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Interlude: Gorgon Sisters (226)
🕑 Added 2023-12-23 04:17:39 +0000 UTCAinz's subsequent conversation with Jacques continued in a much more relaxed, friendly, even, manner. After finding the first topic of conversation, plans for the future, his conversation with the new Servant continued quite nicely.
When the conversation about the future potential private military company turned to particulars regarding possible plans and company founding, Ainz was mostly silent and occasionally nodded in the right places. An army in the service of Chaldea and as an official attempt to provide a military force to Chaldea might definitely be needed in the future, Ainz though, have no idea on what that might entail.
Ainz Ooal Gown might be a mage without comparison, but Satoru Suzuki was just one of millions of small cogs in the machine that is the Neo-Japanese state. His knowledge of the political situation ended at the level of knowing which subdivision of which company near where he lived had disappeared, leaving hundreds of people without sustenance or a chance for further survival.
As for the political situation a hundred years ago, from his perspective, especially in a world where paranormal abilities, mages, and non-humans existed? Ainz had extremely little knowledge. He only knew that a couple of World Wars had happened back then, and nothing more.
Though, of course, it wasn't that Ainz was too stupid to memorize such things, he simply didn’t care that much about the real world. For example, he was well versed in the internal politics and diplomacy of the largest and most powerful alliances and guilds in YGGDRASIL, if, primarily, only thanks to Punitto Moe's explanations. But about the real world, Ainz was uneducated, had no facts at his fingertips, and had a very vague idea of nations and their borders, let alone the personalities and political relationships between them.
Even the very idea of creating a private military company for Chaldea came to him from the fact that, in the future, every company had such divisions within it. And Chaldea, after the Singularities were over, would certainly need one if it planned to become a major player like the megacorporations of his past world.
But after hearing specifics and Jacques's speculation about the creation of a ‘New Crusader States’, whatever that meant, that he didn’t really understand, Ainz turned the conversation to more abstract topics. Like stories about Jacques' past, her attitudes toward religion and people, and suddenly he found that he could communicate with her quite freely.
Not as freely as with Olga or Medusa, for example, but that made sense. Olga and Medusa were his girlfriends, while he had known Jacques for no more than a day, even considering his brief acquaintance with her in the Singularity before the attack on Camelot, on the Goddess… on Alturia. He needs to remember her new name.
All in all, Ainz's interactions with Jacques might not have been very fruitful in terms of gaining new information about her, but then again, Ainz hadn't started a conversation with Jacques for the sake of it. Ainz was talking to Jacques in order to build bridges with his new Servant, to make some semblance of a relationship with her. And in that regard? It was a complete success, when he didn't even notice that he had been chatting with Jacques for a little over half an hour.
Noticing the time, he had said his goodbye, leaving her room with new information about how Jacques was connected to Shub-Niggurath, who was her friend, employer, mother, god and older sister all at the same time… Somehow.
It was only after leaving Jacques’ room, even a little elated by their newfound relationship, did Ainz stop, frowning his eyebrows. Didn't he have something else he needed to be doing?
Closing the door behind him, Ainz frowned, trying to remember exactly the source of the strange feeling, scratching at the back of his head. It was as if he had to deal with some other important thing that he had been putting off and as a result of the unbelievable circumstances constantly happening around him and in his life for a day now.
Ainz paused for a moment, frowning, as he went over what he had done and tried to remember if he had forgotten something.
Try to beg for a World Class Item from Alturia? Ainz had already tried that, and the result… His Emotion Suppression activated, and he tried to shake off the embarrassment. The result was at least not negative? He had indeed gained control over the World Class Item, if not possession of it, then the next best thing. He had Alturia’s tentative agreement that she would give it to him if he really needed it – so at least it couldn't be called a complete failure, could it?
The meeting with Olga, his girlfriend? Also, already happened, Ainz had to kiss her without fainting from embarrassment! It had activated his Emotion Suppression, but it was progress!
Meeting Semiramis and Jacques? By accident really, when he meant only to meet King Arthur, but that’s done… What else is there that he needed to do?
Ainz frowned, trying as if to conjure the missing link in the chain of things he had to do after his return to Chaldea. Before, like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, he had remembered, almost striking his forehead at his foolishness. Of course!
After all, he had met Olga, his girlfriend, but had never met Medusa, his other girlfriend! Indeed, because Ainz had worried so much about the harem and how problematic it would be to devote time to each member of that harem, he had almost fallen into a trap himself, almost forgetting about Medusa!
Humming happily at the fact that he had finally remembered an important task that he had to accomplish soon, Ainz headed forward towards Medusa's room with an easy step… Leaving Ozymandias and the trouble with his room, slowly transforming from what probably would only be a brief conversation, to a concentrated ball of hatred behind his back, completely unconcerned.
***
For Medusa, her two sisters, that Ainz, who had killed them in the most brutal way in the past – was actually, in fact, a kind, just, and in fact even a quite merciful commander and Master was proving to be… Difficult
Medusa had been working on this, from the moment that Stheno and Euryale found themselves in Chaldea, interrupted only by her participation in the recent Singularity. Using logic, emotion, and personal examples time after time… Had she succeeded in convincing her sisters that Ainz was in fact a Master worthy of their loyal service?
As sad but completely unsurprising as it was for Medusa to admit it, no – she didn't.
But ‘none’ was perhaps the wrong way to describe Medusa's accomplishments. No, instead the correct thing to say was that her accomplishments were ‘incremental’. At best.
If Stheno and Euryale stopped flinching every time they heard the sound of footsteps outside Medusa's door, that was also an achievement, wasn't it? If they started leaving Medusa's room, even without Medusa accompanying them, not to do anything but just to grab more of Archer's cooking, that was also an accomplishment, wasn't it?
Of course, all of this was not the end goal, not a sprint to the finish line, but it was still a gradual progression.
Then, what was that goal? That is, to normalize the mental state of the two Gorgons, acclimatizing them in Chaldea, preparing them for their future lives outside of Chaldea and in the future, after the resolution of the Singularities… And, maybe, one more small detail that kept Medusa coming back to the situation that had arisen between Ainz and her sisters at the moment.
Namely, the fact that Medusa was in a relationship with Ainz.
Not that she seriously expected for Ainz to spend time with her sisters, to be honest, she didn't even want that. Imagining her small family, getting together for some sort of family dinner every Sunday night or anything like that, caused her to shudder – Medusa was somewhat embarrassed by such a mix of her personal and family life.
But at the very least, she didn't want to go to the extreme where she and Ainz would accidentally meet on her doorstep and her sisters would faint in a screaming fit.
And it was for the sake of preventing such a thing that Medusa continued her work.
Of course, her gradual work was bearing fruit, even if not so quickly. Slowly, the panicked animal fear left the Gorgons' eyes and minds, replaced now by only a slight nervousness. And the simple reassurance of the girls and the stories that Ainz would not do anything to them were being replaced by stories about his positive aspects. But Medusa's work was not fast… And to be honest, it was losing its effectiveness.
More specifically, that Medusa had probably done all she could do on her own at this point. Her sisters were now acting as they usually do back in the Shapeless Isle, even somewhat kinder, coddling Medusa in their usual manner. But in the end, if she wanted them to become warmer towards Ainz and not to fear him so much, she needed one, final step…
A meeting between Ainz and the Gorgon sisters.
And of course, given that the outcome of that meeting could range from 'magnificent' to 'catastrophic', naturally, Medusa was extremely nervous and unsure of her desire to take that step.
Rationally Medusa realized that sooner or later, however, she would have to do it, but… Maybe a little later?
Was she absolutely sure that her conversations were no longer having an effect? Perhaps a couple more days would do her sisters more good? And when should she break the news of her plans for their meeting with Ainz? She knows that it was better to tell such news when they were in the most complacent state… Which meant it would be after they had eaten Archer's cooking, and he would be making their favorite tartlets in two days. Which meant that this decision could be postponed for those two days…
Or maybe just a couple of weeks more.
Medusa realized that she was procrastinating. One day she would have to tell her sisters that they needed to meet with Ainz, but each time her mind, spurred on by her nerves, found new and new reasons not to rush into such action. A couple of hours, a couple of days, that’s just fine, right? It’s not like the situation would change dramatically if she allowed herself to wait maybe just a day or two more before taking such a step, no?
That was what Medusa was thinking as she watched her two sisters, who had taken up Medusa's bed, and evicted her to a nearby chair in front of the desk, eating Archer's cooking, as was their custom now. It was a sign that their mental state was becoming better when they no longer hung onto Medusa like a limpet, even in their own room, anymore.
Medusa, on the other hand, was under so much nervous stress that even Archer's cooking wouldn't go down her throat…
Well, practically speaking, a small piece of fruitcake didn't count as a meal at all! And Archer also said for sure that he made it without sugar, which meant she wouldn't gain weight! And anyway, desserts don't count as a meal!
In any case, her sisters wouldn't get any closer to solving their anxiety without confronting the problem… Medusa found it easier to just avoid the confrontation entirely, creating reasons to delay. And, to Medusa's great regret, these excuses kept coming and coming.
Before she could sink into another spiral of self-recrimination, however, it was interrupted by a knock on her door. Seeing her two sisters lazily lounging on the bed, eating, waving at her to open the door. At least, that was the command she was getting from Stheno’s gestures.
And, with her literal centuries of experience, Medusa was sure that she was getting the right message.
So, rising from her seat, Medusa made her way to the front door, thinking for a moment about who exactly might be arriving at her room at this moment… But there really wasn’t a long list of people that it could be, Medusa rarely interacted with the other Servants outside the missions. The only other person that might tentatively have a close relationship with would be Olga, being part of Ainz’s harem and all, but with her position as Director, they haven’t interacted much.
Her sisters also didn’t really interact with a lot of people, choosing instead to become shut-ins, afraid of Ainz. The only person that they had interacted with was… Cainabel? Who was jockeying for the position of Ainz’s deputy, only to find out later that no one was really fighting her for that position. She used to talk about gaining her sisters’ support, only to lose interest in them when Cainabel found out that no one else was bothering with ‘campaigning’.
Medusa's musings about the identity of the visitor lasted only a couple of moments, before she reached the door and was quite surprised by the person behind it.
“Ainz…?” The surprise had caused to lapse in judgment, causing her to murmur the name of the visitor, forgetting that near her, were the two people that wanted to meet him the least.
“What!?” The mention of Ainz's name, no matter how softly, had shocked the two sisters of their Archer’s cooking-induced fugue, as they raised their heads like startled chicken. To credit her work, rather than immediately panicking, her two sisters instead looked towards her for… Which, in this instance, only made them catch sight of Ainz’s figure on the door, if in his much less intimidating human form.
And it was quite the distinctive look, an appearance bearing the mark of the genius Da Vinci’s work despite its supposed ‘ordinary’ appearance.
The silence was almost deafening, the previous ambience of chewing as her two sisters devoured Archer’s cooking had turned into the silence of the graves, and a multitude of thoughts flashed in Medusa's head.
Fear, nervousness, even a slight resentment, anger, but most of all – relief. The event that she had so dreaded, one that she had constantly run away from, which had caused her no end of stress, had arrived. Whether it would go well or badly, it was finally going to be resolved – and all that was left for Medusa at this point was to accept its results.
“Ainz…” After a moment of silence, Medusa spoke a little louder and more confidently, as if to confirm to her sisters that they were not dreaming, before smiling at their Master… And perhaps the correct term in this case was, boyfriend. “Come in, you're just in time.”
Although, to say that Ainz appeared at the right time in any case was silly. It was already implied from the very beginning, when it came to Ainz, he would always appear in the right place at the best time for his appearance. As one would expect from someone who was capable of driving even the greatest genius of all time to madness.
“Hmm, well…” Ainz, however, hearing Medusa’s greeting, only nodded modestly, taking a step inside Medusa's room before turning his gaze to the two Gorgon sisters. Perhaps Medusa was only imagining it, but Ainz looked… surprised? “Oh, hmm… Good afternoon.”
For a moment, silence hung in the air, and Medusa feared the worst, had all her previous labors gone to waste? Had she failed to calm Stheno and Euryale down? Was it really going to end before it had even begun?
“G-good afternoon…” However, before the silence could stretch even longer, Euryale managed to find the strength to respond to Ainz's greeting in turn, if with a slightly shaky voice. And then, after a moment, realizing just how feeble she sounded, coughed as if to say that her voice sounded feeble only because of a scratchy throat.
After a moment, she tried again, this time projecting a bit more ‘confidence’ in her voice. “Good afternoon… Ainz.”
As if her sister's spoken word acted as a source of stretch, Stheno joined in the greeting as well. “Good afternoon as well… Master.”
“Good afternoon, Stheno, Euryale.” Ainz nodded as he took another step, closing the door behind him, allowing Medusa, who had been acting as if her two sisters were skittish animals that would flee at the first chance. Seeing her two sisters not fleeing to the corners of the room when Ainz closed the door, therefore closing their avenue for escape, Medusa exhaled slowly. So far, so good.
Perhaps she was being a mite too optimistic, but at least the successful greetings suggested that such an encounter was not planning to fall apart before it could even begin.
Ainz, however, suddenly paused as he walked into the room, simply observing the sisters’ reaction, who, for their part, were doing their best not to look into Ainz’s eyes. Medusa was confused by Ainz’s actions for a moment, before with a meaningful look that Ainz gave, Medusa almost had to facepalm at her foolishness.
Of course, Ainz was giving Medusa the chance to act first. After all, it was her sisters, who she had meticulously handled to make sure that they would be amicable with Ainz, he simply didn’t want to interfere with Medusa’s responsibility. Ainz had many times demonstrated the fact that he didn't like to solve people's problems with his personal interference, but rather gave them a chance to sort things out on their own.
There was no other reason for Ainz’s silence, it’s not like he would be feeling awkward with her sister’s presence, right? It’s not like Ainz would forget that her room might as well be her sisters’ room as well, that would be quite absurd.
So Medusa, instantly catching Ainz's message, tried to put a smile on her face. "Ainz, please have a seat – my sisters and I were just having lunch, would you like to join us?”
“Hmmm…” Ainz looked at Archer's cooking arrayed on the bed, which Medusa would probably have to clean later of crumbs, before nodding. “I guess I'd like that.”
After another moment, Ainz made his way to the only remaining empty seat in the room before inadvertently glancing at Medusa's own portion, which she had barely touched… Except for the dessert, that is.
Stheno and Euryale, having followed Ainz's gaze, froze, seeming to even have stopped breathing… Were they afraid that Ainz would be mad at Medusa’s portion, or were they afraid that Ainz would take theirs? However, to Medusa's immense relief, when Ainz simply reached for her food, the Gorgon Sisters only exhaled faintly before slowly forcing themselves, reaching for their own food and began eating again. Their eyes would still cast glances at Ainz, but Medusa could see that there was no longer any fear of impending doom on their face, no longer expecting their demise anytime soon.
For the next dozen seconds there were only the sounds of cutleries on plates and chewing, and Medusa congratulated herself that the first most difficult stage, Stheno and Euryale reaction to meeting Ainz, had apparently gone well.
The fear of the event, which had been poisoning Medusa's mind for days, finally passed, causing Medusa to sigh in relief, before a pang of hunger suddenly hit her. It seemed that her fear and nervousness had repressed her hunger, and now, relieved of it, her hunger had returned in full force. A feeling reinforced when he spotted her plate of food being eaten by Ainz.
Before she could excuse herself or make any mention of the fact, her stomach decided at that moment to take matters into its own hand and announced the fact by letting out a low growl. Medusa could feel herself burning scarlet in embarrassment as the noise immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the room.
Worst of all, Ainz immediately stared at her and then at the food that he was eating, hers.
"Medusa, there’s no need to be polite here, there’s no need for me to eat your food, I… I don't need sustenance.”
“I don't either!” Medusa replied instantly, inadvertently lying quite badly, before realizing that Ainz's words were more of a romantic gesture than a simple statement of fact about himself. And while enduring her embarrassment, and then, slightly blushing, accepted the implied invitation.
"Then maybe… we can split it between the two of us?”
Ainz nodded, before Medusa settled down next to him, involuntarily positioned to look up at Ainz smiling slightly, as Ainz responded with a small smile of his own in return.
“You two… are really together?” Stheno's voice, though quiet, in the almost total silence of the room, sounded loud enough to make Medusa instantly shift her gaze to her older sister. With the older sister herself, realizing that she had spoken her thoughts out loud, audible to Medusa and Ainz, immediately shut up, looking away as if to pretend that it was not her that spoke up. It was too late to pretend she hadn't said it, though, so when she met Medusa's incomprehensible but interested gaze, Stheno took a deep breath and turned her gaze to Ainz, to measure his reaction.
To Medusa's relief, Stheno stared not with a shudder, with expectations for Ainz to reprimand her for her words, but more as if she was embarrassed to speak of such a thing at this moment in Ainz's presence. And that in turn was another victory, at least Medusa would count it as such, even if 'embarrassment' was an emotion as unnatural to Stheno as her fear of Ainz in Medusa’s opinion
Medusa, however, rather than keeping her attention on Stheno like she usually did, this time focused her attention on Ainz.
“Cutlery.” Ainz suddenly spoke, making Medusa lose herself for a moment, not immediately realizing what exactly Ainz meant, before he clarified. “I lack cutlery, so I'll go get it now.”
Medusa could only smile in response, indeed, such a simple but effective excuse to allow the three Gorgon sisters to discuss an important topic. Ainz, as usual, did not make mistakes.
Rising from his seat, Ainz exited the room with light and quick steps, leaving the three sisters alone with each other.
A second later, the door to Medusa's room closed behind Ainz with a barely audible sound, and then the room fell into silence, for a few moments, after which Euryale spoke first, looking at Medusa. "You set this up, didn't you?”
“I didn't set up this meeting, no.” Medusa answered the truth, but her wordplay didn't last a second.
“Ainz arranged it because you wanted him to arrange it, which is tantamount to collusion, given Ainz's nature.” Stheno answered easily, making Medusa look away unable to meet her sister’s gaze, this was also the truth after all. Her two sisters' reaction to this, however, was only a quick glance at each other, before Stheno spoke up next after the two sisters reached some kind of agreement. “We… Uh, We would be lying if we said we ‘wanted’ such a meeting, but we knew it would happen sooner or later, given that you…”
Stheno stopped speaking, unable to voice out what they had discovered, with Euryale continuing after a moment. "You two are in a relationship.”
With the truth out for all to see, Medusa had to fight the sudden blossoming feeling of embarrassment in her chest. Despite the open-secret manner of her relationship, pretty much everyone in Chaldea knows that she’s in a relationship with Ainz, she still feels embarrassed having it spoken out loud.
It was not a surprise really, considering the fact that Medusa was not used to relationships, and her sisters were still her sisters, her family after all. Even divine-blooded Gorgons could be shy when discussing their love life with their family.
“And we… We…” Stheno also looked away, following Medusa’s lead, as if she was also embarrassed to speak such facts out loud. However, her shyness came from a slightly different source.
“Ainz isn't someone who comes to mind when you start talking about romance, relationships, or love.” Euryale supported her sister again, both speaking their shared feelings.
“And we wanted to see… I mean, we couldn't imagine him at all, when speaking about your possible lover.”
Finally, Euryale, having lost her own train of thought, fell silent and Stheno didn't continue speaking for her, giving Medusa a chance to think for a moment and try to analyze everything they had said.
Euryale and Stheno didn't see Ainz as capable of romance, but still they wanted to meet him, despite the fact that he frightened them… The picture forming in Medusa's mind suddenly made her open her eyes in surprise and blurted out her thoughts in one breath. “You were worried about me?!”
The words that burst out of Medusa involuntarily seemed strange to her, a feat completely out of sync with her sisters, who were more accustomed to patronizing Medusa or even commanding, not always good-naturedly. However, judging by the way the Gorgon Sisters looked away as if they were embarrassed, proved to Medusa that she had hit the mark.
Indeed, if one thought about it from a different perspective, there was nothing strange about it, was there? The older sisters wished to get to the bottom of whether the younger sister's chosen one was suitable for a serious relationship with her.
That is, if they weren't talking about Ainz, the powerful Outer God, and Medusa Gorgon, the former goddess who had become a monstrous Servant, it would be the most common, normal thing.
But this was indeed about Ainz and Medusa, which made such an ordinary matter seem so strange and unusual.
Realizing this, Medusa frowned, before turning her gaze to her sisters, who were still looking away, she asked the only question that was still in her mind at the moment. “And now… Do you approve of Ainz?”
“Huh, what choice do we have!” Euryale grinned as she turned her gaze to Medusa, forcing herself to look her in the eye. “He's… Not so scary up close.”
“Still scary!” Stheno immediately made an important note to Medusa. “But not as bad as we were worried about. If… If you don't see him that often, it's like… it's like…”
“Like you're really in a relationship with each other.” Euryale completed her sister’s thoughts, looking at Medusa, as she stated back in return, speechless, then at the other Gorgon, who nodded as if confirming her sister's words.
Medusa, not quite sure how exactly she was supposed to react, only nodded in response before the room fell silent again for a dozen seconds before Stheno spoke up.
“But please, no family gatherings, we still need to get used to the idea that Ainz is now your… Boyfriend, gradually!" Stheno said with exaggerated optimism and cheerfulness, then glanced at Euryale, sharing a thought the way only twins can.
"Speaking of which, don't you think we should go to the kitchen? Archer was supposed to be cooking something delicious today.”
“You’ve read my mind.” Euryale nodded at Stheno's words, then glanced at Medusa and smiled warmly, but mockingly, masking the awkwardness behind the mockery. "No need to wait for us… And don't forget to change the linens later, we're the ones mostly sitting on your bed.”
For a moment such a remark silenced Medusa, trying to uncover its secret meaning, before becoming completely covered in a burgundy blush when the hint left by her sisters did reach Medusa's mind. The Gorgons, however, satisfied with their shameless innuendo, had disappeared from Medusa's sight before she could react. Medusa only came to her senses the moment the door behind her back was ajar again, consumed by her own imagination.
And, as her momentary glance showed her, Ainz was back again in her room.
“I found the utensils…” Ainz said, appearing inside the room with a couple of spoons, forks, and knives in his hands before looking around, "Hmm? Where are Stheno and Euryale?”
The mention of the names of her two obnoxious sisters was spoken, instantly making Medusa feel a rush of blood to her already very scarlet cheeks. Then, gathering her will and reassuring herself that even her sisters had finally approved of her choice, she looked at Ainz and then at the bed next to her.
It was clean enough, her sisters had actually somewhat cleaned it. She was going to have to replace it later anyway.
“Ainz, how would you like to have a little… Chat with me?”
“Hmm?” Ainz put the cutlery away, and then nodded after thinking for a moment.
“Sure. After all, I'm not busy with anything important at the moment...”
And somewhere far away, the King of Kings, Ozymandias, continued to silently fume with rage and powerlessness.
Comments
Andy Nguyen
Good to see ainz again
