"Understood." Demiurge replied as he then turned towards the assembly to begin his explanation.

That was what Ainz wanted to hear. For someone as intelligent as Demiurge, there must have been a purpose for the events to have occurred in that particular manner. However, after much thinking, the feeling that Ainz got was that somehow, they ended up doing unnecessary things.

"First, in the Kingdom, I was able to successfully reduce the authority of those in power with the help of Mare, Neuronist, and Kyouhukou. We can now begin to slowly infiltrate their ranks until the Kingdom comes under our full control."

"...Eh?"

A small sound escaped from Ainz’s mouth. Why do we need to take control of the Kingdom? It seemed as if the explanation was different from what Ainz heard last time. Wasn’t it in order to secure a steady income or to better acquire intelligence?

While Ainz was deep in thought, Demiurge stopped speaking and turned his head towards him. For once, Ainz was glad that his undead body would not let him sweat, and turned to Demiurge.

"Is there a problem, Demiurge?"

"No, it was just that I had the feeling that Ainz-sama wished to say something."

"Ah, is that so? You must have been mistaken. Continue. Let everyone know the reason behind taking control of the Kingdom."

"Yes. Now then, everyone, I hope none of you here are foolish enough to not know that by taking control of the Kingdom, we will be able to move closer towards the true wish of Ainz-sama, which is world domination."

Ainz quickly studied the faces of everyone present in the room. From the looks of things, it seemed like everyone knew about this.

Except for Ainz himself.

"...World domination?"

Just what is this?! When did it become like this? Of course Ainz couldn’t say these thoughts out loud.

Ainz once again tried to use as much of his brain power as possible to quickly make sense of things. It was unbelievable, hard to accept. How did it become like this? Originally they were supposed to be quietly taking actions in the background, avoid making too many enemies, raise the fame of Ainz Ooal Gown and then reunite with past comrades. It was supposed to be just to realize these cute little wishes.

However, now it ended up being—

Why is it world domination? Just how in the hell did this happen?

Although Ainz really wanted to deny the statement, he lacked the courage to do so.

Both the NPCs and the servants all displayed the expression which said "there was no need to ask". It is as if everyone had already accepted that this was the final objective of Ainz. Suddenly it seemed as if a lonely wind blew past the throne that Ainz sat on.

Ainz Ooal Gown was the absolute ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, a peerless existence. After spending so much effort to create this kind of image, if it was broken here by Ainz himself, who knows what would happen. Would he end up becoming as pitiful as an idol without a single paparazzi, who lost all of her fan base, and could not sell her albums. The fate of Ainz would probably be even worse than that. Ainz had already managed to imagine these things in his head.

We’re too invested in this plan to stop now…

However, after carefully thinking things through, world domination didn’t sound as bad as it seemed.

It wouldn't be as easy as it was in games, and for an ordinary person like Ainz, the path to world domination seemed like an impossible road to travel. However, fame could be obtained—most likely infamy—and this seems like the perfect method to gain it.

The problem would be, if Ainz’s past comrades were to find out about it what would their reaction be? If the time comes, I’ll just have to honestly admit that I wasn’t able to successfully manage Nazarick and apologize, Ainz thought.

And there’s also the unknown enemy that brainwashed Shalltear. I can always make up some excuses... I’ll be forgiven… Right?

After finding his resolve, Ainz turned towards Demiurge and said. "Oh, so you remembered."

"Of course. If it is words spoken by Ainz-sama, this Demiurge will never forget. "

"Is that so… It was the conversation from that time right?"

"That is correct."

"...At that time?"

"That is correct."

"Ah, that time… I am pleased, Demiurge."

"Thank you very much."

"However, world domination is hard to achieve."

"It is as you say."

"In that case… How do you think we should proceed?"

Ainz felt like praising himself for managing to keep his voice steady throughout the whole thing.

"What we have currently achieved will be the starting point for our future plans. I have a proposal. I believe it is time for Nazarick to publicly come out onto the global stage. If we keep things as it is, it will become more and more difficult for us to operate, should the entities that brainwashed Shalltear continue to remain hidden in the dark."

"...It is as you say."

That can’t be correct, right? Ainz had thought that by remaining hidden, it would be safer. How did Demiurge arrive at his conclusion?

"I also agree, Ainz-sama. By becoming a known organization, there would be more options available to us, for example through correspondences or negotiations. It won’t be like what we are doing right now, searching for clues in the dark. This is what I think."

After hearing Albedo’s opinion, Ainz was able to finally accept it in his heart, and responded with "I see."

Compared with the things at the moment, it is indeed much more attractive to be able to take part in larger, more public scaled operations.

"By controlling the Kingdom from behind the scene, we can avoid making Nazarick stand out. However, I do not like the idea of making us a part of another country."

Demiurge shook his head at Albedo’s question.

"Of course not, Albedo. I too do not wish for that. Also, from the reports that we have gathered, the current Kingdom holds no charm, apart from a single person. It is the same as other countries. I believe that to place our organization as part of a country is foolish."