The Two Leaders

Having said what she wanted to say, Increment turned and left without waiting for a reply. As she watched her fellow maid leave, Sixth took out her pocket watch. Fortunately, she still had some time. After freshening up, she should be just in time.

“All right, I'll go grab some more stuff to eat while everyone's focused on Shizu-chan!”

Foire and Lumiere nodded at Sixth's idea.

“Oh~ that's a great idea~”

The sudden answer from the side made the three maids gasp.

“Lu-Lupusregina-san!”

With hands clasped over her lurching heart, Sixth turned to face the source of the voice. There hadn't been anyone there, but in the moment when everyone had been distracted by CZ and looked away, Lupusregina had appeared out of nowhere. She sat on a chair with her legs crossed and even had her food placed on the table.

“Aw, don't scare us like that, come on~”

Foire was still clinging tightly to Lumiere, her eyebrows pressed into a / \ shape.

“My heart almost jumped out of my mouth~”

Lumiere murmured like she was shocked out of her mind and paid barely any attention to Foire clinging to her.

Lupusregina —the friendliest of the battle maids— was unpredictable. Still, given that she spent her time moving between the different maid groups, being approached by her was a sign of good fortune. The proof was evident from the envious looks of some of the other maids, who had noticed Sixth and her situation.

“Ah, sorry, seems the experiment in the village was effective, you three made some pretty nice reactions~”

The way Lupusregina supported her face with her arm on the table, while having an evil grin on her face, made her look a little like a cat out of the storybooks. Although her smile was nothing but mischievous, it was still surprisingly attractive. The battle maid’s smile made Sixth’s head go blank for a moment. The other two seemed to feel the same way, but the first to recover was Fiore.

“The village?”

Foire tilted her head, which made her short hair scrape against Lumiere’s face. Resisting the urge to sneeze, Lumiere pushed Foire away before facing toward Lupusregina.

“Lupusregina-san, you work outside, right?”

“Yup, in the human village.”

“The human village, huh… it must be tough.”

Lumiere looked at Lupusregina with sympathetic eyes.

“Nah, it’s nothing like that! Since Ainz-sama ordered it, it’s worth doing! …Although, I have to say, it’s kind of boring. How should I put this… it would be so much more fun to squish them beneath my feet.”

Sixth has no particular reaction to that statement. Humans and their villages and whatnot were unimportant to her. Whether they prospered or were destroyed, the only thing that mattered was if they were useful to Nazarick.

“Even if Ainz-sama says that village has value, I still can’t see it~”

“Did Ainz-sama say that out of compassion for those worthless people in the village?”

“No, no, isn’t Ainz-sama like a hurricane of death? I’m sure he’ll grind them into dust when he feels like it.”

“What are you saying? Don’t you know Ainz-sama is the living avatar of wisdom? Even that wouldn’t be enough to describe him. All this must be part of his plan.”

“Ara, I can’t pretend I didn’t hear that, surely Ainz-sama’s power must be the best part of him…”

The four beauties stared at each other.

“Ainz-sama is a beautiful, compassionate person.”

“Ainz-sama is the incarnation of death.”

“Ainz-sama is an extraordinary hero.”

“Oh, looks like everyone has a different impression of Ainz-sama. Then, let’s have a competition to see who picks out the most suitable title for Ainz-sama.”

In an instant, everyone went silent. Lupusregina was wearing her usual smile, but she was determined not to let the other maids pull ahead of her in terms of appreciating her liege’s qualities.

However, Sixth and her two friends felt the same way. Although the regular maids were weak beings, their love and passion for their master was no less than that of anyone else’s.

“Then, the three of you may begin.”

The first to speak was Lumiere.

“Then, as I said earlier, I wish to praise Ainz-sama’s beauty. So how about ‘A figure of beautiful porcelain, shining and flawless, the gentle lord of mercy.’”

Next was Foire.

“Well, if we’re going to praise Ainz-sama, then we should praise his awesome power right? What is more fitting than ‘Memento Mori’!”

The third was Sixth.

“Ainz-sama was the one who commanded the Supreme Beings, so his management skills would be excellent. So he is a ‘wise king’.”

Although everyone’s names fitted their master well, in the end they all thought that their own choices was the best.

Lupusregina coughed gently as Sixth, Foire and Lumiere looked at her. With a proud look on her face, she said,

“In the end, he is the absolutely strongest and most—”

“…There you are.”

The source of the calm voice was CZ. The penguin butler she had been holding under her arm had vanished to parts unknown.

“…Don’t use invisibility. So much.”

“Soz~ it’s a habit~”

“…And then. You had breakfast.”