Epilogue

Treating the wounded, tallying the total captive frogmen and egg survivors, and sending the Queen and her people through the gate to an unoccupied lake all took several hours. In the end there were fewer than two thousand frogman survivors of any age, and most of those were either too young or too old to breed. The lizardmen rampage had seen to the breaking of many unhatched frog eggs, leaving only a hundred or so that would not be capable of reproducing for at least fifteen years.

In short, it proved the worst massacre the lake had ever seen. But it was over. The lizardmen had suffered some losses, over two hundred dead and another two hundred wounded badly enough that only timely intervention kept them from dying.

The aftermath of the lizardmen celebration had the King of Nazarick formally oversee the union of Zaryusu Shasha and Crusch Lulu, thus uniting outright, three tribes, while the others made a formal decision to settle together into one grand settlement from which only one tribe, the united lizardmen, would spread from as their numbers grew.

All that took hours more, and Ainz parted from them, taking with them the offered gifts of gratitude in the form of their great treasures, which they swore was the only gift fitting to give a God who gave them victory, the lake, and the lives of two brave chiefs back before the end of the day.

All that meant that it was very dark before Ainz was in his office again, and he only managed to come back when he did by coming up with the impromptu idea of promising to send them someone from his personal retinue to govern and observe them.

And now, he was back, alone with Shalltear.

They were watching through the mirror as the frogmen survivors worked. Heketi proved an intriguing specimen, it was the sole reason she was allowed to survive. “What did you think of the frogmen?” He asked, putting off the ‘punishment’ a little longer.

“Inferior beings, but they were brave, maybe that will have some value in the future, Master.” Shalltear said from beside him.

They were making more of their simple huts around one of the lakes of his land, but they lacked the industriousness he was sure they must have possessed before. It was pitiable in a way, despite their intentions. They moved as if they wore lead over their bodies. Slow, heavy, broken.

“Do you think they noticed the eggs that were missing?” Ainz asked.

“No, my Lord, the lizardmen that got into their hatchery or nests or whatever they call them, destroyed many, a few going missing in the aftermath would be completely unnoticed, assumed to be destroyed in the fighting.” Shalltear answered with confidence and preened a little, a tiny smile on her face. “Demiurge is very eager to see what he can do with a few raised here on the sixth floor, and Aura is beside herself with excitement.”

Ainz expanded the view of the mirror outward and scrolled the view to the lizardman village. The lizardmen were hard at work, they had energy that the frogmen did not. Boats were hauling the metal of the knightly armor back toward their homes. A look amidst the village showed that they were already working some of the metal into new useful tools. “That is probably more metal than they’ve ever had to work with before, it should make things far easier for them for quite some time.” Ainz commented offhandedly.

“I wouldn’t know, my Lord.” Shalltear replied more demurely with an area where she lacked experience.

He let her uncertainty pass without comment, the chiefs were in council at the village center, a stone statue was slowly being built in a crude likeness of Ainz himself, as if he were standing amidst the seated circle of leaders. “They’re embarking on a golden age, I’m sure of that much, they will prosper under me.” Ainz said, more to himself than to Shalltear. But one thought he kept to himself, ‘Their brutality in war, breaking eggs, killing the too old and too young… I hadn’t expected that. I suppose it was foolish to think a race would act differently than the humans of Earth… but I won’t forget it. Discipline will have to be the hallmark of my rule unless I want my Kingdom to go down the same old road of humanity back home.’ It was a sobering thought, more than a little uncomfortable. He sought a distraction immediately. “I promised them I would send someone to govern them directly, would you like to try?” Ainz asked the vampire girl.

“If that is your command.” Shalltear bowed her head.

“I asked if you would like to.” Ainz pressed, looking at her more intently. “You would have to visit them a few times per month and bring their representatives here occasionally, do you think you can do that?”

Shalltear’s face brightened, “I am confident I can do that much.”

“Then you will go visit both the lizardmen and the frogmen twice per month, pass on my orders, collect any tributes, and oversee them according to my will.” Ainz commanded, and then deactivated the mirror. It was done.

“As you command, my Lord.” She said, and then her expression became intense as his attention became solely focused on the little Guardian. “Was I… useful, Master?” She asked with shimmering crimson pools in her eyes, and he stood before her, removing his mask so that his face was exposed to the porcelain doll with a monster soul and a sea of love for him beneath it all.

He touched the side of her face and said, “My Shalltear, you were more useful than you could possibly know, that you can live with not caring what I am, as long as I am me, is valued so much that I cannot ever say thank you enough. Even if you had done nothing else, that would be enough for me.”

She sniffled a little, now clad in her Victorian dress, she would have wiped her nose if she’d had a handkerchief.

“But I… I still need punishment… pretty please… my Lord?” She said with a sweet and hopeful smile.

He cleared his throat, “Ah, has Demiurge come back, he was going to take a look at the spear Heketi used, to find out if there was anything unusual…”

“Yes, my Lord… he has ah… he actually wanted to present that to you personally…” Shalltear replied.

Ainz put on his mask, and nodded, “He is outside, isn’t he?” It was a guess, but Shalltear nodded hastily.

“Send him in…” Ainz shot out with haste, and Shalltear rushed to the door to admit perhaps the greatest genius in Nazarick, clad in his pinstripe suit, his tail lashing at his back.

“My Lord… your time with the lizardman, it was truly amazing.” He said with awe as he went down to bend one knee and hold one hand over his chest while he bowed his head.

“It seemed worthwhile…” Ainz said as offhandedly as he could, waving it away as if it had been trivial.

“To have found such an intriguing thing, only such as you could have accomplished so much in so little time.” Demiurge insisted.

“Shalltear, my seat.” Ainz said.

“Right away, my Lord.” She said with a bright smile on her face as she went behind him. He didn’t look back, only sat when she said, “Ready, my Lord.”

‘Why does this chair feel strange?’ He wondered until he looked down to see Shalltear panting from all fours beneath him.

“Th-This punishment… it is more of a reward… Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Lord Ainz!” Shalltear breathed out as Demiurge looked on in shock.

“Only the God Creator, the One Who Stayed, could think to use a Guardian as a seat! Truly impressive, my Lord!”

Ainz could barely think for a moment, but Demiurge went on as if nothing were the matter. He drew the spear out of his pocket dimension and held it horizontally before Ainz and pointed out the little rune on the hilt, and then another on the wooden shaft.

“The spear as Shalltear said, had unnatural luck, finding the gap in the armor of the lizardman chief, then finding the other chief in the midst of agony and fog. I had her questioned about it, and she revealed it to be runecraft from the dwarves, the shaft is also crafted with runes for strength, which is why it did not break despite the heavy use. She knew very little about this, but there were a few scattered other pieces of weaker runic equipment among her forces which we have also confiscated.”

Ainz nodded, trying and failing to ignore the heavily breathing Shalltear.

“I see, I see.” He said.

“So I propose an investigation into the matter, from what the Lizardmen have said, the dwarves trade in this, and are the only ones who can make it. Perhaps if you permitted me, I believe Albedo can handle the integration process for all our conquered lands for quite some time. I would like to personally venture there to find out more. It should help with our concerns over resources if we can find a source of truly cost free enchanting.”

Ainz barely registered what was being said, shifting on Shalltear’s back. “Am I hurting you, Shalltear?” He asked, awash with shame that he was letting her think this was her intended punishment.

She was shaking her head when Demiurge asked, “Shall I go see to it?”

“I’m going-” Ainz was about to say, ‘I’m going to get up’ to Shalltear, but he paused when she let out a faint whimper, and Demiurge, believing he had spoken entirely what he intended, jumped to the conclusion he considered most logical.

“I would be honored to have you go with me, Lord Ainz! Or would it be better said that I am going with you?!” The crystalline eyes of the demon sparkled as he stared up at his master, his tail lashed about with wild joy. “A journey with the last of our creators… I am unworthy of such an honor!” The demon cried out in ecstasy.

“Master… may I rub my thighs together a little… you feel so good like this…” Shalltear exclaimed, “Punish me more!”

‘Peroroncino…. Why!? Why?! Why?!’ He cried out in his mind and out of raw desperation to escape the moment he grasped hold of Demiurge’s words.

“Begin planning immediately, I want to be leaving for the Dwarf Kingdom ‘soon’ and… I need to go prepare as well, right now, yes, right away, not a moment to lose.” Ainz said and shot to his feet while doing his best not to look down at the ahegao face he was sure Shalltear was wearing.

Left alone with Shalltear, Demiurge waited until she stood, “Lord Ainz… he seems quite different somehow. Was your trip truly alright… I have been so busy I haven’t had time to even see him.”

He did not expect the bliss on Shalltear’s face to become a mask of wrath when she bared her fangs, “Lord Ainz is Lord Ainz, he is perfect no matter what he is, and if you should ever suggest otherwise, or harm him in any way I will tear off your tail and beat you to death with it.”

Demiurge took a step back, and realized a moment later how his words might have sounded, “No! Of course I don’t mean it as a criticism, anything he does is right… just different from what I thought… it must be me that is wrong.” He said, and Shalltear’s face became sweet and childlike again.

“Of course, do enjoy your trip, Demiurge.” She said and folding her hands behind her back, she exited the office and skipped all the way back to her quarters humming happily to herself, ignoring the head scratching Demiurge who went off to his own quarters to prepare a moment later.