“But! There are no suitable men around. I prefer the dead ones, but rotting ones are too much… right?! Right?!”
“Even if you want our approval, it’s too much for us to accept your weird fetishes, Shalltear.”
All three lowered their gaze to the ground along with a silent agreement not to talk further on the subject.
“Well… I understand why I can’t ride the bicorn… but this is nonsense. What do I do…”
Albedo frowned in unhappiness. The bicorn shuddered as though it had been scolded as well.
“Mmm… It’s like a part of Albedo’s abilities are sealed now.”
“But it is not like mounted combat is your specialty anyway, and it is only one of your abilities that you cannot use. If you cannot ride bicorns, why not borrow other beasts from Aura? Is a unicorn not fine as well?”
“Muu… I don’t have a unicorn. Although I want to get one.”
“There’s a better way. I just need to get some help from Ainz-sama to ride the bicorn!”
Albedo smiled while exclaiming loudly as if there was no better alternative.
“That is cheating!”
“Hmph!”
Albedo snorted at Shalltear.
“Would you mind watching your words, Shalltear? This is a necessary issue so I can fully utilize my powers as the Overseer of the Guardians.”
“Kuu! Hmph! If you cannot bed him unless it is for duty… you are a failure as a woman. It seems you cannot seduce him with just your charms alone.”
“Aaah?”
Aura interrupted the two staring each other down as if she was at loss for words.
“Hey, I’m starting to wonder what the heck you guys are talking about, so can you guys quit it? Let’s stop talking about irrelevant things and focus the matters at hand. Since you won’t be needing it immediately, it’s not a big problem, right? Can’t you summon anything else?”
“Well, I have a magic item, so summoning a mount isn’t so much of a problem for me.”
“Well, then use that. Problem solved.”
“If I summon using a magic item, then I need to switch my equipment or take out the item, so there’s an extra step involved compared to just using a summoning skill. Plus, a bicorn has better combat abilities…”
“Then you can just let the bicorn fend off the enemy while you use the magic item to summon a mount. It’s a very common tactic for a Beast Tamer who’s just starting out.”
“I guess that’s the only way.”
“Then I suppose we can say that Albedo became weaker.”
“Can you not laugh so cruelly at others misfortune?”
“You seemed very happy when I had my misfortune, Albedo.”
If she had denied it, then Shalltear would press on saying that she was.
“Afu, seriously… Let’s stop staring at each other here and go somewhere else. This is a rare vacation that we got from Ainz-sama.”
Albedo conceded as did Shalltear, who stopped arguing to nod. But—
“…I don’t know what to do even if we do have a vacation. We were made to guard the Great Tomb and serve the Supreme Beings. To work is our very existence…”
“However, since Ainz-sama told us to take a break. We must take a break.”
The reason why three of them were gathered was because their master said:
“All of you work so hard every day. Why don’t all the female guardians take some time off and spend it together every once in a while?”
It was because of that.
“Well, since we went out together and spent some time together, should we disperse? But does this really count as spending some time together?”
“Good question. If he asks if we spent some time together, how much time is appropriate? Speaking of which, what do you guys usually do with your time?”
“I patrol between the 1st and the 3rd floors. I also gather the opinions of the area guardians, check the security status of the floors, and when I have free time, I take a bath and touch up my makeup…”
“You work harder than expected.”
“What might you mean by ‘expected’?”
“A bath… What about you, Aura?”
“Mmm… When Mare’s at the colosseum, I’m patrolling the forest. There’re a couple newcomers as well. Then when I come back, I sleep… That’s about it.”
“That’s it!”
Aura and Shalltear looked at Albedo in surprise.
“That’s it. By newcomers, you mean the inhabitants of the new village on this floor, right? I’ve never been there before. Let’s go together.”
“Ara, you’ve never been there? Shalltear, what about you?”
“I have been there.”
Aura explained to Albedo who was making a curious expression.
“All the other guardians are the same. Cocytus took a look when he came by for the lizardmen, Demiurge likes to drop by and check on things, and others come for a visit once in a while. Mmm… then let’s go now. It’s pretty close.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Nazarick Time 9:38
The newly created village on the 6th floor consisted of about ten log houses. It would be more accurate to call it a ‘tribe’. To the right of the village were farming fields and to the left was an orchard several times the size of the fields.
The surroundings were obviously a forest and from the sky, it would look like a gigantic hole, hence the name ‘The Green Hole’. When cutting down trees and digging out their roots, it would be inevitable for the ground to be uneven. However, the village was strangely immaculate, organized and clean. This was thanks to Mare’s magic.
In the orchards were various figures hard at work. At a glance, they appeared to be human women, but they had skin coloured like tree bark. Beside them were creatures that could only be described as moving trees.
The former were dryads and the latter were treants.
The treants carried the dryads on their arms and raised them up to the fruit trees so that dryads could take care of the orchard.
“Apart from them, ten lizardmen live here. They often go over to the lake to the north, where we’ve just been, and play in the water. It’s not like they live in the water either, isn’t it strange?”
“It is bigger than the last time I was here. More residents as well.”