[morning, in a somewhat quieter place, next to the busy market square]

A desperate scream broke any remaining tranquillity:

“Aaaaaargh! What are we going to do!!!??? - It’s been a full day and yet we haven’t got a single lead; what are we going to tell Ainz-sama?”

“I believe the truth will suffice. We should tell him precisely what happened, to the smallest detail, and await further orders.”

“Alright, then you do it, Narberal!”

Despite being a logical thinker, admitting failure would for sure have hurt Narberal’s self esteem, as she had been working hard to prove her worth in front of her master.

She didn’t want to tarnish that appearance.

“Eeeh? Me? Uh… Erm…”

Whenever she failed to find an intelligent reason immediately, she would resort to an obviously made up, childish excuse. This was not, however, the case, as an idea popped up right in time.

“Wait, we still have until 6pm, evening to give our report. - Shizu! What is our probability to find a clue until this time limit?”

“Roughly. Forty percent.”

Narberal then turned her gaze towards Solution, awaiting approval from a second party.

“What do you think? We still have over 8 hours. If all else fails, then we report as soon as possible!”

“I’m not sure. This kind of thinking attracts trouble, I’ve heard. I really think we should [Message] now.”

“Hmm… you’re probably right.” - Narberal then remembered she wanted to ask something else, and quickly shifted back to Shizu.

“What was our probability of winning last night?”

She was still a little salty for having to run from battle twice in a row now.

“Estimating. (...) Ninety-nine. Point. Eight. Percent."

“You mean there was a 2% chance we could’ve lost?”

“Yes.”

All their stares were now directed at Shizu, and, after a couple’ seconds, Beta, Gamma and Epsilon synchronised their reply:

“I see.”

Narberal's opinion of the old man had just drastically increased. That is, from zero to 'some very minimal consideration'.

'Asking Shizu the probability' now turned into a game - one which Beta could not turn down.

There was a faint blush on her cheeks, and a devilish smile, revealing her fangs. She held one finger under her lips, in a typical pose for a cunning villainess.

"Say, Shizu, what is the probability of Solution getting married?"

Solution was startled, but she kept calm and maintained a low volume.

"Don't be silly, Lupi, there's no way I'd-"

"Zero point. Zero-zero-zero. One. Percent."

Despite being set on marriage as being a redundant idea, it still felt a bit disappointing to hear these odds.

"Still lower than the old man winning, huh?..." - she whispered without anyone hearing.

Soon, this question begged to be asked, and Narberal was the one to do it:

"Then, who has the highest odds?"

"Entoma."

Feeling called out, Entoma shied away, bringing her knees and arms closer together, expressing utmost insecurity.

Opposite to Narberal, she hated being in the spotlights.

(...)

It was unanimously, and without words required, decided to avoid using CZ2928 Delta's probability estimation feature from there on, unless completely necessary.

It only worked accurately half the time anyways. Only Shizu knew that, though.

(...)

[inside the attic of a dusty antiquity shop]

A spacious room, lit only by a tiny 20x20 centimetres window, above an average person’s reach, placed on a wavy white wall, curving into a dome atop, with several cracks in it that showed the blood red old brick behind.

The light coming from it illuminated thousands of specs of dust, floating about like fairies, and shined on the creaking teak floor, whose colour had long been stumped by a thick white cover.

In the back, two personas sat at a long wooden table, with seamless rounded ends.

Aside from not having been cleaned in who knows how long, the table seemed to once have been used by royalty, being long enough to fit twelve people at once.

Further behind them, there was a small level difference, marked by two stairs. Down there, a trapdoor led to the ground floor, and an old-fashioned giant lamp created a futile amount of light.

On the second chair from the right-hand-side head of the table, a mature woman was resting on her elbow. Her impressively dense eyelashes slowly closed and opened, giving off a bored look with her small red eyes.

She was wearing a titanium white long-dress with crimson details, immaculate except for the spots where it had touched the table. Within the darkness, one could still notice a thick mane on top of her head, between two equally furry ears.

Under the table, her one leg was swinging back and forth on top of the other, sometimes hitting the chair and breaking the silence, while her fluffy tail moved every now and then without making a sound.

At the end of the table, with his chair pushed back and rocking it with a foot, trying to find the sweet spot for balance, there was a man who’d immediately turn all eyes to him, as he was wearing, without doubt, a jack-o'lantern on his head.

He was dressed as a gentleman, with fit slacks pulled up by a tight metallic belt, shining white leather shoes, and a white tuxedo with silver buttons.

Naturally, he held onto a matching cane and a top hat. His belt had attached to it several shining metal pockets.

Every now and then, he would laugh.

One would probably think he was spacing out and remembering something funny, but that is not how it sounded like, at least.

Instead of a copious laughter, or even a repressed giggle, his laugh almost sounded like a painful moan. He was breathing out plenty of air with each noise, and tensing his abdomen so hard it would hurt.

Despite that, he never stopped. Every minute, or every ten seconds, another short burst of back-chilling chuckles, dragged out with agonizing suffering, as if he had been at it for decades.

“What’s taking those two so looong??? Ufu!”

[Amaterasu, level 73, Kitsune, Illusionist, Elementalist-Fire]

When she spoke, or not, she had a habit of producing sounds somewhere between a sigh and a moan. She thought it was cute.

“I’m used to one of them always being late, but what is Odin up to-uwu? That old geezer would always lecture me about coming on time - now look! I’m heeeere!” - Yaaaaawn!

As Amaterasu yawned with great exaggeration to express her boredom, she stretched her hands to the other side of the table, supporting all the weight of her upper body onto her immense breasts, pressed against the edge.

“Neeee, what do you think? Wanna’ bet how much longer they’ll take?”

The creepy man only replied with a faint chuckle.

[Headless Horseman, level 61, Zombie-Dullahan, Single Blow, Weapon Master, Cursed Knight]

“The silent type, are we? Ahhh… forget I asked! You’re new here, I shouldn’t have expected you to answer.”

The kitsune rolled her eyes back and purred like a cat.

(…)

Finally, a [Gate] opened and a shadow came through. On the other side of the portal, there was a lavender, empty space, through which a constant breeze echoed like in a cavern.

Silence immediately settled in the room as everyone’s eyes were scanning this new presence. From a first glance, one would be attracted directly towards her tea-green hair, fluttering in an unusual pattern, as if it were able to move by itself.

She grinned with the corners of her mouth almost touching her ears, revealing anomalous teeth, pulled back into her gums such that if one looked close enough, they would see a brim of darkness through the small opening in-between two fangs, along with a smitch of thick spit smearing through.

Behind her evil smile, there was a certain uncanny sexual appeal, perhaps due to her pale, skinny, almost anorexic, tall body, covered only by skimpy, see-through, pure white drapes, falling flat over her small breasts, wide enough to cover, but not too wide to hide the many black curves seemingly tattooed all across her abdomen and back, especially around the shoulderblades, and dripping over her shoulders.

As one would look lower, across and below her groin, eventually, they would come to face with her extended phalanges, screaming of danger, below which hung gently a severed head, with long, white hair, and a fitting beard, covered in old skin, barely hanging onto the skull.

With a powerful, clear, glassy voice, she broke through the shocked expressions:

“Were you looking for this?”

With a short move of the wrist, she tossed the head forward onto the marble table, landing neck down and sliding across several centimetres, smearing drips of darkened old blood across the polished surface. From close up, two empty sockets of gorged eyes stared down the room, surrounded by many layers of wrinkled skin.

It was the head of Odin, the, now former, god of war.

“So, what do you think? I truly hope you enjoy my present! I really put thought into it!!!

Well, I didn’t have much time to prepare, indeed. I wanted to have it on a frame… something gold, with floral details; nothing too fancy, though, y’know?”

[????, level ????, ????, Eclipse, ???]

The pumpkin-head gentlemen laughed harder than before, and clapped his hands like you would clap at the end of a spectacular performance. He spoke in a deep, rusty voice, in complete contrast to his high note giggling:

“Gyahahah!! Wonderful!!!! Truly, a wonderful surprise! You have outdone yourself, master!”

“What about you, Amaterasu, didn’t you find my entrance humorous?”

Amaterasu, however, only uttered a nervous “Haha(...)”, and touched her hands in a restrained attempt to clap, which didn’t make any noise in the end.

Her fluffy ears trembled as she waited to be scolded. She was obviously uncomforted by her master’s absolute evil alignment.

Seeing as her subordinate was not excited much, her green hair dropped down like one’s shoulders when they’re disappointed.

The menacing figure then brought her hands together mid-sentence, slightly leaning to a side and pouting with her lips squished together, and a childish tone. She was trying her best to look, somehow, moe.

“Mmm, I know it’s not the best present ever, but you’re supposed to appreciate the intention!

Here, have an apple. I brought some just for you!”

Amaterasu gasped as she caught the apple, instantly returning to her cute self, her eyes opening wide and her tail wiggling. That’s all it took for her to forget what happened. She was now quietly nomming on her special treat.

“Pardon my interruption, miss. If I may speak, I have fresh news regarding Amon.”

“Ooh? Amon, you say? What about him? I thought he was trapped by a sealing spell three years ago. That’s what he gets for levelling into regeneration… It still amuses me how a blade forged from your flames is what's keeping him restrained, right, Amaterasu?”

The blade in question was Tsukuyomi, which, along with her sister blade, Amaterasu, forged prior, were the primary weapons of Nishikirenai. As he levelled up, their power was also majorly upgraded in time.

Amongst several other abilities, Tsukuyomi, in the hands of a skilled user, could place a creature in an endless state of dreaming, effectively sealing it away.

Amaterasu didn't know how to respond, going with a shy "eeh" instead.

Meanwhile, the Headless Horseman stopped rocking his chair, stood straight, and took a serious attitude, as if he had spontaneously matured by 20 years.

“Indeed, your highness.

I felt his presence the other day. I presume he had been let out, but it was only briefly. He was defeated right after, and a new seal has already been set in place. But, it is still weak. I expect it will take about two weeks for the seal to close for good.”

Hearing this, her eyes twitched open faster than one’s sight could catch up.

In typical anime fashion, you would expect them to be glowing, perhaps shimmering, or merely glistening, either of joy or menace, but instead, it was a sight of pure horror.

With a cracking sound that can only be described as alike shattering ribs and organs, her black pupils caved in, and the entire facet of her eyes reverted to the shape of a skull, of which the sockets held within an infinite spiral of bone. The dark abyss at the end of the tunnel seemed to radiate out through the sockets like a poisonous mist.

“Well, well! Spectacular job, Horseman! You wouldn’t happen to know who defeated him, do you?”

“Gyahah! I already have my eyes on them, your excellence! Nothing will escape my watch!”

[end of chapter 10]

[Author’s note: I know you are most likely reading this for the Pleiades, and possibly other Nazarick NPCs, however, I do need to spend some time developing villains and other characters. So, I’m writing this to ask whether such chapters are still enjoyable.

Also, while we’re asking questions, who’s your favourite Pleiades and why?]