As they slowly walked through the [Gate], the fuzzy display of the Throne Room rendered on the surface of the portal became clear, showing 5 figures behind.

Sat firmly and imposingly on the throne, with his gown carefully arranged symmetrically on the seat, Ainz was holding his staff, prepared to give a speech.

To the left of the throne, Yuri Alpha stood straight, with her arms insecurely brought together, and a saddened look in her eyes.

Further forward, by the gate, Solution and Entoma greeted them with a gesture. They seemed to have been instructed not to say more. Naturally, Gamma and Beta were surprised to see them, whileas Shizu was too distracted aggressively petting the tennis ball sized fly, which perfectly fit in her hand.

Demiurge continued walking, until reaching to Ainz’s side.

“You guys are alright-su?”

“Indeed.” - intervened Ainz, with regards to Entoma and Solution, willing to narrate the events that lead to their presence:

“I have ordered Demiurge to use [Dimension Door] at will, in order to teleport everyone away from Amon’s grasp, while keeping out of sight. On short, nobody actually sustained any damage.”

A wide hand tapped Lupusregina on her shoulder, causing her to shiver:

“That’s exactly right, lord Ainz-sama!!”

Turning her head over, she was greeted by a white theatre mask, close enough to feel a breath.

“P…P….PANDORAAA???? But, but…”

“Pandora also contributed to my test” - followed Ainz, noticing his entrance.

A multitude of thoughts ran through Lupi’s head at this moment:

*I… completely forgot he was supposedly inside the fly, and then we slashed it and hit it with lightning and blew it to bits…*

With a forcefully ‘relaxed’ expression, her lips trembling and her eyes closed, not to make contact:

“I, uh, am so happy you are OK-su!”

Narberal popped her head out just to add a desolated “You didn’t seem very concerned back then.”

Pandora’s Actor placed his hand on his chest - as he would usually do when preparing to shout, in order to better feel and control his breath.

“Yes! Better than ever!”

He then marched forward and stopped facing Ainz with a military salute.

“Your loyal comrade-in-arms, reporting to duty, SIR!”

“Great work, Pandora!”

“Yes! Thank you, sir! It is my immense pleasure to serve by your side! I, your loyal servant, the great Artificer (...) acting skills (...) The Pleiades were all mesmerised (...) Kaboom! (...)”

From Ainz’s perspective, Pandora’s endless epilogue faded into a mutter, with only some louder words coming through as comprehensible.

Ever since he began to speak, Ainz was focused on a different matter, finding it incredibly easy to avoid paying attention.

This was, by now, his default response to Pandora’s voice; an automated reflex to cancel it out as background noise.

In the meantime, he was rewiring the direction of the [Gate] towards the separate astral realm built to shelter the treasury of Nazarick.

“(...) managed to impeccably fulfil my mission. And that brings me here, to the glorious 10th floor - residence of my master, which I haven’t visited in two years. It is so nice to step outside the treasury, and, to my surprise, even stand by you in the Throne Room! Oh, what a joy-”

“You may return to your position.”

An awkward silence spread between the two, Pandora left speechless, not knowing how to argue to stay more, while Ainz was completely clueless as to why Pandora wasn’t answering his command, having said nothing wrong, from his view.

After Pandora’s sad, slow march towards the gate, stopping to turn his head several times, like a puppy hoping for his master to change their mind, Ainz directed his attention at the Pleiades.

“Ah, Yuri-senpai, where were you?”

Yuri bowed down all the way, making Lupi feel bad for asking, however Yuri was yet more ashamed of her inability to step in earlier.

“Please forgive me! I was unable to help you fight the demon! If there is anything I can do to make up to you, please let me know!”

“That’s enough!” - Ainz stopped her, his skeletal jaw opening to express a louder tone - “It was my order!”

Yuri vigorously replied “Yes!” while lifting her head, straightening into a pose that didn’t show the slightest lack of confidence.

“As I was saying, this was an exercice-”

To his side, Ainz noticed Demiurge lively swinging his tail in circles.

“Mhm… Demiurge, would you explain the plan to everyone?”

Demiurge adjusted his already straight glasses.

“As Ainz-sama said, this was an exercice to test the abilities of the Pleiades. At the moment, Nazarick is expanding its territory in the New World - and with this, it was lord Ainz’s idea to maximise the efficacy of our forces. For this, he plans to have you undertake fundamental missions by yourselves.”

Ainz intervened to add a note:

“I am well aware that you have the power and skills to safely complete any task. However, I am more concerned about your ability to communicate, assess a situation and make a suitable judgement. Until now, you have been heavily relying on Yuri’s guidance. I want you to develop those skills so that I can trust any of you with full responsibility.

You all already have some experience on the field - Narberal Gamma operated under my guidance until recently, while Lupusregina Beta was even sent scouting in Carne village by herself. From here on, I want to entrust you with heavier tasks.”

Beta jumped with excitement to take on the challenge:

“You got it-su!”

“You have performed well. You have much to learn, but it shouldn’t take long (...)”

Ainz stopped for a moment, being distracted by Shizu stretching the fly in her hands as if it was plasteline.

*That is Amon - a level 50 archdemon. It is a roughly equal match for any of the Pleiades, so I expected whichever of them would be able to defeat it in a 1v1 without much trouble. Its name was inspired from the mythological grand marquis of hell, who governed over 40 infernal legions. It was a presumptuous name given by the developers to excite advertising, which made players think it was a much greater threat than in actuality. At the time we fought it, I remember we were disappointed by the lack of a challenge.

Seeing it like this, though, I almost feel bad for it. It’s too weak to possess another body, so it’s stuck at Shizu’s pity. I should probably have it taken back to the 7th floor…

Then again, Shizu seems quite happy to play with it - no, no! I can’t allow this!*

“Ainz. Samaaa?”

“Y-yes?”

Shizu raised both her arms straight, through a simple, robotic motion, showing the defeated, hardly alive fly to Ainz.

In its current state, Amon was persistently flipping around the boundary between 0 and 1 HP.

“Can. I. Keep. Iiiit?”

“Er… Sorry, Shizu-san. I would prefer you hand it to Demiurge. Perhaps we can find you another creature as a replacement?”

“That is fine. Can I. Shoot it. Once more?”

“Eh?”

Shizu loaded the fly into her gun, firing it straight up. After sticking to the ceiling for a few seconds, it fell back, being caught swiftly by Demiurge with his open hand before it could dirty the floor as well.

“Do not worry, Ainz-sama; I will have a spidan clean it up.”

“Thank you, Demiurge.”

Ainz then turned back towards the Pleiades.

“So then, here is the first task I will assign to you: I have received information that the Clearwater Scripture has infiltrated itself amongst the commoners of Re-Estize in order to gather supplies for a highest order summoning ritual. It has not yet come to my attention what kind of monster they are attempting to bring forth. However, if they are indeed capable of summoning the highest tier, that would give birth to a maximum level 100 being.”

The Clearwater Scripture was one of the Six Scriptures of the Slane Theocracy, which specialised in foreign infiltration. Their symbol was represented by a row of undulating waves on the surface of a lake.

A level 100 was a challenge even for Ainz, and, depending on the kind of stats such an entity would have, and how they honed their combat tactics and knowledge after capping out, would make an immense difference to the actual difficulty of the threat.

The Pleiades were speechless. While they expected an important task, this sort of matter would normally have asked for the intervention of a Guardian, or Ainz Ooal Gown himself.

They were all well aware of this, some being more nervous than others. Amongst them, Lupi made an audible gulp.

Ainz raised his staff about two inches (5 centimeters) above the ground, and slammed it down with such power that the entire Throne Room resonated, despite only having lifted it such a small distance.

“Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta - Gather information to confirm the rumours! Locate the members of the Clearwater Scripture! Interrupt any operation before it reaches an end!”

Like any loyal NPC of Nazarick, the Pleiades reported in unison:

“Understood, Ainz-sama!”

“Good. Before you leave, one last question: which one of you took initiative as a leader?”

The Pleiades looked towards each other, trying to find an appropriate answer.

“That is fine!”

Ainz lowered his voice and continued in a content tone:

“I was merely curious. Sooner or later, you will need to form a structured team, come up with strategies, communicate effectively, and learn to rely on each-other’s strengths.

You may go. Meet with Aura before you depart to supply on [Message] scrolls. If the situation gets out of hand, report back to me. Yuri will be on standby to engage ASAP, and, in the worst case, I will mobilize one of the Floor Guardians.

However, before you call, try to solve the issue yourselves. That is all.”

The Pleiades exited the Throne Room, followed by Demiurge, who had also fulfilled his role, and bowed before leaving.

In the Throne Room, Ainz was now by himself, contemplating in silence.

Every now and then, he would make a “Hmm” or an “Err”, or “Then (...)”

Eventually, one full sentence came out from his mind, spoken softly to ensure he wasn’t heard:

“I trust you, Demiurge, but are you sure this was a good idea…”

[end of chapter 8]