Chapter 50: Ainz's Shock
The moment the connection opened, Ainz's voice arrived in Sebas's mind — carrying its characteristic steadiness and gravity, the deliberate register of a Supreme Being.
"Sebas, you've used [Message] without warning — has something urgent come up?"
"Nothing urgent, Ainz-sama." Sebas's voice was steady as always. "It concerns the mission, and a Kingdom noble we happened to encounter."
Sebas gave a concise account: the cavalry encountered on the night road, the young noble by the name of Lucian Alvein Dale Aindra, and the arrangement and return the young man had proposed. His report was brief and objective, adding no personal judgment.
A silence followed on the other end.
That silence made Sebas faintly uneasy. Had he done something wrong?
"So you've already accepted Aindra's invitation."
A barely perceptible hesitation had entered Ainz's voice.
"Yes, Ainz-sama. It was my assessment that, for gathering intelligence in the Kingdom, using the resources of a local noble would be the more advantageous choice. The Aindra family has a long history and established connections in the royal capital — those resources could significantly reduce the time needed for our intelligence work."
Sebas paused, then added: "It was also my judgment that Mr. Lucian is trustworthy."
Another silence on the other end.
This one was longer.
Sebas understood. The breadth of Ainz-sama's perspective was something he could not begin to see the full extent of. He was surely deliberating on matters too complex for Sebas to perceive.
In reality, Ainz was wrestling with a very specific problem.
What do I do. What do I do.
Sebas had already concluded the noble was trustworthy.
If Ainz contradicted that judgment now — would Sebas think his Supreme Being was too timid to accept convenient help when it came to him?
But was anyone in this world really this genuinely good-natured?
Suzuki Satoru's memory ran back to what his previous world had looked like. The underhanded behavior of real life needed no elaboration. Even in YGGDRASIL there had been players who stabbed teammates in the back for equipment.
But if he rejected Sebas's judgment now — Sebas wouldn't say anything, but internally, would he feel that his master didn't trust him?
As a leader — wasn't it sometimes better to give subordinates a degree of trust and some latitude to act?
"Ainz-sama?"
Sebas's voice came again, pulling Ainz back from the tangle of his own thoughts.
"Ainz-sama, are you still there?"
"Ah... yes, I am, Sebas." Ainz cleared his nonexistent throat. The act produced nothing, but performing it made him feel more like a capable leader. "Your report just now — I heard all of it."
"Then, Ainz-sama — do you agree with my proposal?"
Proposal? What proposal?
Ainz's train of thought derailed for a moment.
He had been so occupied with everything else that whatever Sebas had said toward the end had gone completely past him. Ask him to repeat it? No — that would damage the impression of authority.
But thinking it through carefully — given Sebas's character, whatever "proposal" this was, it almost certainly amounted to using the Aindra family's connections for intelligence gathering.
That sort of thing carried no risk of exposing the Great Tomb, and no particular danger in itself.
Yes. That had to be it.
"Very well." Ainz kept his voice steady and certain. "However—"
He paused, quickly arranging his words.
A wise leader, when affirming a subordinate's initiative, should add some small amendment — to demonstrate both trust in the subordinate and evidence of one's own thorough consideration of every angle.
"However, do not let your guard down."
He chose the phrasing carefully, working to make it sound like a considered conclusion rather than an improvised stopgap.
"Have Solution conduct surveillance. Confirm there are no problems."
After delivering those words, Ainz allowed himself a quiet internal exhale. Perfect. He had not overruled Sebas, and he had kept a safety net in place. Even if the noble turned out to have some hidden angle, Sebas's ability was more than sufficient to handle it — and Solution would be watching from the shadows as an additional layer.
"Ainz-sama shows great foresight."
Sebas's reply was, as always, brief and respectful.
Ainz added a few words about mission progress and ended the connection.
He stood at the window, watching E-Rantel stir awake in the early morning light.
The clouds along the horizon were being dyed pale gold and red by the first of the rising sun — as though someone had taken a very fine brush and traced slowly along the entire skyline.
Something else came to mind.
Wasn't there also a [Message] from Antima just now?
This one shouldn't be as complicated as the Sebas situation. Probably just a report about some [Martial Arts] information.
A brief response would be sufficient.
When [Message] connected to Albedo, the first words she spoke went far beyond anything he had anticipated.
"— Ainz-sama. Shalltear Bloodfallen has betrayed us."
The sentence was clear enough, and yet his mind could not immediately do anything with it. The words arrived and Ainz's response was thoroughly undignified.
He stood with his jaw hanging open. Without skin to limit the range of motion, the drop was considerably wider than it would have been on a living face.
The sentence was like a stone thrown into a deep, still pool — sending ripples spreading through his consciousness that wouldn't settle, that wouldn't reach the bottom.
"...Huh?"
He didn't know why he produced that sound. He just did.
Something inside his mind was undergoing a violent upheaval.
Shalltear.
Betrayed them?
The two concepts kept colliding with each other — two hard stones with no way of fitting them together.
He half-wondered whether Albedo had used some figure of speech he hadn't come across yet, or whether "betrayal" carried some additional meaning in this world that he was unaware of.
But there was no trace of a joke in Albedo's voice.
---
Sebas had just ended his connection with Ainz and was redirecting his attention when the voice came again in his mind.
"Sebas."
This time, Ainz's voice was entirely different. A cold edge had entered it.
"Shalltear Bloodfallen has betrayed us."
Sebas hadn't fully processed the meaning of that yet.
"Ainz-sama?"
"The previous instructions require some adjustment."
A brief pause.
"Regarding that noble — once you have confirmed his trustworthiness, you may deepen the cooperation."
Sebas was still for a moment.
"Ainz-sama's intention is..."
"Investigating the intelligence around Shalltear's situation is important right now. You may rely on his intelligence sources more heavily."
"Yes. Understood."
Even so, Sebas was a little puzzled.
Hadn't that been exactly what he had proposed just now?
Ainz-sama had specifically repeated it back to him. Perhaps he was emphasizing that Sebas should not underestimate the importance of Mr. Lucian.
As expected of Ainz-sama.