The Capital City of the Kingdom Part 2
Translators: Frostfire10, Skythewood
The house Sebas was living in was a large mansion rented from the construction guild. The surrounding mansions were mostly quite expensive, and it was located in a section of the capital with good public safety.
While the mansion Sebas and Solution lived in was far too large for them, since they were undercover as the family of a great merchant, they could not live in a dilapidated house.
Arriving at the mansion, Sebas opened the door, and there was someone that welcomed him. There was only one other person in the mansion apart from Sebas, so the person welcoming him would of course, only be one person—Solution Epsilon who was a battle maid directly under Sebas.
"Welcome b—"
Solution cut her words off mid-speech, and she had even frozen mid-bow. She glared 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 seemed to get 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 temple?"
Sebas began to widen his eyes.
"…Indeed. Silly me, I completely forgot about that…"
Seeing that Sebas was completely unmoved, Solution fixed her cold gaze 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 a mask. Even Sebas could not read the emotions dwelling within 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 immediately…"
"Isn't that too…" The girl meant nothing to Solution, but even so, giving her 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?"
"….Understood."
Neither of them spoke as they brought the girl to the guest room. Granted, Sebas and Solution had never been the type for conversation, but that did not explain the awkwardness between them.
Solution opened the door for Sebas, who was 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 room itself was lit by thin ribbons of moonlight streaming in between the gap in the curtains. After entering, Sebas gingerly laid the girl down upon the clean sheets of the bed within.
"Then…"
Solution carelessly stripped the girl of the cloth which covered her, revealing a bruised and battered body. That ghastly sight should have made for difficult viewing, 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 him back as she began her diagnosis.
Now that he was in the corridor, he should not have heard Solution as she quietly spoke.
"How foolish."
Her mumblings vanished into the corridor, and naturally nobody replied to them.
Sebas stroked his beard without thinking about it. Why had he saved that girl? Even he could not explain why. If he had to explain it, then it would be that a hunter would not kill a cornered bird that flew into his pocket.
No, that was not it.
Why had he saved her?
That was because—She was weak.
Sebas was the Land Steward of Nazarick, and offered his loyalty to the 41 Supreme Beings. The name of Ainz Ooal Gown now lay in its Guildmaster. He was an existence that Sebas offered his everything to. His loyalty was genuine. He could confidently say that he would gladly throw his life away in service to the Supreme One.
However… if, hypothetically speaking, he had to choose only one of the 41 Supreme Beings to obey, Sebas would pick one without hesitation.
[Touch Me]
He was the mightiest being in Ainz Ooal Gown, and the one who had made Sebas. He was one of the nine World Champions and an incomparable figure of fame.
The guild had primarily flourished by PKing. 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 Momonga had been repeatedly PKed and nearly quit the game in anger, it was Touch Me who had saved him. When Bukubukuchagama could not find anyone to adventure with her due to her looks, it was Touch Me who had reached out to her.
Yes.
—Sebas shared some similarities with his creator.
"Could this be considered a curse…"
Those words were terribly rude. If any of the other beings who served Ainz Ooal Gown — who had been created by the 41 Supreme Beings — were present and heard these words, they might have well attacked him on the spot for his lack of respect.
However—
"It is wrong to show pity and offer aid to those who do not belong to Ainz Ooal Gown."
Sebas muttered grimly.
That was only to be expected.
There were exceptions—Excluding people like Pestonya, existences created by the 41 Supreme Beings would act for the benefit of Ainz Ooal Gown. For example, one of the village girls was close to the maid, Lupusregina. But, depending on the situation, Lupusregina would immediately throw her to the side.
This was not cruelty. If there was someone who said that such an action was curel, they would simply reply in a puzzled manner, why? Loyalty towards their creators, the 41 Supreme Beings. It was different from those simple humans—Humans who make decisions based off of their emotions.
Just as Sebas was about to bite through his lip, Solution stepped out of the room.
"How did it go?"
"… She is suffering from syphilis and two other sexually-transmitted diseases. Several of her ribs and fingers are broken. The tendons on her right arm and left leg have been severed. Her upper and lower incisors have been pulled out. Her organ function is diminished and she has a fissured anus. There are signs 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 important thing is—can she be healed?"
"Easily."
Sebas had also expected that unhesitating reply. However, he confirmed to ease himself.
"….Including the amputation of her leg?
"Of course."
"Then please."
Solution's eyes narrowed slightly, but immediately bowed downwards.
"…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. Am I correct?" After receiving 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 treatment? I shall purchase something to eat."
"…Sebas-sama. Healing the body is a simple task, but… I do not possess the ability to heal mental traumas." Solution paused here and then looked straight 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 mental symptoms for later."
Solution bowed deeply again. Then she opened the door and entered the room. As Sebas watched her leave, he slowly leaned against a nearby wall.
Leave her to the temple. Solution had said so. In response, Sebas said that he had forgotten, but that was a lie. Of course, Sebas had naturally noticed it. No, in fact Sebas did bring her to the temple. That was where he had gotten the cloth that covered her.
When Sebas had entered the temple, he was met with the priest's shocked and disdainfull eyes. He believed that Sebas had done that to the woman.
He managed to fix the misunderstanding, and asked for her to be healed, but a problem arose. He had her checked, and while they could heal her sexually transmitted diseases, and the bruises. However, they could do nothing for her amputated leg and her pulled out teeth. This was as there was no high ranked magic caster that could use such healing magic.
Sebas hesitated. The protection he promised her.
Just how far did it go, he did not know.
Her stamina would recover after her wounds were healed and when she was in a good environment. However, if she could not move her right hand and left leg, and that she could not eat solid food, how far did Sebas' promised protection extend to.
While it was true that for a normal human this was enough, for Sebas it was not.
He wanted to help her to a much better state.
Since Solution has the special class of an Assassin, she could use more powerful healing magic than a priest. That was why he brought her. And as a result, she mostly recovered. Even the worst wounds could be healed with various types of healing magic in a short period of time.
The problem was afterwards.
What should he do with her—
Sebas heaved a big sigh.
If he could release all the emotions trapped inside, he would feel much better. However, nothing changed. His heart was confused, and noise jammed his thoughts.
"How foolish I was. To think that I, Sebas, would do all that for a woman…"
Sebas said his fake conclusion.
He had no answer. Then he should push it back. Sebas' best answer was a procrastination.
Sebas' footsteps rang through the corridor—
Solution changed the shape of her finger. The slender digit lengthened, becoming a syringe-like structure that was several millimeters thick. As a Slime, Solution had always been able to make great alterations to her shape, so altering the 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-sama has approved it, I might as well take care of this unpleasant business quickly. You would probably hope for something like that. Besides, it is not as though you will feel it."
Solution reached inside her body with her untransformed hand and withdrew a scroll stored within herself.
Solution did not only have this scroll hidden away. Beginning from disposable magic items like scrolls, she even had weapons and armour. She had a few humans as well, but there was nothing strange about that.
"…Should I eat her before Sebas-sama returns?"
Solution broke the seal and unfurled the scroll. The spell contained within was called . It was a high-end healing magic of the 6th-tier, and it could restore a great deal of health in addition to healing various diseases and other abnormal status conditions.
Under normal circumstances, using the magic 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 magic. However, certain thief-type classes had the ability to emulate a class and use magical devices by "deceiving" 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 , 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 cum muscle relaxant, which she injected into the girl.
Sebas returned from buying food just as Solution stepped out of the room. She had a steaming 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 problems with the healing 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."
"….Nothing in particular. Thank you very much, Solution."
Solution nodded by way of response, and slipped past Sebas.
Sebas knocked, and silently opened the door.
"I'm entering."
Opening the thick curtains, sunlight filtered into the room. 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 now glowed with a beautiful luster. Her emaciated features had regained their fullness. Her cracked lips were now a healthy pink.
On the whole, she was beautiful, although her looks might 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 seem older than she actually was.
Solution had given her a white negligee to wear, but it was plain and unadorned, lacking frills or lace or other such attractive decorations.
"How is your body? I believe that it healed, but do you feel uncomfortable in any way?"
There was no answer. Her hollow eyes did not seem strong enough to look at Sebas. However, he did not mind, but continued speaking. 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 who was distracted and crestfallen.
"Are you hungry? I have brought something to eat."
Since Sebas and Solution could not cook, he bought something that could be consumed immediately. Since it was unknown if her stomach was healed, he bought a porridge made of 14 different ingredients.
The porridge in the wooden bowl was made with colored soup stock. It had some sesame oil in it to taste, and on the whole it radiated a mouthwatering aroma.
The girl's face twitched in response to the fragrance.
"Come, help yourself."
Seeing that the girl had not yet completely withdrawn into her own world, Sebas placed the wooden bowl and its spoon before the girl.
She did not move, but Sebas did not urge her to eat. The two did not move, and time began to tick away.
A third party would probably have started to get frustrated at this point. After a long time had passed, the girl's hands moved slowly. They were the movements of one afraid of being brutally 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 and dipped it into the porridge.
She then brought it to her mouth and wolfed it down. Normal porridge could be very rich and thick. Sebas had asked the storekeeper to finely slice the 14 different ingredients and then cook them over a slow fire to make something that could be swallowed without chewing.
Her throat worked, and the porridge slid into her belly.
The girl's eyes trembled slightly. It was a small movement, but it was sufficient to convert her from an intricately-made doll into a real human being.
Her other hand trembled as it moved to take the bowl from Sebas. Sebas supported the bowl, shifting 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. The porridge that dripped from her mouth dirtied her negligee.
She was eating much faster that what seemed possible for her earlier. She was more drinking than eating it.
The bowl was emptied.
The girl 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 combined to soothe her spirit, and she began to feel fatigue 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 something else? Sebas was watching her from the side, but he did not know.
Perhaps even she did not know.
In order to comfort her, Sebas gently spoke.
"Your body must need sleep. Don't push yourself and have a good rest. You will not come to any harm as long as you stay here. I guarantee 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.
Her small mouth opened — and closed. Then it opened — and closed again. This repeated itself several times. Sebas watched her tenderly. He did not urge her to do anything; he simply watched in silence.
"Ah…"
At last, her mouth opened, and several nearly inaudible noises emerged. Then, she quickly added.
"Thank… thank you."
The first words she spoke were not to ask about her present circumstances, but to thank him. Having grasped part of her character from that, Sebas gave her a genuine smile; not the usual fake one he typically wore.
"It's fine. Since I have rescued you, I will do my best to guarantee your safety. Excluding the 41 Supreme Beings, I will not lose to anyone who comes."
The girl's eyes widened a bit more, and her mouth began to tremble.
Her blue eyes moistened, and then overflowed. The girl opened her mouth and then wept piteously. Those were the words to describe her crying.
Soon, he could hear the sound of cursing through the crying.
She cursed her fate. She resented the fact that it had ever existed. She was filled with hatred that nobody had helped her until now. Her wrath was directed at Sebas as well.
If only you had saved me earlier. That sort of thing.
After receiving Sebas' kindness — after being humanely treated, it was as though part of her had broken down under the strain of everything she had endured until now. No, perhaps it might be better to say that after having her humanity restored, she could no longer bear her painful memories.
She tore at her hair, and the strands snapped quietly as she pulled. Countless golden fibers were tangled around her slender fingers.
Sebas watched silently as she went mad. The porridge bowl and the spoon rolled to the bed. He watched her without attempting to take it. Sebas understood that her spiteful words were not true, and was only an impulse.
Some people would be angered by her words, and lash out. However, there was no anger on his face. His wrinkles were filled with kindness.
Sebas leaned forward and hugged her.
He was not embracing her, instead it was like a father embracing his child. There was no malice there, only an unending kindness.
Her body stiffened for a moment. Then, as she realised how different this embrace was from the men who sought only to violate her flesh, her body slowly relaxed.
"It's fine."
Sebas repeated those words like a mantra, gently patting her on the back, like he was comforting a crying child.
The girl moaned—and then, as she slowly came to understand what Sebas was saying, she buried her face into Sebas' chest and cried all the louder. However, the context of her tears was slightly different from just now.
She finally managed to stop crying after some time had passed and the front of Sebas' clothes had been soaked by her tears. She slowly extricated herself from Sebas' arms and lowered her head to hide her blushing face.
"Ah… I'm… sorry…"
"Please, do not worry about it. Being able to offer one's chest to a lady for support is a mark of pride for a man."
Sebas extracted a clean handkerchief from his breast pocket and handed it to her.
However, the cleanly and beautifully sowed handkerchief caused her to hesitate. It was as if she wondered if it was fine to use such an expensive thing.
"Please use this."
"But… lending… me… this… clean…"
Sebas reached out to cup her chin, then gently raised her face. She had no idea what had happened, but just as she was freezing up with fear, the handkerchief gently grazed over her eyes — and the trails of her tears.
"Ah…"
"Come, please use this," Sebas said as he stuffed the somewhat damp handkerchief into her hands. "It is quite sad when a handkerchief goes unused. Especially when it cannot even dry tears."
Sebas smiled, and then stepped away from her.
"Alright. Have a good rest. We will discuss the future and other things when you wake up."
There was nothing that magic could not do. Her body had been restored through Solution's magical healing, and her mental fatigue had been wiped away. Thus, she could function normally right away. However, she had still been in hell up until a few hours ago. Her emotional wounds might well burst open again after a long conversation.
The truth was that her mind was not completely stable, hence her agonized weeping just now. Magic could briefly salve that spiritual suffering, but it could only treat the symptoms and not its cause. Unlike the physical body, the invisible wounds of the spirit could not be so easily healed.
As far as Sebas knew, the only people who could completely remove her mental damage were his master or possibly Pestonya S. Wanko.
Sebas wanted to let the girl rest, but she hurriedly replied.
"The future…?"
"Ehh" Sebas wondered if he should continue, but decided that her spirit had recovered. "It will not be safe for you to continue staying in the Royal Capital. Have you no friends or relatives to turn to?"
The girl looked downwards. Her reaction allowed Sebas to know the answer.
"Is that so…"
That was troublesome, Sebas thought. However, there was no need to be hasty. There would be nothing wrong with putting this off till tomorrow.
"Alright, then. Can you tell me your name?"
"Ah… I… Tsuare…"
"Tsuare, is it? I have not told you my name yet. I am Sebas Tian, but Sebas will do. I am the servant of Solution-sama, the Young istress of this house."
"So…tion…san…"
"Yes, Solution Epsilon-sama. Although, I doubt you will have much of a chance to meet her."
"…?"
"The Young Mistress can be… hard to deal with at times."
Sebas closed his mouth, as if to indicate that was all he would say on the matter. After a brief silence, he spoke once more.
"Alright. Have a good rest today. We'll discuss the future tomorrow."
"All… right…"
After verifying that Tsuare was back on the bed, Sebas took the bowl of porridge and left the room.
When he left the room, he found Solution who had hidden her presence. Sebas had expected that since as an Assassin, Solution could hide herself to the point that even Sebas would find it difficult to notice her, and was not surprised.
"What's the matter?"
Solution was eavesdropping, but Sebas had no intention of scolding her.
And Solution showed no sign of being expected to be scolded. That was why she blatantly stood there.
"Sebas-sama. May I ask how you intend to dispose of her?"
Sebas's attention went to the door behind him. It was thick enough, but not completely soundproofed. If they spoke here, she would probably be able to pick up on a bit of their conversation.
Sebas moved from the front of the door, and Solution silently followed behind him.
Once they had reached a place where he was sure they would not be overheard, he stopped.
"…You're referring to Tsuare, I take it. I intend to wait until tomorrow before deciding what to do."
"….Perhaps I have overstepped myself, but I feel that thing has a high chance of impeding our activities. We ought to deal with it as soon as possible."
Now what exactly could the words "deal with" mean?
After listening to Solution's cold words, Sebas thought: as I expected. This was the opinion which a right-thinking, loyal servant of Nazarick — of the 41 Supreme Beings — would have about a non-Nazarick entity. It was Sebas' attitude towards Tsuare which was abnormal.
"You're right. If she interferes with the orders Ainz-sama has given us, then I shall deal with her without delay."
Solution looked surprised, as if to say: "If you knew that, then why did you do it?"
"She might have her uses. And since we've picked her up, it would be a shame to just discard her. We need to think of a way to properly utilize her."
"…Sebas-sama. I do not know where or why you picked it up, but the injuries it has taken indicate that it comes from a certain background. And do you not think the person who inflicted those injuries on that human would be unhappy to know that it was still alive?"
"There should be no problems on that front."
Solution made a suspicious face when Sebas cut her off. It seemed as if he was hiding something.
"…So you mean to say you have already disposed of those people, then?"
Solution would not have been surprised if Sebas had killed them, but Sebas made a wry smile. It was the opposite.
"No. That's not it. If any problems arise, I will take action. Therefore, I hope you will be able to watch quietly until then. Do you understand, Solution?"
"…I understand."
Now that her immediate superior, Sebas had said all that to her, she could not say anything even if she was deeply dissatisfied with his handling of the situation. In addition, she really could just sit there and watch if nothing cropped up.