false information.
As a result, few people trusted ‘Message’. Conversely, anyone who relied too much on ‘Message’ was thought of as foolish. Jircniv was one of the smarter ones. While he did make use of ‘Message’, he would also gather information through other sources. He would never trust only in a single spell.
“But, that Earl sure is foolish. If he had hired the workers from E-Rantel, things might have gone more smoothly. He might be dancing within my hand due to his incompetence, but too much incompetence is a problem as well. If he’s going to be the bait, he should at least do a good job of it”
“It is as your Majesty says.”
Fluder’s agreement caused Jircniv to raise a brow.
There were two reasons why he accepted Fluder’s proposal in the meeting couple days ago.
The first, would be to gain an understanding of Ainz Ooal Gown’s character.
After Fluder’s investigation, they confirmed that Ainz had not left the ruin for several days, so they considered it to be his dwelling and sent in the workers to gauge his reaction.
It was to see if he would deal with intruders in a reasonable or a harsh manner.
The annihilation of the workers spoke something of his personality.
The other objective was to sow discord between Ainz Ooal Gown and the Kingdom. Thus, it would have been much better if the workers had been hired from E-Rantel, but unfortunately, that was not an option.
He couldn’t have been that foolish, could he?
All the information the Earl had been given was about an unexplored ruin. Knowing that he was going to be delving into a ruin in the Kingdom’s territory, he probably didn’t have the courage to hire people from the Kingdom as well. Hiring workers from the Empire was thus unavoidable.
But under these circumstances, the relationship between E-Rantel and Ainz Ooal Gown, and the Re-Estize Kingdom on the whole wouldn’t deteriorate. If he wanted any hope of accomplishing his second goal, he needed to leak the information about the ruins to the Kingdom’s Adventurer’s Guild as well.
“Momon came to the Empire at the right time.”
“I agree. The information that there was an unexplored ruin as well as the annihilation of the workers will naturally flow to the Kingdom’s Guild through his report. They’ll start a more serious investigation just like the Emperor wanted.”
It was because of this reason that adventurers hadn’t been allowed to take part in this at all. Of course, they did not use the Emperor’s authority, but rather through spies leaking information to the nobles.
This case needed to be handled as a single foolish noble going rogue. They could deny the Empire’s involvement, and then Ainz’s hostility would be directed towards the Earl, while Jircniv could take a friendlier approach.
“After the Kingdom’s adventurers invade the merciless Ainz Ooal Gown’s stronghold, what will the Kingdom’s reaction be once they found out about the powerful magic caster living there? And what will the Kingdom’s Adventurer’s Guild do after they were retaliated against?”
Jircniv smiled while looking forward to his carefully prepared plans.
“I understand Ainz Ooal Gown’s strength. He is powerful enough to wipe out the worker groups. Our plan to clean up the mess with a single noble’s head. Has it been done yet?”
“Of course, it was done cautiously. No one outside this room should know of the situation.”
“Then, just in ca—What was that!?”
The shaking of the ground interrupted Jircniv mid-sentence. The windows and all of the furniture violently shook around as well, but it was different from the feeling of an earthquake. It felt more like an impact caused by something massive hitting the ground, generating a huge shockwave.
“What happened!? Go and confirm it—damn, it’s noisy. What the hell is going on?!”
Even inside the room, Jircniv could hear the screams coming from outside. This room’s walls had been made quite thick and sturdy, therefore the sound needed to be very loud or there needed to be many people screaming. Just what was happening outside to make people scream like this?
In answer to Jircniv’s doubts, a guard replied from between the gaps of the window’s shutters. He came from the central courtyard, the origin of the sound, and his face was pale.
“Your Majesty! It’s a dragon! A dragon landed on the courtyard!”
For just a moment, the atmosphere in the room froze over. They could not make sense of these words right away, or rather, they could not make sense of these words at all. Even though they knew that the guard had no reason to lie, everyone still rushed to the windows to confirm the situation for themselves.
