Chapter 35 - Volume 5 (1/2)

Overlord Volume 5 Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Those Who Pick Up, Those Who Are Picked Up

Part 1

Middle Fire Month (8th Month) 26th Day 15:27

After sending the old lady hoinal destination

He ca stretch of wall

Three towers — each five stories tall — rose fro by the fact that they were the tallest buildings around

These toere surrounded by several long and narroo-story buildings

This was the headquarters of the Kingdoicians’ Guild They needed ample space for the developic casters The reason why they could afford all this land despite having practically no national support was probably due to theira little further, he saw a sturdy gate The latticed gate yawned open, and on either side of it were several ars

The guards did not obstruct Sebas — although they quickly looked hiate

There was a gently sloping wide staircase before hiuished-looking detached house Naturally, these doors were open, to welco, he found hi’s lobby before hih ceiling of the latter rooe that contained a sofa and several other pieces of furniture There werewithin On the left was a notice board Several people were studying it in earnest; soic casters, while others seemed to be adventurers

There was a counter in the inner men and women seated behind it All of thees on their chests which

On either side of the counter stood a pair of skinny wooden dolls, of the kind used for sketching They were the size of actual humans and they had no facial features — Wood Gole used as sentries The fact that they had not posted any human sentries inside ician’s Guild, the outside sentries notwithstanding

Sebas’ shoes pounded out a steady beat as he approached the counter

The young reeted him with a look Sebas nodded in return He was a frequent customer here, so both of theician’s Guild, Sebas-sama How may I help you today?”

“Yes, I’d like to buy a spell scroll May I consult the usual list?”

“Certainly”

The youth quickly brought a large tootten it ready when he noticed Sebas approaching

The pages of the book were h-quality paper that was thin and white as snohile its cover was made of leather The overall article was of exquisite construction The letters upon the cover were igared belief

Sebas brought the book over to hiretfully, Sebas did not understand the words written upon it Or rather, it s from YGGDRASIL were unable to comprehend theuage in this world, written text was not translated

However, Sebas’ ic item that could solve this problem

Sebas produced a spectacle case frolasses sat within Its bridge was made of a platinum-like metal, and at a closer look, it seemed to have been inscribed with tiny characters, or soround out of a crystal that reselasses on, he could understand written text through the power of h the pages, and then he suddenly froze He looked away froently asked:

“Is so…”

The girl blushed and lowered her face

“I just thought… you looked very handsome”

“Thank you very irl’s face flushed even redder

Sebas, the white-haired gentleht He was good-looking, but the way he carried hi When he walked on the streets, nine out of ten woe — would turn to take a second look at hiirls found themselves entranced by him, and it was also a common occurrence

Sebas found that understandable, and then turned his eyes back to the toe and asked the youth:

“Could you tellBoard], I believe it is called?”

“Certainly”

The youngBoard] is a 1st-tier spell which creates a translucent floating platfor capacity of the platforical power However, when cast from a scroll, it is limited to a surface of one square rams The created board moves behind the caster, and can be aBoard] can only follow behind the caster, it cannot be made to move in front of the the caster Should the caster turn around, the board will slowly move to his back It is pri earthworks”

“I see,” Sebas nodded “Then I’ll take a scroll of this spell”

“Of course”

The young man was not surprised by the fact that Sebas had selected a low-demand spell like this After all, just about all the scrolls Sebas had purchased were for unpopular spells like this Besides, being able to eician’s Guild

“Will one scroll be enough?”

“Yes, please Thank you”

The youth gestured to aon their conversation — i into a room behind the counter, which he entered Scrolls were expensive iteuards posted, it would not do to pile them up on the sales area

After about five minutes, the man who had left returned In his hands was a roll of parchment

“Your scroll, sir”

Sebas looked at the scroll on the counter It was elegantly made, and looked distinctly different from the paper one could purchase outside The name of the spell ritten in black ink on the outside of the scroll, and after verifying that it was the salasses

“Indeed, that is it I shall take it”

“Thank you for your patronage,” the young man bowed politely “As this is a 1st-tier spell scroll, that will be one gold and ten silver coins”

A potion for spells of a siold coins, so this scroll was comparatively cheaper That was because under noric casters of the same tradition Thus, it only iven that they could be used by anyone

That said, “coold and ten silver coins was very expensive for an average person; equivalent to about half a es However, to Sebas — or rather, his master — it was a trivial expense

Sebas then produced a pouch fro He opened it, withdrew 11 coins, and handed them to the youth

“I have received the correct a man did not test the money’s authenticity in front of Sebas Their transactions thus far had earned Sebas that much trust

♦ ♦ ♦

“That old man’s really handso the counter staff — especially the ladies — once Sebas had left the Magician’s Guild

They were no longer oirls who had justOne of the men seated at the counter frowned and his face turned sour, but he too had felt Sebas’ cultured presence and so he kept quiet

“He reat noble I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a noble hi”

It was a co for noble children who could not inherit the estate to becoher rank would tend to hireSebas’ noble bearing, they could accept the fact that Sebas was highborn hiant, fro mthe way he stands to the way he moves”

Everyone seated at the counter could not help but nod

“If he asked me out for tea, I’d definitely accept”

“Mo too!”

The ladies squealed and cooed one after the other They talked about where the good cafes were and then about hoould be perfect as their escort Thetoo

“He looks really learned You think he’s a ht be”

The spells Sebas bought had all been recently developed That iic If he had been ordered to buy a scroll, he could have simply asked the counter staff directly, with no need to browse through the catalogue The fact that Sebas had paged through the to the decisions on what spells to buy

This was not so any ordinary old man could do In other words, they could suric — that he was a ic caster

“And then there’s his spectacles… they look expensive”

“Are they a ic itelasses, right? Made by the Dwarves, I think”

“Hlasses like that”

“I’d like to see the beautiful girl he came with once,” one of the men muttered The response from beside them was a wave of disapproval

“Eh, that wo but her looks”

“M him the old run-around”

“She looks pretty, but she definitely has a terrible personality Did you see the disgusting way she was looking at us? I feel sorry for Sebas-san, having to serve such a person”

Thethe ladies criticize a fellow fe beauty, and she had stolen their hearts in an instant The ladies beside theician’s Guild, but co thearound in the mud The men wanted to tell the ladies not to be so jealous, but it was clear ould happen if they actually spoke those words out loud

None of the ht, enough chitchat”

The young h their chatter as an adventurer approached the counter Everyone’s faces turned serious, and they set to work in earnest

♦ ♦ ♦

Middle Fire Month (8th Month) 26th Day 16:06

After leaving the Magician’s Guild, Sebas looked to the sky

Sending the old lady hoo over his planned tilancing at the watch he had taken out of his breast pocket, he knew that it was time to return home However, the day’s business had not been finished yet Since those matters could be delayed until tomorrow, should he not do so? Or should he stick to the plan and finish up his agenda by today, even though it would cause hio into overtime?

He only hesitated for a moment

The ht to fulfil his tasks

“—Shadow Deed from Sebas’ shadow

“Inform Solution I will be a little late That is all”

There was no response, but the presence began radually dreay

“Alright,” Sebas

He had no destination into fully familiarize himself with the layout of the Royal Capital His master had not ordered him to do so — he had sience-gathering duties

“Then, I shall head over there today”

Afterhis beard, Sebas twirled the scroll he was holding in one hand He looked like a delighted child as he did so

He headed ever forward, drawing away from the central district of the Royal Capital, where it was still safe

After turning several corners, the alleys started to feel dirtier, and a faint stench lingered on the air, the stench of fresh garbage and other wastes It felt as though it would physically stain his clothes, and Sebas walked on in silence

He suddenly stopped in his tracks and surveyed his surroundings It would seem he had entered a very secluded back alley, so cramped that people would have to squeeze past each other in passing

It was hard to ht of the setting sun was blocked by the tall buildings all around and the footing was atrocious However, it posed no obstacle to Sebas He walked on in silence and concealing his presence, as though he had melted into the shadows

Sebas turned several more corners as he headed towards an even ion, and then his confident, unhesitating stride suddenly ground to a halt

His aiht hi way frorasped his location, and he mentally traced the route from his homebase to this place

Given Sebas’ physical attributes, he could have covered the distance in a straight line It would take quite a while for hi, it was probably tio back

He was not concerned about the safety of Solution, hom he lived

Even if a powerful enemy appeared, Solution still had a ht to be able to buy ti it as a o back?”

In all honesty, he wanted to continue walking, but wasting time on an activity which was half-leisure would not be permitted Still, even if he was to return home, he could at least see as in front of hih the narrow alleys

As Sebas forged silently ahead in the darkness, he saw a heavy steel door in front of him — about 15 ht leaked out from within Sebas stopped and watched silently

Once the door had fully opened, so only allowed Sebas to see his silhouette, but the person was probably a man Said man looked around, but he did not notice Sebas, and shrank back inside

There was a thuround outside Illuht from inside, Sebas could see that the soft object inside had changed shape from the fall

The door was still open, but the person throwing out the sack like so one back indoors, and there were noover whether tohis nose into this would probably lead to trouble

After hesitating briefly, he continued his silent advance along the dark, narrow alley

“—Let’s go”

The ed open

Sebas’ shoes scraped along the ground, and he soon drew near the sack

Just as he was about to pass it, he stopped in his tracks

Sebas felt so down, Sebas sahat he had expected

A slender arrabbing onto the leg of his pants The half-naked body of a woman appeared from within—

This hen the sack opened fully, exposing the woman’s upper body

Her blue eyes were dark, clouded over and eth hair was messy, with split ends fros, and there were numerous pale red spots all over her dried-out, bark-like skin

She was a desiccated bag of bones, with hardly any vitality left in her

Surely that rasping Sebas’ pant leg was the best sign of that However, if all she could do was breathe, did that truly qualify as living?

“…Could you please let go?”

The girl did not respond to Sebas’ words It was readily apparent that she was not ignoring him After all, her eyelids were so swollen that they were only separated by a thin slit The cloudy pupils which see at the sky fro at all

All Sebas would have to do was ers, which could not even begin to cos However, he did not Instead, he continued asking:

“…Are you in difficulty? If so—”

“—Oi, old man Where the fuck did you come from?”

Sebas was interrupted by a low, brutish voice

A ed with muscle His scarred face clearly displayed his hostility, and he glared hatefully at Sebas The lantern he was holding eht

“Oi oi oi, the fuck you looking at, old erated deliberation, and then jerked his chin at Sebas

“fuck right off, oldthat Sebas remained still, the man took a step forward The door slammed shut behind him with a ponderous thud Theswagger

“Oi You deaf, old man?”

He worked his shoulders and cracked his neck Then he slowly raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist He was clearly not afraid to use violence

“Hentlenified smile clearly displayed a matchless calm and compassion Yet, for soh a ferocious carnivore had appeared before him

“Uh… uh, uh, what’re you—”

Shaken by Sebas’ s to for how heavily he was panting

Sebas tucked the scroll — ician’s Guild — that he had been holding into his belt Then he took a single step forward, closing the gap to the man, and extended a hand The man could not even react to thaton to Sebas’ pants fell to the floor of the alley

That seenal for Sebas to seize the man by the lapels — and then he easily lifted his body off the ground

Anybody seeing this would surely wonder if this was so by appearances, there was no chance Sebas could take this e, ht, er uished old gentleht with one hand

—No, that was not the case Perhaps an eyewitness would be able to sense the difference between the two of them While humans had poor instincts, they could still sense a sufficiently great difference between two parties

The difference between Sebas and this man was—

The difference between an absolute superior and an utter inferior

The other round — flailed his legs and twisted his body Then, when he thought to take Sebas’ hand in both of his own, his eyes filled with fear as he realised so

He finally realised that the ested He also realised that pointless resistance would only serve to anger the monster before hian stiffening in fear, that cold voice bored its way into his ears

That voice was as clear and quiet as a softly-flowing brook, The sheer contrast with the hand that was easily lifting hihtened the man’s fear

“She, she’s a worker in our place,” the man replied, his voice off-key from panic

“I asked you what she was And your answer is that she is a worker?”

TheHowever, it was the iven under the present circu like those of a frightened little ani It’s just that soues view humans as objects, so I believed that you too viewed people as objects If you held that point of view, then you would not consider yourself to have done so However, you answered that she was a worker In other words, you considered her a hu Aoing to do with her?”

The ht for a

Sebas’ grip intensified, and the hhh!”

Sebas tightened his grip on the ave off a queer wail Sebas was sending a ive you time to think — answer now”

“She, she was sick, so I was taking her to a te lied to”

“Aiiiieee!”

Sebas’ grip grew even stronger, and the man’s face flushed red as a cry leaked out of his throat However generous hethe fact that he had put so said sack into an alley did not feel like he was taking a sick person to the te of rubbish

“Please… stop…”

TheHe thrashed wildly as he realised the er he was in

Sebas casually blocked the fist headed at his face with one hand The flailing legs hit Sebas body and dirtied his clothes, but Sebas was as stoic as the mountains

—But of course

How could a sa square hit, Sebas simply dusted himself off and nonchalantly said:

“I advise you to tell the truth”

“Gahhhh—”

The man was unable to breathe, and Sebas narrowed his eyes at the o of the reat thuh!”

The asped cry, and then greedily drank in the fresh air in big gulps Sebas continued looking down on hiain

“W-wait… p-please, wait!”

Having personally experienced the terrors of oxygen deprivation, the man scraht! I was taking her to the te? To think his will is so strong…

Sebas had thought that the man would immediately coht have been afraid, but he did not look like he was going to talk right away In other words, the danger of letting that information slip was on par with Sebas’ intie his plan of attack This was enemy territory The fact that the man had not cried out to whoever was behind the door for help indicated that he did not expect so here for too long would only lead to more trouble

His master had not ordered him to cause trouble His orders were to blend into society and covertly gather intelligence

“If you’re taking her to the teuarantee her safety”

The ulped and his eyes quivered Then he frantically tried to cobble an excuse together

“…There’s no guarantee you’ll really take her there”

“Then you can coo I’ll take her later”

Thefrom Sebas’ expression, and he hurriedly continued:

“She belongs to us by law! If you step in, you’ll be breaking the country’s laws! And if you dare take her away, that’ll be kidnapping!”

Sebas froze, and frowned for the first tireatest weakness

While his master had said that he could take overt action when the situation called for it, that was only when he was playing the role of a butler caring for his ation, and possibly even lead to their disguise being pierced In other words, doing so ht lead to major and obvious repercussions, which his master would not smile upon

Sebas did not think this brute of a man was very learned, but his voice was filled with confidence In other words, so the case, there ht be some factual basis to his declaration

Since there were no witnesses, the ansas simple; violence He would simply become another corpse here with a broken neck

However, that was a last resort; sooals He could not raise his hand to strike for a girl he had encountered by chance

That said, was it right to just abandon this wohter filled hier

“Oh faithful butler-sa to deceive your master and cause trouble?”

For the first time, Sebas’ brow knitted in visible frustration as he took in the rasped his weakness from that display of his

“I don’t knohich noble you serve, but won’t you cause trouble for your ht have ties with our establish scolded?”

“…Do you really think nitude? Rules exist to be broken by the strong, no?”

That seeh to the man, and fear flashed across his face for a moment However, he recovered his confidence alive it a try, then?”

“…Hmph”

Sebas’ bluff had not worked on thethat this approach was not effective, Sebas decided to change tack

“…I see Indeed, it would be quite troublesoal sense However, there is also a lahich states that if someone asks for help, one can render said help without fear of legal consequences I wasin accordance with that law For starters, she is currently unconscious, so she ought to be taken to the te?”

“Er… No… this…”

The man muttered to himself as he racked his brains

His h of relief at theskills and his slow reactions Sebas had just told a whopper of a lie Since his opposition had decided to try and use the law against hial mumbo-juue using the law — even if he was only lying — Sebas and his inadequate grasp of the Kingdom’s laould not have had an answer for him However, thewhat he had heard, so he could not see through Sebas’ lies

In addition, his lack of legal knowledge meant that he had no response when soainst him In addition, this man was probably someone’s minion, so he should not be able to make decisions of his own

Sebas turned away from the man and cradled the woman’s head

“Do you wanthis ear close to the woman’s cracked lips

All he could hear was the sound of faint breathing No, it was asp from a deflated balloon Did a sound like that even count as breathing?

There was no response Sebas shook his head and asked again:

“Do you want irl was co that old lady Sebas wanted to help as ht incur tremendous hassle Would the Supreme One understand why he had done this? Was this not a violation of His will? A cold gust blew through his heart as he contemplated that point

There was still no response

A faint yet crude smile crept back onto thehell she had been through, it was obvious why he was sneering Otherwise, ould he have thrown her outside, ready for disposal?

Good luck did not repeat itself, because regularly occurring phenoood luck

Indeed, if one considered her grabbing of Sebas’ pants to be good luck, then she would not have any ood fortune was the fact that Sebas had stepped into this alley, and it was now over Everything else all rested on how much she wanted to survive

That was not luck

—Faintly

Yes The girl’s lipsIt was a willed, conscious action

“—”

Sebas’ only response to hearing those words was a big nod

“I do not believe in helping those who can only pray for others to save thele and strive to live…”

Sebas’ fingers irl’s eyes

“Do not be afraid Rest You are under irl closed her clouded eyes, as though wrapped in a warm shroud of compassion

The other man could not believe what he had just seen, and so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind

“It can’t be—”

I didn’t hear anything, the man wanted to say, but he was frozen in place

“Are you calling me… a liar?”

He did not knohen Sebas had stood up, but now his razor-sharp gaze transfixed the man

Those were fearsome eyes

Those vicious eyes stopped the h they possessed the ability to physically crush his heart within his chest

“Are you saying I would tell a lie for the likes of you?”

“Ah, no, ah…”

The ulped His eyeson Sebas’ ar carried away

“Then, I’ll be taking her with me”

“Ah, wait! No, please wait!” the lanced at him out of the corner of his eye

“What is it now? Trying to buy more time?”

“No, that’s not it It’s s will be very bad You’ll be inviting disaster upon you and your ers?”

Sebas had heard that naanization which ruled the Kingdom from the shadows

“So won’t you helpIf you take her away, they’ll count it as a failure onthat theto cajole hilared icily at hi her with ive ht as well kill hi as Sebas weighed the pros and cons of ending the ht theto buy tiiven his attitude However, he could not think of a reason otherwise

“Why did you not call for help?”

The man’s eyes ide in shock, and then he hastily answered

The long and short of it was that if the wo for help It would essentially be telling his people that he had eable mistake In addition, he did not think he could beat Sebas even if he called his colleagues over to help That hy he was trying to persuade Sebas to change his mind

Even Sebas could not muster up his motivation in front of that utterly pathetic attitude, and his killing intent vanished That said, he still did not intend to give the girl over to thethe case—

“…Then why don’t you run away?

“Please be reasonable Where would I get the money to run?”

“I do not consider money to be more important than life However… I shall provide in that respect”

Thehi hiht be able to buy the her so hiht lead others to search for her, since she would be ht cause probleiven that he did not know the circumstances which had led to her present state

At this point, Sebas began wondering why he had even started on this dangerous course in the first place

The truth was that he did not understand the stirrings in his heart which had led him to rescue this wonored her to avoid getting involved in troublesome matters They would have packed up and left this place

—Saving someone in trouble is conore that phrase which had inexplicably surfaced in his heart and said:

“Take this, hire an adventurer and flee”

Sebas took out a pouch The ht of such a s

In the next moment, the man’s eyes followed the coins which fell to the alley’s floor, fixated on that silver-like radiance Those were platinuround, ten of theold

“Run aith all your strength, understand? Also, I have some questions for you Do you have time to answer them?”

“Ah, it’s fine I’ve already told the out to disp— to take her to the temple I should be able to spare some time”

“I understand Walk with me, then”

With that, Sebas raised his chin to indicate the irl and strode forth

Part 4

Middle Fire Month (8th Month) 26th Day 18:58

Sebas currently resided in a high-end residential district of the Royal Capital with good security

This particular dwelling was sh it were built as a home for the servants of the fas However, it was still too large for Sebas and Solution alone

They had rented such a large place for a reason, of course; since they were posing as members of a wealthy household from afar, they could not possibly live in a run-down old house For that reason — and because they did not have any credentials to present or any connections — they had to pay several ti price to the builder’s union when leasing the home In addition, they had to pay in one lue expense

Sebas received a prompt reception when he arrived at the house and walked in the front door That someone was dressed in white; she was one of Sebas’ subordinates, Solution Epsilon of the Pleiades battle maids The house’s other residents included Shadow Dened to sentry duties and would not come out to meet him

“Welcome bac—”

Solution cut her words off lared at the object Sebas was carrying with eyes that were colder than usual

“…Sebas-sama, what is that?”

“I picked her up”

Solution did not reply to that terse answer However, the air seeet heavier around them

“…I see I do not believe it is a present for me, so may I ask how you intend to dispose of that?”

“Well now Could you start by healing her wounds?”

“Healing…”

Solution looked at the girl Sebas was holding Once she understood, she shook her head and stared at Sebas

“If that were the case, would it not suffice to bring her to the teot about that…”

Seeing that Sebas was coaze on him Their eyes met for a second, and in the end it was Solution who blinked first

“Shall I throw it away, then?”

“No I’ve brought her back We should think about how best to handle her”

“…I understand”

Solution was the type who lacked expressions of their own, but her face now could have been used as awithin her eyes All he could tell was that Solution was thoroughly displeased with the present circumstances

“Could you please perform a health examination on her?

“I understand Then, I shall iirlher a checkup at the front door was hardly a good thing

“There ought to be a spare room inside Could you perform the examination there?”

Solution nodded silently by way of reply

Neither of theuest room Granted, Sebas and Solution had never been the type for conversation, but that did not explain the aardness between them

Solution opened the door for Sebas, as holding the girl in both hands The heavy curtains were closed and so the room was dark, but it did not feel stuffy in the least The door had been opened many times before, so the air inside was fresh, and the interior was spotlessly clean

The roo in between the gap in the curtains After entering, Sebas gingerly laid the girl down upon the clean sheets of the bed within

He had infused the girl with ki, and perfor However, she remained as motionless as a corpse

“Then…”

Solution carelessly stripped the girl of the cloth which covered her, revealing a bruised and battered body That ghastly sight should have , but Solution’s expression was unchanged, and she had a dull, disinterested look in her eyes

“…Solution, I’ll leave the rest to you”

With that, Sebas left the room Solution did not look like she wanted to call hinosis

Now that he was in the corridor, he should not have heard Solution as she quietly said:

“How foolish”

Her s vanished into the corridor, and naturally nobody replied to the about it Why had he saved that girl? Even he could not explain why

Was it pity?

No, that was not it Why had he saved her?

Sebas was a butler, and he was also in charge of Nazarick’s ed to each of the 41 Supres He owed his faithful service to the Guildmaster who had taken the naenuine He could confidently say that he would gladly throw his life away in service to the Supre, he had to choose only one of the 41 Supres to obey, Sebas would pick the man called Touch Me without hesitation

♦ ♦ ♦

He was thein Ainz Ooal Gown, and the one who had ure of fa Who would dare believe that Touch Me, of the Original Nine, had founded the group which predated the guild in order to protect the weak? Yet, that was the truth

When Moer, it was Touch Me who had saved hiama could not find anyone to adventure with her due to her looks, it was Touch Me who had reached out to her

♦ ♦ ♦

The lingering will of that man was the invisible chain which now bound Sebas

“Could this be considered a curse…”

Those words were terribly rude If any of the other beings who served Ainz Ooal Goho had been created by the 41 Supreht have well attacked hi to show pity and offer aid to those who do not belong to Ainz Ooal Gown,” Sebas rimly

That was only to be expected

Every ras, like the Head Maid, Pestonya S wanko — fir to Ainz Ooal Goas the right course of action

For instance, he had once heard from Solution that one of her fellow battle irl froe However, Sebas was abundantly aware that if anything arose, Lupusregina would cast that girl aside without hesitation

That was not because she was cruel

If the Supres ordered them to die, they would kill thes ordered soet was a friend of theirs On the other hand, anyone who did not understand this would receive looks of pity fro a decision based on hu thing to do

But what about himself? Had he taken the correct course of action?

Just as Sebas was about to bite through his lip, Solution stepped out of the rooo?

“… She is suffering from syphilis and two other sexually-transers are broken The tendons on her right ar have been severed Her upper and lower incisors have been pulled out Her organ function is dins of drug addiction In addition, there are countless traces of contusions and lacerations This concludes the basic summary of her condition Do you require a more detailed explanation?”

“No, I think not The i is — can she be healed?”

“Easily”

Sebas had also expected that unhesitating reply

Healing abilities could even help someone who had all their limbs severed In fact, Sebas could use ki to heal just about any form of physical injury The truth was that if he had not been worried about e out, he could have healed the old lady’s twisted ankle on the spot

That said, while his ki could heal physical injuries, it could not help with poisoning or diseases as well, because Sebas had not learned those skills Therefore, he had to ask Solution to help in that aspect

“I’ll leave it to you, then”

“If healing ht be better to look up Pestonya-sao to that trouble Solution, you have a scroll of healingSolution nod, Sebas continued:

“Use that, then”

“…Sebas-sama That scroll was bestowed upon us by the Supre”

Indeed He should have thought of some other way instead It would be best to heal her wounds and stabilize her first, before curing her addiction and disease afterwards However, he did not know if he had the ti because of her addiction or diseases, healing her would be an exercise in futility unless said healing was constantly reapplied

After thinking about this, Sebas handed out an order to Solution in a voice of steel, the better to keep anyone fro his true intentions

“Do it”

Solution narrowed her eyes, and a reddish-black flame seemed to flare in their depths However, Solution bowed her head in acknowledgee

“…I understand I am to restore that female to a pristine condition — in other words, I will revert her body to the state it was before she engaged in those activities A Sebas’ approval, Solution bowed again

“I shall do so at once”

“Then, could I trouble you to boil some water and wipe her down after the treat to eat”

nobody here needed to eat and nobody here could cook Neither did anyone here possess ic items which eliminated the need to eat Thus, he had to obtain food for her

“…Sebas-sa the body is a simple task, but… I do not possess the ability to heal mental trauht at Sebas before continuing

“If there is a need to heal such traumas, I feel it would be better to ask Ainz-sama to lend his aid Will you not ask him to do so?”

“…There is no need to trouble Ainz-sama We will leave the ain Then she opened the door and entered the rooainst a nearby wall

How should he deal with her—

The best as to wait until she had been treated — while the , for instance — and then take her to where she wanted to go and release her He had to pick a location that was sufficiently far away fro her to walk out froerous but far too cruel It would be no help at all

Still, was all this really the right thing for him — Sebas Tian, butler of Nazarick — to do?

Sebas sighed heavily

If only that would allow him to physically expel the worries that had built up within his heart However, it did not His heart was pounding and his thoughts were a blur

“How foolish I was To think that I, Sebas, would do all that for a huht, he could not co an answer Right now, he ought to start by solving the si the inevitable, but this was the best that Sebas could come up with at the ed the shape of her finger The slender digit lengthened, becoe-like structure that was several oth, Solution had always been able tothe thickness of her fingers was child’s play

She glanced at the door, and once she sensed he was no longer outside, she quietly approached the woman on the bed

“Since Sebas-saht as well take care of this unpleasant business quickly You would probably prefer it that way, no? Besides, it is not as though you are aware of it, are you?”

Solution reached inside her body with her untransformed hand and withdrew a scroll stored within herself

That scroll was not the only item Solution had concealed within herself In addition to scrolls and other expendable ic items, she also contained quite a nuear This was nothing out of the ordinary considering her body could store several hus

Solution looked at the unconscious woman

She was uninterested in her appearance Only one thought ran through her mind

That was — this huood

This body looked like a walking corpse It probably would not thrash wildly and delight Solution even if she melted at it with corrosives

“I could understand Sebas-sama’s intentions if he intended to make her my toy after she recovered, but this…”

She was familiar with Sebas’ personality, since he was the leader of the Pleiades battleAfter all, he had not per their journey, save the ones who had tried to ambush them

“If Sebas-sama had rescued her on orders froladly obey… but is it really worth expending a valuable asset fros on a mere human like this?”

Solution shook her head and dispelled those thoughts

“…Should I eat you before Sebas-sama returns?”

Solution broke the seal and unfurled the scroll The spell contained within was called [Heal] It was a high-end healing reat deal of health in addition to healing various diseases and other abnormal status conditions

Under noric of the scroll would require levels in the appropriate job class In other words, one would need cleric-type class levels to use clerical spells, which were divine ic However, certain thief-type classes had the ability to e” them, such as with a scroll

As an assassin, Solution had levels in several thief-type classes Thus, she was able to use this scroll of [Heal], which he would not be able to use otherwise

“Just in case, I should probably put her to sleep After that…”

Solution used a skill to synthesize a sleeping poison cuirl

♦ ♦ ♦

Middle Fire Month (8th Month) 26th Day 19:37

Sebas returned fro food just as Solution stepped out of the roo bucket in each hand, each of which had several washcloths inside

The cloths were filthy and the hot water was black, indicating the unsanitary conditions that girl had been in

“Thank you for your efforts I trust there were no proble process…?”

“Yes It has all been taken care of, and there were no hiccups However, there were no clothes for her to wear, so I selected an outfit for her at random Do you approve?”

“Of course That will do

“I see… The sleeping agent should have worn off by now… but if you have no further directives, I will be taking my leave”

“Thank you very much, Solution”

Solution nodded by way of response, and slipped past Sebas

After watching her leave, Sebas knocked on the door There was no response, but he sensed so inside, so he quietly pushed the door open

The girl sleeping on the bed had just regained consciousness She sat up, still drowsy

She was completely different from how she had been before

Her filthy blonde hair noith a beautiful luster Her eained their fullness Her cracked lips were now a healthy pink

On the whole, she was beautiful, although her looks ht be better described as a soft-spoken prettiness rather than being drop-dead sexy

Her age was now plain to see She looked like she was in her late teens, between 15 to 19, although the shadow on her face from her years in her man-made hell made her seeiven her a white negligee to wear, but it was plain and unadorned, lacking frills or lace or other such attractive decorations

“I trust you are completely recovered How do you feel?”

There was no answer Her hollow eyes did not seeh to look at Sebas However, he did not

No, the truth was, he had not expected her to answer him That was because he could tell that her blank expression belonged to someone as distracted and crestfallen

“Are you hungry? I brought soht the e in the wooden boas made with colored soup stock It had some sesame oil in it to taste, and on the whole it radiated a irl’s face twitched in response to the fragrance

“Coirl had not yet completely withdrawn into her oorld, Sebas placed the wooden bowl and its spoon before the girl

She did not e her to eat

A third party would probably have started to get frustrated at this point After a long tiirl’s handsbrutally beaten

The wounds on the outside had been completely healed, but the pain which had been branded into her memories still remained

She picked up the wooden spoon, dipped it into the porridge, then brought it to her e could be very rich and thick Sebas had asked the storekeeper to finely slice the 14 different ingredients and then cook the that could be sithout chewing

Her throat worked, and the porridge slid into her belly

The girl’s eyes trehtly It was a small movement, but it was sufficient to convert her fro Her other hand trembled as it moved to take the bowl fro it to a place which was easier for her to reach

The girl grabbed the bowl to herself, then took scoop after forceful scoop of the porridge as she devoured it

If the porridge had not been cooled until it was just right, her frantic feeding frenzy would probably have scalded her tongue Broth leaked from her mouth and stained the blouse of her paja it

After finishi+ng the boith a speed that was coirl held onto the bowl and exhaled deeply

With her humanity restored, her eyelids closed slowly and ponderously

The combination of a full belly, fresh clothes and a clean body coue kicking in

However, just as her eyes narrowed into a line, they snapped open and she curled up into a frightened ball

Was she afraid to close her eyes, or was she afraid that what she was experiencing would vanish like a popped bubble? Or was it so her from the side, but he did not know

Perhaps even she did not know

In order to coently said:

“Your body ood rest You will not couarantee this — when you wake up, you will still be in that bed”

The girl’s eyes moved for the first time and looked directly at Sebas

Her blue pupils were dull and lacked vitality However, those were not the eyes of a corpse, but a living person