Antikythera stepped through his [Gate], his head tilted to the side when he saw the other guardians watching him. They all stood around the throne room, idle. "Is something wrong?"

  "No," Albedo said. "Lord Ainz has gathered all of us to meet at the throne room."

  "And you didn't inform me?" Antikythera sounded offended as he closed in on Albedo. "Why?"

  "I was about to," Albedo stepped back, putting distance between herself and Antikythera. "But Aureole Omega informed me you were opening a [Gate] to Nazarick, and I told her to bring you here. That led to this."

  "I see." The Automaton let it go. If they were going to call him regardless, then he saw no point in pressing the issue. He gestured at the captured noble held by the scouting unit behind him. The man had severe burn scars, and a rge chunk of his arms had been charred. "I have brought someone who may know something about a criminal organization that operates within this world. I also have information on the local kingdoms. There are two that sit closest to us—Re-Estize and the Baharuth Empire."

  "Can we extract more information from him?" Demiurge walked over to the limp noble, who, upon seeing the demon, started crying. "He is alive and well. Good. Bring him to Neuronist." The Archfiend faced Antikythera. "I also have information you may find useful. The Sne Theocracy is far from Nazarick. According to my source, they have a neighbor called the Holy Kingdom. The Sne Theocracy is also currently at war with the elves."

  "Fascinating." Antikythera stood among his fellow guardians. They all greeted each other with nods. "Anything else I should know about?"

  "None. The Theocracy pced a type of magic in their soldiers that causes them to die a painful death upon spilling its secrets. We gathered that the Theocracy is at least in possession of powerful magic casters capable of such a spell," Demiurge answered.

  "I see. Speaking of spells, I have some good news on that front—"

  Antikythera stopped talking and bowed once Lord Ainz appeared in front of everyone. "Lord Ainz, your weapon greets you."

  The rest of the guardians followed with their own type of greeting, and when they finished, they stood straight, waiting for a command. But what they got wasn't that.

  "I am leaving the tomb."

  Several guardians—even Albedo, who Antikythera expected to be clear-headed—followed their example. But he supposed Lord Ainz caused her to not think clearly. They began to panic and shout among each other. Antikythera and Demiurge looked at one another; the tter shrugged.

  Antikythera faced his Lord. "Why?"

  "Umu, good question, Antikythera."

  Lord Ainz's words halted the ensuing panic, and the guardians turned calm. They waited for him to continue talking.

  "I am going to go out on an adventure. I will be leaving tomorrow—but do not be scared, I will still keep in contact with Nazarick."

  ...

  Albedo sighed in relief, but this did not mean she would allow Lord Ainz to leave the tomb without giving her a proper reason. "Why?"

  Albedo tried to think of something—anything—that might expin why Lord Ainz was leaving the tomb. Had they done something wrong?!

  "If you have a problem with something within Nazarick, just say so, and we will do our best to amend it."

  All the guardians, including Antikythera, nodded at once.

  Lord Ainz turned silent. Then, in a calm voice, he said, "Nothing. There is nothing wrong with the tomb, and you all shouldn't do anything."

  Another round of silence, which left everyone with their own thoughts, ensued.

  "... I want to explore the world while pretending to be a weak adventurer to get information!"

  Antikythera nodded in approval.

  Lord Ainz was going to pretend that he was a human to gain their trust while, at the same time, embedding himself within their social circles. If done correctly—and how else would Lord Ainz do anything but in the correct manner?—the tomb would have a double agent against the humans.

  "Lord Ainz is truly great," Demiurge said, his tone full of appreciation for their Lord's deep intellect.

  "I am?" Lord Ainz asked, as if that was even a question!

  ...

  Antikythera decided that Lord Ainz's answer was good enough as is and waited for the Overlord to address him on the progress he had made on the human town during his absence from the tomb.

  Everyone stood in pce for the following moment, non-verbal and waiting for their Lord to speak more, but nothing happened.

  Lord Ainz cleared his throat. "Antikythera, Albedo said you left the tomb?"

  "Yes, Lord Ainz." Antikythera bowed in servitude. "I have learned about the locations of two rge-scale human settlements neighboring our tomb, and—"

  "I already know about Re-Estize and Baharuth," Ainz waved the report off. "Is that all?"

  "Not quite."

  Antikythera corrected his posture. Under the scrutiny of every other guardian present, he spoke about the most important piece of information about this world he had gathered.

  "Powered Suits exist somewhere out there."

  "And you have proof of this?" Albedo was rightfully doubtful of the cim. Antikythera himself would be in her mindset should any other guardian speak of it.

  "Yes. While you are adventuring, Lord Ainz, I assume you would rise through the ranks, yes?" Antikythera said. Now, all eyes were on their Lord. Demiurge had an expression full of anticipation and Albedo one full of affection. Other guardians merely stood there, confused.

  "Yes, I do. Why?" Lord Ainz asked in a deep tone. "I assume one of the high-ranking adventurer parties out there has a Powered Suit?"

  "So you did know!" Antikythera excimed in excitement.

  All around them, the other guardians looked at their Lord in awe. Antikythera noticed the red dots in his Lord's eyes flicker out—a gesture the automaton recognized as him closing his eyes. With his Lord deep in thought, Antikythera continued.

  "Yes, there is an adventurer group out there named Red Drop, and their leader, according to the little girl I spoke to, has a Powered Suit."

  "Umu. I'll remember that name," Lord Ainz nodded.

  "I realize now that I should have taken that book from that little girl to show it to you, but I have seen a painting of the suit the leader of Red Drop is said to possess—a crude imitation, to be sure, but the simirities it has to the suits my factory produces are uncanny."

  Antikythera expined, "If I could get Sakai here, she would be able to show you a hologram of the photo I had taken with my eyes."

  "I messaged Aureole Omega. She says yes." Albedo nodded in confirmation.

  Before any of them could open a gate, Nazarick's resident portal expert opened it for them, and Sakai stepped out of it. She bowed to Lord Ainz before facing Antikythera. "Yes?"

  "The data packet. Open it and show a hologram for everyone to see," Antikythera expined bluntly.

  "Of course. Is this?.."

  Sakai's eyes widened. She looked at Antikythera just as a holographic square appeared in front of her. It moved outward and expanded. Within the square, Ninya's excited face could be seen. Beneath that was a book with pages written in an unknown nguage and a crude drawing of crimson-colored armor with twin golden horns on its head, bck joints, and a stream of fire appearing from its back.

  "Where did you find this?"

  "On a vilge marked by ST-UN 0004. The girl is important as well. She possesses what is called by the locals a 'Talent,' but I believe it is something more. She has a css."

  ...

  "I have a spell in my arsenal called [Replicate] and [Greater Replicate]. It does exactly as described."

  Antikythera turned to the being on the throne. "Lord Ainz, if you give me permission to experiment with this, we will glean so much information about how this world works."

  "Very well," nodded Ainz. "But no harm should come to the girl."

  "I'll ensure she remains safe, my Lord." Antikythera bowed.

  "No, protect her," Ainz corrected sternly.

  "Of course." Antikythera didn't understand why but he supposed its part of his Lord's pn. "I will see how far this "Talent" of hers can go while under the guise where I am going to teach her magic."

  "Umu." Lord Ainz stood up, "the name was Red Drop correct?"

  "Yes." Nodded Antikythera.

  "I'll see to it that I meet with them." Lord Ainz used his ring and disappeared from the throne room.

  "Albedo, I will write a report to you soon," Antikythera moved over to Demiurge, "I will give you a report of my findings as well, I'm sure your farm would appreciate the information."

  "Please do," the Archfiend nods.