What should I do now? Urgent! Waiting online! Ainz really wanted to open the chat box, switch to the world channel, and spam for opinions!
Ainz, who had 'escaped' back from the Empire, was sitting gloomily in his E-Rantel office, fretting.
Fortunately, Nazarick's two top strategists, Demiurge and Albedo, were both away on official business, otherwise he truly wouldn't know how to face them.
His trip to the Empire was merely intended for poaching; his original intention was just to recruit the Empire's Adventurers to his side, but he never expected the Emperor of the Empire to inexplicably propose an annexation.
He had acted on a sudden impulse not to agree immediately; he truly had no idea what Jierunifu was thinking. What about the promised alliance? What about the promised friendship with the Emperor to discuss imperial studies? How did it suddenly become a vassal state?
Ainz couldn't understand it; he had simply snuck into the Empire to poach once, right?
When he saw Jierunifu also watching the Arena battles, he was quite startled. Although he and Jierunifu had some acquaintance, it was indeed his fault for sneaking in without greeting him.
At that time, he just wanted to go up and say hello, and then he saw his daughter, Iri, who had been out of contact for a long time, there. Given that Iri had previously infiltrated Theocracy using some means, the 'clever' him, in order not to interfere with his daughter's plan, could only pretend not to know her. Fortunately, her disguise at the time was one that completely obscured her face, allowing her to easily blend in.
So, if Iri was there, then the plan for the Empire's annexation was probably her masterpiece.
Ugh... having such a capable daughter is truly a headache!
How long had it been since this daughter left home to act on her own? First, she infiltrated Theocracy, which had extremely scarce intelligence. Then, she used some unknown method to make the Dragon Kingdom voluntarily propose an alliance and lease many Undead, earning the newly established Magic Kingdom its first sum of money.
Although those two batches of Undead laborers were leased out at very low prices, they were the kind of things that could be summoned with a wave of a hand, as many as needed.
Leasing them out not only earned money but also served as a certain degree of publicity. The matter with the Dragon Kingdom was one thing... but what truly made this old dad's jaw drop now was that the Empire, which was originally an ally of the Magic Kingdom, was directly annexed. He truly didn't know how Iri managed that.
Moreover, it was highly likely that this might have been Iri's idea alone, because the previous alliance with the Dragon Kingdom and the leasing of Undead laborers had already caused Demiurge and Albedo to come to him, bowing and worshipping.
However, he was completely clueless about this matter; even that Dragon Kingdom was the first time he had noticed such a small country existing in the cracks between great nations on the Central Continent, and it had even led to their misunderstanding.
The Dragon Kingdom's alliance was also part of the so-called 'Lord Ainz's' plan. He really wanted to ask what exactly was this 'Lord Ainz's' plan?
Thinking of this, Ainz turned his gaze to the maid, Dankoriman, who was on duty today, only to see her staring intently at him with a flushed face.
Uh... normally, maids shouldn't see him spaced out, they wouldn't fantasize that he was thinking of some 'great' plan again, after all, a maid isn't Demiurge...
After a flurry of wild thoughts, he still couldn't figure out how his capable daughter managed to handle two countries at once in such a short period. The small country of the Dragon Kingdom was one thing, but the Empire was a very powerful nation in the Central Continent!
Although they already had an alliance, Demiurge had mentioned that Jierunifu himself wasn't exactly honest, secretly plotting some grand alliance or something.
But now, there was no news of any grand alliance, and it had been handled by his daughter. Having an overly outstanding daughter is also a problem... The key is that this daughter's father is a seemingly wise but inwardly empty and foolish dad.
Ugh... he got sidetracked again. Wasn't he supposed to be thinking about how to explain things to Demiurge and Albedo?
Demiurge was still busy with matters in the Holy Kingdom and probably wouldn't be back anytime soon, but Albedo was only visiting the Yestijia Kingdom and would be back in two days!
What excuse and reason should he use to explain the Empire's annexation? As soon as Ainz thought of this, his non-existent stomach seemed to ache faintly again... even though his skeleton body didn't have that organ.
Or... he could just be a hands-off boss and slip away. Even if he accepted the Empire's annexation, there would still be a pile of issues needing his decision.
Honestly, he could barely manage the Adventurer's Guild, but managing a country was truly not his forte!
So, he should leave it to Nazarick's two strategists. Conveniently, after seeing 'Rune' in the Empire—something that didn't exist in Yggdrasil but did in his original world—he already had the idea of going to the Dwarf Kingdom to find Rune craftsmen. Why not take this opportunity to use a visit to the Dwarf Kingdom as an excuse to slip away!
Although... negotiating with the Dwarf Kingdom would also be quite a pain, compared to staying in Nazarick and being bombarded by Demiurge and Albedo about the Empire's annexation, negotiating with the Dwarf Kingdom would clearly be easier!
Although he felt a bit sorry for Demiurge and Albedo, and even more so for Iri who achieved all this independently, in order to save face as a father, he could only choose the easier task.
Hmm! He was visiting the Dwarf Kingdom to investigate 'Rune' matters! Not because he was scared! Absolutely not!
Ainz reassured himself thus, then stood up. The maid beside him reacted instantly. Ainz could only use a gesture to tell her to relax, then he paced back and forth in the office.
Before returning, he had inquired with Fulda of the Empire about information on Rune. The information he provided only stated that the Empire had traded with the Dwarf Kingdom a long time ago and had purchased magic equipment inscribed with Rune characters.
However, starting a hundred years ago, there had been no further contact with the Dwarf Kingdom. Although this was quite important information, it was useless to him now.
The current problem was that, based on various intelligence analyses, Rune technology should be unique to the Dwarf Kingdom. If he were to negotiate with them on this basis, there was a high probability of being turned away!
However, he could use magic to force the Dwarves to reveal information; that would indeed be very simple. But if Rune technology was related to the players behind it, then it would be troublesome... So, he still had to be cautious.
Ainz walked around his office several times, thinking that even going out to negotiate with other countries required considering so many issues, not to mention the piles and piles of problems after the Empire's annexation. It seemed he had to slip away... no, he had to visit!
Uh... now that he had decided, he had to consider the accompanying personnel... what a headache... Ainz once again sat down in his office chair, crossing his hands, and continued to ponder the other issues to consider for this 'escape'—no, this visit.
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