Ainz Ooal Gown: Noble Knight

Shalltear.

Ainz silently repeated the name in his mind.

Where are you?

No one answered him.

In the empty hall, there was only one elderly man silently hoping that his "child" would come home.

Chapter 56 Xiaodi's Wisdom

The atmosphere in the throne room was more somber than usual.

Apart from Sebastian, who was on a mission in the capital, all the guardians of the Great Tomb of Nazarick gathered here.

Albedo stood to the right of the throne, her pure white dress flowing like snow.

Demiurge stood to the left, his round glasses gleaming coldly in the magical light. Cocytus's arms hung at his sides, his razor-sharp fingertips slightly clenched.

Yau and Mare stood side by side a little further back. Yau's ears twitched slightly, while Mare lowered his head and nervously twisted his staff.

The news of Shalltear's betrayal had already dropped a silent bomb among them.

Ainz sat on his throne and recounted all the known intelligence. From Shalltear's disappearance during her mission, to Nicole's fruitless investigation, to his personal visit to the site of the battle, and the final deployment.

Ainz's voice was steady, without any unnecessary embellishment.

After he finished speaking, he turned his gaze to Demiurge.

"Demiurge, what's your opinion?"

"Yes, Lord Ainz."

Demiurge stepped forward, placed his right hand on his chest, and gave a standard bow. He straightened up, and behind his glasses, his jewel-like eyes gleamed with an almost fanatical light.

"Although the timing may not be right, please allow me to praise your wisdom."

"what?"

Ainz's jaw opened involuntarily, emitting a short syllable.

But that chilling, forced calm immediately surged from the depths of his consciousness, suppressing the surging confusion and panic.

'No way.' Ainz's mind raced. 'Wasn't the failure due to my underestimation of her and ordering Shalltear to capture someone skilled in [Martial Arts] alone? Why is he praising me?'

Ainz's gaze fell on Demiurge's face.

There was no trace of mockery on that upright face. The corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, and his eyebrows were relaxed, showing genuine respect.

'Could it be... that this is someone harboring resentment towards me, using this method to mock me?'

But after examining it carefully for a moment, Ainz dismissed the idea.

Demiurge was serious; he was genuinely praising her.

"Ahem." Ainz cleared his throat, though he didn't have any to clear. "Demiurge, let's hold off on the compliments for now."

Ainz tried to make his voice sound as calm as possible, as if he were already used to such praise.

“Yes, Lord Ainz.” Demiurge bowed slightly. “You are still so humble.”

"Demiurge, what are you talking about?"

Yawu finally couldn't hold back any longer; his perked-up ears tilted forward slightly, and his youthful face was filled with confusion.

“So…” Demiurge’s lips curled into a meaningful smile, “the Guardians will never be able to match Lord Ainz’s wisdom.”

He pushed up his glasses again, and his gaze behind the lenses became even sharper.

"Even I have only glimpsed a small part of Lord Ainz's wisdom."

"what!?"

A green light flashed across Ainz's body again, and his forced calm was triggered once more in a short time.

This shows how much of a shock Demiurge brought to Ainz.

“Demiurge,” Ainz said, adding a touch of authority to his voice, “to help the other Guardians understand the current situation, please explain it to them in the simplest terms possible.”

He paused, then added:

"Of course, I will supplement any shortcomings after you have finished explaining."

"Yes, Lord Ainz."

Demiurge bowed deeply once again.

"If there is any misunderstanding on my part, please feel free to correct me."

He straightened up, faced all the guardians present, and began his analysis.

"first."

Demiurge raised a long, slender finger.

"Shalltear's rebellion was not of her own will, but was interfered with by some force majeure."

Ainz nodded slightly.

This aligns with his speculation.

'Looks like I'm not so stupid after all.' Ainz secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Secondly.

Demiurge raised his second finger.

"The formidable enemy that Shalltear encountered was a chance encounter based on coincidence."

By the second point, Ainz was already starting to have some trouble understanding.

'Wasn't it Shalltear who went to capture her? How did it turn into an encounter?'

But Ainz didn't speak. He simply kept a slight nod, as if he already knew everything.

"I see."

A voice came from the right side of the throne.

Albedo tilted her head slightly, a hint of realization flashing in her golden vertical pupils.

"Is it because they want to hunt down the adventurers who were waiting on the outskirts from the very beginning?"

"Yes."

Demiurge turned to Albedo and nodded to her.

"Of course, Lord Ainz must have thought of this long ago."

"Huh? Ah, ah. Yes, but Demius, you should still explain to Aou and the others," Ainz said again, sounding guilty.

“Based on the traces left by Lord Ainz at the scene, we can reconstruct the general course of events,” Demiurge said calmly.

After Shalltear dealt with the mercenaries and bandits in the cave, she discovered adventurers who had come to scout ahead. However, due to the presence of adventurers providing backup on the outside, Shalltear summoned her familiars and ordered them to hunt down the adventurer in the forest.

Demiurge paused for a moment, allowing the other guardians to process this information.

"However, these relatives encountered an unexpected and powerful enemy in the forest and were wiped out."

"Shalltear may have entered a state of blood frenzy due to excessive killing at that time."

Demiurges' tone carried a hint of helplessness, "At this point, instead of slowly probing the opponent's strength, she recklessly went there herself."

That's what they say, but in reality, Demiurge was skeptical that Shalltear would remain cautious while conscious.

"Lord Ainz, at the site of that battle, we found a path leading deep into the forest. The branches on both sides of the path have fresh breakage marks, clearly left by Shalltear when she rushed through at an extremely fast speed," Demiurge said, looking at Ainz.

"The above is my deduction based on the available intelligence."

After Demiurge finished speaking, he faced Ainz and bowed deeply.

The throne room fell silent for a moment.

Ainz sat on the throne, the dark red light in his eye sockets flickering slightly.

It turned out to be the case.

Those traces, those fragments he had seen but hadn't connected, were pieced together seamlessly by Demiurge's analysis, like a jigsaw puzzle.

“Well said, Demiurge.”

Ainz's voice carried the praise befitting a ruler.

"Your analysis is exactly what I predicted."

Demiurge lowered his head even further.

"It is an honor, Lord Ainz."

Chapter 57 Ainz's Deep Planning

Demiurge straightened up, his gaze sweeping over the guardians present before finally settling on Ainz.

"Moreover, I believe that Lord Ainz's arrangements contain more than one layer of deeper meaning."

Yawu's ears twitched slightly, and confusion appeared on his youthful face.

"A deeper meaning?" She tilted her head. "Isn't it to gather clues?"

Demiurge glanced at her, a slight smile playing on his lips.

“Superficial, that’s just Lord Ainz’s most superficial goal.”

Ainz sat on the throne, the dark red light in his eye sockets flickering.

'Huh?! Why didn't I know that myself?'

A flash of green, forceful, calming light passed over him.

"Cough cough."

Ainz cleared his throat, making his voice sound calm and confident.

"Indeed. I wonder, Demiurge, how many of my intentions have you discerned?"