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Interlude: Olga and Roman (223)
🕑 Added 2023-11-01 15:48:28 +0000 UTCHaving dealt with two of the three King Arthurs in Chaldea, Ainz was finally able to deal with the two more pressing issues facing him at the moment. The lost World Class Item and the most powerful paladin in Yggdrasil, excluding the World Enemies. Both cases were resolved far from perfectly, the paladin turned out to be an alcoholic, and the World Class Item had effectively sailed out of his hands, again. He tried his best to fool himself into thinking that that last part was from his open decision, and it was working somewhat.
No, even worse, he made the decision to give up the World Class Item on his own! The most important cheat of all, and even before he had time to test the characteristics and abilities of the World Item at that! Except for the appearance of the tower on the horizon that Ainz had managed to observe in the Singularity, Rhongomyniad's activation against him ended up being interrupted, so Ainz wasn't even sure what exactly Altria's ability was!
As usual, the descriptions offered to him by his abilities as a Master barely shed any light on Altria's powers. It told him that Altria possessed a World Class Item, which meant that whatever her ability was, she was unequivocally strong. Of course there are the Parameters, but he doesn’t really put any more thought to that, it’s not like it’s reliable,
On the other hand, what else was he supposed to do? Take away the one thing she was sure of in the entire world from a girl who was unsure of who she was and how exactly she was supposed to behave in the world, like the most dishonorable scum? Taking away something that is, literally, a part of herself and her abilities? If Altria had shown herself to be his enemy, it would probably be much easier for him to take her abilities away from her, like in the Singularity.
Even then, Altria had sought to save humanity. Sure, she tried to do so unsuccessfully that inherently led to the formation of the Singularity and nearly destroyed human history, but still, her motive had to be credited for at least something, no? Plus, after her summoning, she acted humble and obedient, literally swearing to fight on Ainz’s behalf and even offering to give him her Rhongomyniad on her own.
In other words, despite the fact that Ainz had not long ago believed that he would stop at nothing to get his hands on a World Class Item, he had given in. In the end, he had left Altria's room without one, even when to get it, he simply had to reach his hands out.
Needless to say, Ainz had to fight all of his instinct to turn around and renege on his deal with Altria.
Hah… At least Semiramis generally responded well to his overtures, so he might be able to ask her to summon her Hanging Gardens… But, he simply had nowhere to put her Hanging Gardens in Chaldea, asking Olga about how to go outside just would make her look at Ainz like he was an idiot. He obviously couldn't go to the Singularities with it already on the air, and according to Semiramis it would take very long for her to summon it, even longer, in fact, than using a Super-Tier Spell. Should Ainz even try to use such a thing, their position would be crawling with enemies in seconds.
And besides, a flying fortress is too eye-catching, so that means the Hanging Gardens aren’t exactly usable. Should he just be happy that he theoretically has another World Item on hand?
And why wasn't Ozymandias the one who did have a World Class Item?! Ainz was sure that if he had one, it would be extremely easy for Ainz, morally speaking, to take away his abilities and get them as his own! Ozymandias reminded him too much of the bosses from his past world…
And that, by the way, meant that it was not only difficult but also important for Ainz to find a common language and way to interact with Ozymandias. Regardless of whether Ainz took Ozymandias with him to the next Singularity or left him in Chaldea, Ainz needed to speak with him, because in both places, Ozymandias could make trouble for Ainz, if simply out of dislike for Ainz.
Which, unfortunately, in turn meant that Ainz needed to meet with Ozymandias, despite his complete reluctance to do so.
Sighing, rubbing his forehead for a second, Ainz paused for a moment, after which he accepted the decision that a true leader would make. Right now, what he needed to do was to get to Ozymandias and meet him face to face… However, after one single step taken in his journey, Ainz was faced with a problem, one that is critical to his mission.
Where, in fact, was Ozymandias located?
Ainz didn't handle the placement of Servants in Chaldea after they were summoned, so he usually just checked with passing Servants going about their business. Or if he needed them for something, checking with Olga to find out the location of Servants, but Ainz doubts that it’s Olga’s job, with her being the director and all.
So who should he meet that is responsible for the location of the newly summoned ones, especially those who initially demanded special treatment and a dozen free rooms at once… The uniqueness of the demand, should at least make the job memorable. Thinking about it, he has no idea at all, so he needed to meet with Olga anyway.
Which in turn meant that Ainz even if Ainz had prepared himself for his meeting with Ozymandias, and he is, he swore! It was actually necessary for him to visit Olga beforehand… Which was actually not a bad thing at all in Ainz’s view, So, turning around on the spot, with a confident calm step, Ainz headed towards Olga’s office, pensively still thinking about the meeting with Ozymandias.
Well, he needed to only meet with Ozymandias once, after, with a petty vindictiveness in his mind, he could simply stop talking to Ozymandias.
Ainz's thoughts transformed on their own from thoughts of the Servants, into ones about Chaldea, until eventually settling on a very familiar, but even so a more pleasant subject of thought. Olga.
His girlfriend… The first of those, at least.
‘I wonder if that meant that she was in charge of his… Huh, well it’s about time that he swallows his shame – Harem?
Come to think of it, was there even a hierarchy in the harem? Like, what did the pecking order of his relationship with the girls even look like at the moment? And more importantly, who exactly was on it? For sure there’s Olga, Medusa and Mashu… should he count Kiyohime and Serenity as well? At least he had definitely had sex with them, so most likely they too should have been considered to be in a relationship with Ainz, but on the other hand, he hadn't slept with Mashu, had he? But she expressed her love for him and he sort of accepted it… But then, Angrboda had also expressed her love for Ainz! And Medb, too, actually.
Should they be considered to be in a relationship with him? And if not, why not? Even Da Vinci had kissed him once, too! Should he count her as a part of his harem!?
Ainz's brain was desperately protesting his attempt to think through the confusing system of his relationships with the girls in his life.
However, after a few dozen seconds of moving through the corridors of Chaldea, when thinking about these ideas became like a toothache for Ainz and was no more pleasant than thinking about Ozymandias, Ainz tried to dispel these thoughts. Hoping, that once again his incredible luck, and, he noted, bad luck as well, leading him into the most incredible situations and bringing him out of them without any losses to prove its existence. And that, somehow, ‘everything will work itself out.’
In the end, having calmed his raging thoughts down, Ainz made his way to Olga's room, and then, having opened it, looked inside… And with some surprise he discovered that it was empty at the moment.
That is, the fact that the room itself was empty was not too strange. Olga was not an NPC, who was bound to a place, she could have gone anywhere in Chaldea, either for a snack, to chat with the Servants, or whatever it is that Directors do.
But, the question remains, where exactly could he find Olga?
Ainz thought for a moment before shrugging, and just started walking in a random direction. Sooner or later, wandering the corridors of Chaldea, Ainz would come across either Olga, Ozymandias, or someone who knew either of their location.
His luck couldn’t do anything else. That and the enclosed, and finite nature of Chaldea meant that there’s only so many places where Olga could be.
It’s not like she had learned how to teleport, right?
***
Putting her elbows on the table, her hands clasped in front of her mouth so that the shadow cast by them hid the lower half of her face, Olga glared threateningly at her current interloper.
"Roman…?"
“Yes, Chief!” Roman, against his will, stood at full attention at the alarming picture, or at least tried to do so, given that he was currently sitting.
Olga, however, did not continue speaking, instead squinting her eyes, making her look even more menacing than before.
“Yes?” Roman, used to being under Olga's scrutiny, racked his brain to figure out what the chief wanted. Or, barring that, what infraction he had done in the last 12 hours to invoke the chief’s wrath.
“Roman-” Olga uttered once more, squinting so hard that her eyes turned into little slits.
“Yes?” Roman, at his wits end, as perhaps as a first for him hadn’t actually done anything that the chief could have been mad over, he hadn’t even watched the latest Magi☆Mari stream! Finally, without any other recourse to figure out what the chief wanted. Romani hesitantly opened his mouth. “Chief, did you want to discuss something?”
Even after hearing his voice, laced with no small amount of fear, Olga continued to glare at Roman for a few more seconds, before finally exhaling and leaned back in her chair, adopting a more relaxed feature. If he had thought that he was out of the dog house, however, Romani would be very wrong with what Olga finally asked.
“Roman… I want to know what’s your relationship with my father.”
“What?” Roman blinked, swaying with shock as if he was struck, the reaction causing Olga to hesitate for a moment, arching her eyebrows in confusion. Before, realizing how her words could be taken, glared at Roman with an anger born out of embarrassment, as her slightly pink cheeks could attest to.
“Not like that! Why would you even think that I would discuss such a thing with you?! Besides, you're definitely a virgin!”
“Wh-what?!” This time Roman did actually physically choke on his spit at Olga's shocking words, and then looked at her almost offended, for a moment forgetting even his eternal fear of the chief.
“Why do you think I am a virgin?!”
“Because the only spine you have in you is a fish bone stuck in your throat.” Olga answered instantly, looking at Roman without a doubt at her conclusion.
“After a man loses his virginity, he becomes more confident and begins to get rid of his complexes. Judging by your usual antics, such a thing has never happened to you.”
“B-but…” Roman was confused on how he should react. Anger? Embarrassment? He doesn’t know what to feel. What he did know, however, is that his objection definitely didn’t sound confident at all.
"B-but I'm not a virgin…”
“Pity sex doesn't count!” Olga cut off Roman’s defense with such certainty in her voice, it is as if her words were a guillotine blade that had just amputated all of Roman's self-respect. Judging by the look on Roman's face, the metaphor wasn't far from the truth.
“And anyway, your nonexistent sex life aside, that's not what I wanted to talk about.”
Olga once again looked intently at Roman, her posture bending forward as if to corner Roman even more, making him uncomfortably squirm and forget the embarrassing topic of conversation he just had with Olga… Though, his pride would not soon heal the mortal wound inflicted on him just a few seconds ago.
“You don't have any documents, Roman.” Olga spoke seriously, dropping the tone she had taken before, her embarrassment quickly forgotten. What’s in front of Roman is no longer Olga Marie Animusphere, the short-tempered chief who sometimes joked around with her subordinates, or even shared embarrassment from some romantic gesture or other from her lover Ainz. No, What Roman was facing right now, is the unflinching Magi.
“Not a birth record, not any parents, not even any graduation certificate, not a single one, Roman. The only proof of your existence is in the documents written by Fa–Marisbury, you might as well have not existed before you finished your Doctorate… And he could be an asshat neglectful parent about me, but certainly not about Chaldea, his project, the thing that he loved like his child. Judging by the lack of documents, you came from nowhere, but that's not how it works, even L–Lev was only hired thanks to his great resume from the Clock Tower… Well, unless you're somehow Ainz' illegitimate child.”
“That's for sure, not true.” Roman answered calmly, before his confidence wilted under Olga's gaze. Really, he needs to stop worrying about being chewed out, and think on how he could get out of this mess. Olga, contrary to her usual demeanor, that is, loudly demanding answers, and quickly! Also did not hurry him, only looking at Roman carefully.
“I…” After a full minute of silence, Roman raised his gaze to Olga before lowering it. He couldn’t tell her the truth, at least, not yet.
“I can't say it. I wish I could, but… It's a secret. A very important secret that I just can't reveal at the moment.”
“Hmm," A quiet hum was Olga's only reaction before she leaned back in her chair, continuing to glare at Roman. He squirmed uncomfortably under that gaze, but still said nothing more, allowing Olga to draw any conclusions about the current situation she wanted, but not backing down from her decision.
“Hmm," Olga said once more, before shrugging her shoulders calmly enough as she let out a loud sigh.
"All right, then.”
Roman, blinking at Olga's unexpected reaction, instead expecting for her to shout him down, could only stare at her in confusion. This time, making Olga look at him disapprovingly.
“Em… Is that it?” Roman looked at the chief as if he was looking at some kind of strange alien, who seemed to easily accept the fact that Roman had a secret past, about which he did not want to talk about.
“I mean… You don’t have any more questions about my past, no threats, shouting, or, for example, throwing something at me?”
“Would you like that? I would be happy to accommodate one of my underlings, so how about all three?” Olga asked a no less logical question, making Roman instantly and reflexively shake his head in response, with Olga herself giving a crooked grin in response.
“That's what I thought.”
Seeing the guarded look on Roman’s face, and the slow blooming panic as if she would transform into some kind of Beast and chew his head off, Olga decided to elaborate. “That your secret could be a threat to me or Chaldea, I am not afraid. If it were, Ainz would have found out and dealt with you long ago. Because you’re still around, then either he found out that your secret is not that important or that the secrecy is necessary at this moment regardless of its danger. In other words – I'm not afraid of the potential problems associated with your secret.”
Roman, hearing this, was confused for a moment, as if such a simple explanation for Olga's motivation for keeping his secret was something literally out of left field. It took a moment for Roman to realign his expectations of the world, before sighing and shrugging his shoulders.
‘It is what it is.’
“As for me wanting to know all your secrets…?” Olga paused as she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and looking at Roman as if she could figure out his secrets by some tell, before exhaling. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in figuring out one of the three great mysteries Marisbury left me, but I… Let's just say I've found out that, sometimes, going at something directly from the front isn't always the best strategy for getting what you want.”
Roman, hearing those words, tried for a few seconds to translate what Olga had said into human language before realizing that it was her very florid attempt to say that she didn't want to pressure Roman… Which in turn made Roman feel a small smile creep onto his face involuntarily.
“Got something to say?” Noticing the slight smile, Olga arched one eyebrow, looking at Roman and his smile with a slight note of aggression.
“You've grown up, Chief.” Roman replied in an almost fatherly tone. He had no doubt that the chief of two months ago, having heard that Roman kept from her an important secret concerning both his origin and her father, would have tried to strong-arm him. Probably throw one or two heavy objects his way as well. However, having noticed Olga squinting at him and having remembered that the chief was still the chief, someone who was not shy of periodically influencing her subordinates with acts of violence, tried to change the subject.
“The Three Great Mysteries?”
Olga squinted at Roman, aware of his blatant effort of typing to change the subject, but, after a couple of seconds, decided to let him get away with it. Embracing the change in subject, Olga decided to answer his question after a couple of seconds of silence. “It’s the three most pertinent questions I had concerning Marisbury that appeared in my head, the moment I took the role as the director of Chaldea. Especially after such abruptness of his death of all things.”
After these words, Olga raised her palm and began to curl her fingers one by one. “First, where did this mysterious and useless Head of Medicine come from? That’s you by the way Roman, if you somehow missed it. Second, whose foot did exactly Marisbury stepped on that I was born with this curse of mine. And lastly, the third and most mysterious of them all… ”
Olga spread her hands openly to the sides, then looked around the office, in a somewhat manic gesture. “How could Marisbury even organize Chaldea?!”
“The answer to the first remains in my head for now, and did you really have to insult me again? As for the second question, I’m of no help there, sadly… But the existence of Chaldea? Really? Is such a thing really that difficult to comprehend? There are much more strange organizations out there, I think.” Roman gazed with a confused look into Olga's eyes, facing her glare with no small amount of confusion.
While he understands the questions about his origin, and the second question is something of a personal interest, but asking about Chaldea’s organization, is it really something so great?
“Organizing a super-powerful magi research institute the size of a small city with the very cutting edge of magecraft, science and technology, complete with Servant summoning capability and competence. And to complement that last part, a potentially infinite reservoir of Servant Graphs’ records. And even if all those things are in the realm of possibility, there’s also one of the most advanced supercomputers in the world, an observation system that can see through time and space and peer into parallel worlds! Never mind the simulation program that can calculate and simulate the conditions of the entire planet!”
Drawing in her breath, Olga paused, Roman could see that she had been holding back these complaints for a long time. It was no wonder really, she was supposed to be looking after all those things as the Director, after all.
“Oh, and right, I almost forgot a revolutionary cryosleep device that allows the person inside to be turned into Spiritron that can be inserted into the past! No, don’t you know, the whole world is littered with them! Poke your head anywhere random, and you’ll get to Chaldea-Point-Two!” If the sarcasm in Olga's voice had increased by one percent more, it would have condensed into a viscous substance like oil in the air and drowned Roman in it.
Roman, now realizing that his objections were nonsense, one that he realized from just one point in Olga’s complaint questioning Roman's mental abilities. However, he silently endured Olga's sarcastic replies before replying. "I just wasn't sure…"
Roman's reasoning sounded shaky even to his own ears, making Olga sigh. “If someone wanted to create a mansion with a secret laboratory for growing homunculi in his basement with a couple of powerful artifacts from the Age of Gods in the safe? There’s probably a dozen of them in the Clock Tower already. Heck, as the head of the Animusphere family, one of the twelve Lords of the Clock Tower, and also being the head of the Astromancy Department, Marisbury could have ten, and it wouldn’t be out of the norm. Many would probably only think that he must have more if the labs somehow come to light.”
Roman, with the scarce instances where he interacted with the big shots of the Clock Tower, conceded that Olga has a point there.
“However large or numerous an estate, choke full of magical secrets might be… When compared with the largest and most advanced scientific slash magical institute in the world, complete with a dozen relics as if straight out of a science-fiction lover's wet dream? There is a huge gulf between them! Even if Marisbury had completely mastered Astromancy to find the right moment when all the stars are in the right place, at least someone would have noticed something like Chaldea forming! Maybe even send observers, impose restrictions… Something! The Clock Tower had been the pre-eminent place of Magi and research, so to find Chaldea, an organization that completely blew it out of the water, and they didn’t notice it? Very unlikely.”
The director was at full steam now, and Roman couldn’t even find a point where he could interject in the Director’s assault of words.
“And Marisbury of all people managed this?” Olga raised her finger to point out the important part. “Never mind, just organizing the damn place, even if the Animusphere family has endless streams of money that I never knew about. Actually, knowing his behavior and his attitude towards his own daughter, who had to suffer for his own mistakes, wouldn't surprise me at all. And yet that guy somehow managed to get into Atlas and miraculously managed to steal some of the powerful technologies on which Chaldea itself was built on, how did that all come about? He had to hire builders, move materials, and somehow summon Da Vinci before the summoning system got up and running with Mashu's help! And all these in a matter of years, when projects like this take generations. It just doesn't make sense!”
Roman began to feel some cold sweats running down his back at this point.
“I'm sure there's some justification for this absurdity…” Roman hesitated for a moment before grumbling pathetically, trying his best to provide at least some rationale for the absurdity of the situation.
The expression of sarcasm on Olga's face at these words was so unmistakable that Roman questioned, wondering what miracle he had used that he had not forgotten to take a breath and hadn't yet suffocated.
“Yes, Roman. ‘Somehow’, right." Olga raised her fingers and made quotation marks in the air. "There must be a justification for Chaldea’s existence, it’s here, after all. But I don't know what it is, and that's why it's a mystery…”
As Olga opened her mouth to speak again, a thought entered her head. There’s one person in Chaldea who could answer all her questions, someone that Marisbury had specially appointed into his post. Someone with such a mysterious background that not even Chaldea had any background information on him. A person who, despite his lackadaisical nature and general incompetence, had been put into a position of importance. So bad at his duties, in fact, that anyone that had ever watched any mystery movies would swear that he was probably the secret puppeteer and organizer of everything that was going on at the moment.
Roman, noticing Olga’s stare, tried his best to make it seem as if he was not avoiding her attention.
Olga, however, held her fiery gaze on Roman for a few more seconds and, seeing him not budging, sighed before leaning back in her chair. "Okay, I've already said that I won't torture you about your past… Even if I really want to. Just remember, one day you're going to have to tell me everything.”
“Yes, of course, Chief.” Not sure that Olga wouldn't grill him just a few seconds ago, perhaps literally, Roman leaned back against the back of the couch before he fell silent, breathing in and out slowly, trying to calm his pounding heart.
Olga, debating the merit of asking for Kiyohime to come here and perhaps singe Roman a bit, put the thought aside before frowning and snorting almost mockingly,- “All this talk of the Clock Tower and the difficulty of creating Chaldea got me thinking about the future. “
“What do you mean?” Roman asked, a little confused, causing her to roll her eyes once again, marveling at her deputy's cluelessness, before she sighed, and beginning to explain what she meant.
“After the Singularities are all over and done, we'll still have a lot of work to do. Even if a bout of sudden madness and blindness has struck every member of the Clock Tower in the past, I don't see how I'm likely to have that kind of luck again. Once the Human Order is restored, Chaldea will suddenly find itself an organization with several dozen Servants summoned at once, not to mention Ainz himself.”
Mentioned the powerful god-like being, that also happens to be her partner, caused a dusting of redness to appear on her cheeks, which Roman noticed. Olga, noticing this, emphasized her next words as if to erase the idea of mocking her out of Roman’s mind.
“Which in turn meant! That the Mage Association will instantly try to suppress Chaldea… And even if I don't believe they will succeed, not with Ainz here… And even without him, a few dozen Servants are still a few dozen Servants. But fighting and instability will accompany the current situation anyway. And do you know what that means?”
“A lot of headaches for you, Chief?” Roman made quite a logical assumption, but Olga only hummed in response.
“No. A lot of headaches for all of us. Me, you, Ainz, Da Vinci, every Servant who’ll be bugged by all the Magi alive and probably even some that are dead… Don't think that you'll be able to just throw all the responsibilities of handling that on my shoulders!” Olga huffed, before she thought about it, letting her expression change from one of annoyance to that of embarrassment. “Especially if one day I had to take leave of Chaldea’s management for a while…”
“Chief?” Roman looked at Olga questioningly, making her cheeks blush, before her tsundere nature took over as she began glaring at Roman, all the while her face resembled a tomato.
“What?! I have my own private life. After all, a wedding and a honeymoon would take a while…! And maybe pregnancy…” Olga, obviously embarrassed by the discussion of such a topic, but at the same time not intending to retract her words.
However, her embarrassment and the flames of aggression that had begun to flare up from this embarrassment were instantly replaced by confusion. “Though with Ainz and his… harem, I wonder what a wedding would look like in such a case… And the honeymoon… would it be all at once? Or one at a time.”
“Chief!?” Roman raised his voice as Olga became lost in her thoughts, before having to dodge a moment later as a fountain pen flew in his direction. Something which made him instantly remember that behind the facade of an embarrassed young adult and responsible manager there was still Olga-Marie, a person who’s prone to bursts of violence. Especially towards him.
“What!?” Olga looked at Roman as if she was daring him to say something to embarrass her, although such a thing was only in her head.
“Don't meddle in my private life!”
“I wasn't going to…” Roman complained, prudently adopting a ready stance, in order to dodge a possible projectile thrown at him by the heavy hand of the chief. But, luckily, Olga kept her emotions in check, and this time Roman didn't have to demonstrate the wonders of acrobatics.
This reprieve allowed Roman a short period of time to try to change the topic from so dangerous for his health to something else.
Unfortunately, all the related topics are all landmines. From his personal life to his family, from his family to Olga-Marie's father, and then to her inner circle, so Roman asked a simple question without thinking.
"Do you actually have friends?”
Roman's words were so inappropriate that they instantly threw off Olga's aggression, forcing her to turn to Roman, shocked that he would ask such a question. Roman, well-versed in spotting danger, and before his life would be threatened, hurriedly excused himself.
“I mean, ahem, allies? Allies in the Clock Tower, maybe? I've never wondered about that, but you-”
“No.” Olga rudely interrupted Roman's search for excuses, making him stop, shocked at what he’s seeing. Contrary to her usual demeanor and facial expression, Olga's gaze was cold and blank, almost detached.
“No. I have no allies, and never have had any.” Olga mouthed each letter with the surgical precision and finality of a judge, before a loud knock on the door interrupted her unhappy musings. Roman turned towards the door, happy for the interruption, as he felt uncomfortable that he had brought up the subject at all.
Strangely, the appearance of the unrecognizable avatar of death from beyond the edge of the universe, Ainz, on the doorstep calmed Roman.
“Olga.” Ainz called out almost cheerfully, then with some surprise he saw Roman, nodding to him.
“Roman.”
“Ainz”,- Roman nodded back, then raised one eyebrow in a mute question.
“I apologize if I'm interrupting anything at the moment, I just wanted to see how the new Servants are settling in Chaldea and to ask where Ozymandias is at the moment. I think I should have a word with him…” Ainz's face, normally virtually unreadable, gave away at the moment his utter displeasure at the thought of having to interact with the legendary Pharaoh.
Roman, however, having long ago abandoned his attempts to draw far-reaching conclusions about Ainz, having delegated such an important task to Da Vinci, who was far more interested in it. He only noted Ainz's displeasure with Ozymandias in a perfectly human way and left it at that.
“Yes, of course. He’s in the third wing, he flatly refused to move into a normal room and demanded to move into a vacant wing. I refused to give him permission to redecorate, but I don't think I was able to fully deter him, now he just demands to see you, which I suppose makes it convenient that you’re looking for him as well. If you’re lost, you can just follow the loud sounds of his displeasure, you won't miss him.”
Instantly, as if she only wanted this distraction earlier, Olga seized on Ainz' question, her previous placid expression turning into a beaming smile. Roman could see the naked joy in which the Director interacted with Ainz, answering his questions.
In fact, it told Roman everything he needed to know about Olga.
Roman was already working in Chaldea when Olga became the Director with Maribury’s death, and already Olga was infamous. The heir of the Animusphere abandoned by her father for the much more talented Wodime. She was neither seen as a proper candidate of the Lordship her father held, and was looked on in disdain when she took the position of Director of Chaldea.
A gap that Lev had taken ruthless advantage of.
The problem was not that she had no experience, the problem was that no one had ever needed her help before. And now that Ainz was at her side, the first human, with perhaps an ocean worth of grain of salt to the use of the word ‘human’, that not only offered to help her, but accepted her help… Olga barely resembled her old self.
In fact, that was why Olga had been able to grow above herself....
Immersed in his thoughts, Roman did not notice the moment when, having learned everything he needed to know, and having awkwardly kissed Olga on the cheek, which made Olga blush, Ainz had left the office. Roman was only distracted from his thoughts when, after a minute of silence, he heard Olga's voice again. “Had.”
“What?” Roman, surprised by the strange non-sequitur, looked up at Olga, who was still smiling slightly, looking at the door Ainz had just left from.
“I had no allies.” Olga repeated her words before turning her gaze back to Roman with a slight smile on her face. It was small, but it was truly sincere.
Roman raised one eyebrow in mute question, causing Olga to crinkle her smile to the side, but not to change her sincerity, nodding. “Yes, even you.”
Before Roman could process the surprising admission, Olga hurried along, probably to hide her embarrassment.
“So!” Olga, however, was still Olga, and after a moment she dispelled the charm of the situation by crossing her arms in front of her, looking at Roman with a squint. “Let's get back to the question for which I originally called you here originally!”
“My past? Didn’t we already discussed that?” Roman furrowed his eyebrows in incomprehension.
“No, your future!” Olga smiled a smile so wide that Roman's insides began to twist into a tight knot, her words usually don’t bode well.
“Namely… I had just suddenly discovered that someone had flooded Chaldea's cloud storage with the performances of a virtual idol!”
“It was Da Vinci!” Roman blurted out the first thing that came to mind in his defense, feeling his hands go cold and clammy.
“Really?” Olga's smile, previously so serene and beatific, now made Roman get ready to meet the Lord.
“Somehow that seems quite doubtful to me...”
Comments
Gerardo Hernández Sánchez
Magi- Mari deleted
Abaddon Lucifer
Nice
