Evileye looked down on such women.

It's foolish to want to be protected because you're weak. Instead, all you need to do is become strong, and you won't need anyone to protect you. That should be the way.

But if she let a man like this go, would she ever meet anyone else who could satisfy her so completely like he could?

Evileye would not age, but Momon would surely grow old and die before her. And no matter how hard she tried, Evileye would never be able to bear Momon's children. Decades later, she would be lonely again. Still, she thought it might be good to live as a woman for once in her life.

Another woman can have the child. The most important thing is love. I certainly won't begrudge him a mistress or two.

"Then, please wait here for a while. I apologize for... Evileye?"

"Hm? Ahh, I'm sorry. I was thinking about something myself, things to discuss with my party. I'll wait here, then."

Truth to be told, she didn't want to part with him. But she also didn't want to hang around the woman to whom she had wholeheartedly admitted defeat.

Of course, she couldn't say such a thing.

Nobody wanted a woman who was too clingy. Men were creatures who wanted to flee the more you tried to tie them down.

She recalled the idle chatter in the tavern. At that time, she'd laughed it off, because she had thought it had nothing to do with her.

What a waste. Even trivia like that had its uses. I should have listened closely... but would it be too late to start now? Will I have time to learn how to be a woman?

As she watched the receding shapes of the two adventurers, Evileye's head started filling with wild thoughts.

She knew now wasn't the time for idle fantasies, but she knew too little about what was going on, let alone how to proceed, and so she didn't do anything. Even so, Evileye would be going into a battle in which she might perish. In that event, she might as well sigh and earnestly consider something else to prevent her dwelling on it.

...it's a fact.

She didn't know what her body was good for, if it couldn't bear children, but it was an avenue that was still worth thinking about.

...haaa. Defeating Jaldabaoth and making a future...

The blaze in Evileye's heart roared up, as though challenging Jaldabaoth within the wall of fire.

The only one who can beat you is Momon-sama. Then, I will dispose of the trash around you. This time, if the maid shows herself, I will kill her. I was once the cursed being known as Landfall! Don't look down on me, Jaldabaoth!

♦ ♦ ♦

"I don't think she'll be able to hear us here."

"It would be very difficult to listen in on us from so far away."

"Even so, we should still be prepared."

Ainz activated a cash item. It had the power to prevent eavesdropping, but it felt like a waste because it was a one-use item. However, he had no choice.

"Then, Nabe, I think I've seen through Demiurge's plan for the most part. However, the more complex the machine, the more easily it breaks down. The same applies to schemes. We must avoid acting like we've won and not confirming the facts just because we seem to have the upper hand. Do you understand?"

"I see... as expected of our lord and master, a peerless existence."

Narberal's praise came from the bottom of her heart, and Ainz acknowledged it with a regal nod of his head. It was as though he were saying that everything was going according to plan.

This was not the case.

He felt as though he was going to drown in the lake that his non-existent cold sweat was forming.

He couldn't even grasp the meaning behind Demiurge's scheme. Ainz had simply gone into the battle with the foolish notion of showing off his battle skills in a stylish display at the capital.

The shock of learning that his opponent was Demiurge had shattered his composure utterly. Only the emotion control override possessed by all undead had kept him calm.

After that he thought he would just be fighting the Eight Fingers just going by his orders, but then he learned that he would be doing battle with adamantite-ranked adventurers. Because he didn't know what was going on at all, Ainz had nearly given up on thinking things through.

Speaking thoughtlessly under these conditions would sound entirely unnatural. Ainz knew that it was extremely dangerous to pretend understanding when one was actually ignorant. Perhaps it might have been wiser to reveal his lack of knowledge, but under the circumstances, it was ill-advised. A Supreme Being worthy of loyalty would have to demonstrate a fitting amount of foreknowledge.

If a superior — especially one of a CEO's level — proved himself to be too incompetent, his subordinates would lose their trust in him.

Therefore, he had frantically racked his non-existent brain cells to produce the aphorism he had just spouted.

Perhaps Narberal was too honest, or the words he spoke had been unexpectedly meaningful. Narberal's eyes were filled with respect. As such, Ainz made a request of her under the pretense of ordering her.

"Mmm. Then, in order to ensure the success of Demiurge's operation, make contact with him. I will not do it personally because that woman might still be watching. And right now, I cannot use magic. Hu... that Evileye hadn't let her guard down for a single moment. I don't have proof, but I'm sure she's already suspecting me.”

"How could that be? There's no such thing. Perhaps there's another reason she's looking so closely at you."

Ainz looked at Narberal while trying not to make it obvious that he was staring at her.

"That has to be the reason. I roughly understand how that woman thinks. I believe revealing my anger when we discussed Entoma was a fatal mistake. Perhaps I should have just killed her off back then?"

There was no answer to give.

When he had heard Entoma had nearly been killed, Ainz’s anger had flared up. Although it had been suppressed in an instant like all intense emotions, in that instant that he had been filled with murderous rage. It was a miracle that he hadn't promptly chopped off Evileye's head with his sword.

He had suppressed his killing intent and not acted on his anger because earlier, he had concluded that killing Evileye would have been counterproductive. At long last he had found an introduction to someone who could use resurrection magic— and they were in a position to benefit from it. Ruining this would be too much of a waste.