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Chapter 185 ~ Humanity

“Mmm~ Hubby, hold me closer~ I’m so tired today~ I’ve been working the entire day~”

“Really? Didn’t you just hang out with the maids the whole day?”

“Geez~ You don’t need to mind the details~! Just hold me!”

“Alright alright.”

Yuuji wrapped his arms around Aika’s waist tighter, bringing her closer to him, as they cuddled underneath the cover on their bed. 

Both of them were no longer dressed in their whole gear, and were now dressed casually in comfortable nightwear. Aika, specifically, was adorned in a thin negligee that truly didn’t hide any part of her body. It was a piece of clothing meant to accentuate her sinful body and seduce her beloved, not as a nightwear. 

Most of her clothing in her inventory were all similar in nature to the one she was wearing right now… Apart from a few dresses that also revealed a lot of skin, her casual clothes were all meant to be worn in bed with Yuuji. 

A large mirror, around 1 meter in height, with an oval-shaped bronze and jet-black frame covering its sides and edges floated at the feet of their bed. 

As of now, it showed nothing. Its surface was opaque. 

With this magic item that Yuuji had brought from the throne room, they would be watching Lelouch and Momonga in action as they saved Carne Village. 

They would be starting any moment now. And in the meantime, Aika told Yuuji about the events that happened with the maids. 

“Oh, so it’s a success?”

“Uhn~! I turned Cixous today, and it was a success~! I wanted to turn the Pleiades and the other maids too… But there’s a one day cooldown for the spell, so I couldn’t. Also I don’t want to replace their original race. So, I plan to have Momonga-san see their stats with his Geass first to see if my spell added the succubus race or replaced it completely!”

While the succubus race had plenty of benefits, it also had its drawbacks. 

For one, as a race which focused on magic, it was physically weaker than a Werewolf, a Dullahan, an Automaton, a Predator Slime, and an Arachnoid, and barely on par with a Doppelganger. 

Each of these races had their own strengths as well, and having different races would also offer more versatility in battle. Thus, replacing all of them with the succubus race would prove to be more detrimental to their safety. 

“I see. That’s a good idea. When will you have him look?”

“I’ll try to have him look after he finished saving Carne Village if possible. After all, we’ll be going to E-Rantel after this, so I’d like to confirm it as soon as possible.”

“Mm. It might be a good idea to have Lupu gain the succubus race first before we have her accompany us. With her natural friendliness and the succubus’s charm, she’ll be able to help us mingle easier with the other adventurers.”

“Uhn~! I’m sure she’ll be able to befriend the girls in Blue Rose easily~”

While Lupu had a brutal and cunning personality, she was capable of showing an extremely sociable and friendly behavior towards others. In fact, she had become close friends with Enri in the anime. 

As long as they could control her sadistic tendencies, she would be the perfect person that would help them get along with people as adventurers. 

Considering her cheerful and fearless personality, Yuuji could easily imagine her befriend Gagaran, the massive, muscular, hammer-wielding member of the Blue Rose. 

And if they could befriend the Blue Rose, their influence within the Kingdom would also increase, making it easier for them to gain the trust and favorability of its citizens. 

“Mm. I agree.”

Just then, Yuuji received a message from Lelouch, telling him that they’ve arrived in Carne. 

“Ah, it seems like they’ve begun.”

“Really~? Let’s watch!”

Yuuji activated the Mirror of Remote Viewing as he imagined the outskirts of the Village he had seen from the anime. And soon, the opaque surface of the mirror began to ripple and they could finally see the scenery near Carne. 

On the dirty, blood-stained ground, a beautiful young girl, most likely in her mid-teens, with a lightly fair skin, blonde hair, and brown eyes was holding a smaller young girl with reddish brown hair and brown eyes in a protective embrace. 

Before the two was a giant figure clad in pure black and gold robes and a deep crimson-red mask with an expression resembling tears or anger, and a shorter, more slender figure in a familiar tight dark purple suit with a cape, and a spiky black and indigo mask covering their face. 

And behind them, the bloodied gores in iron armor of what had been “knights” of the Theocracy disguised as the Empire’s knights were strewn about on the blood-soaked earth. 

Momonga seemed to be talking to the two girls, cast a few spells that created a barrier around them, and tossed two “Horn of the Goblin General” to the girls. 

Then, they both walked towards the village as the girls looked at their backs in confused shock and awe, still trying to process the tragedies and events that had just happened… 

“Oh~ So they’ve saved Enri and her little sister already, huh?”

Her luscious lips curled into a smile and her eyes narrowed with a pair of crescent moons as Aika looked at the receding figure of the golden-haired girl in the mirror. Her eyes shine with a luster of unpredictable schemes. 

Then, they continued to watch as the Dark Knight Momonga had summoned slaughter all the “knights” that had been wreaking havoc in the village. 

They did not bring them under their control with Lelouch’s geass since one, there was no need for him to reveal his abilities to the villagers here, and two, there was no information they could get from these grunts that they wouldn’t get from the Sunlit Scripture that would come later on. 

It would only increase the amount of mouths they’d had to feed back in the interrogation chamber in Nazarick. 

The chaos caused by the “knights” quickly died down as every single knight was cut down by the hulking undead in knightly armor. 

And the rest of the events that happened followed the course of events in the anime, with the village head thanking Momonga and Lelouch and inviting them to their home. 

“Hm… Hey, Yuuji.”

“Yeah?”

“I… don’t feel anything when I watch those soldiers die from the death knight. I don’t even feel nauseous.”

“...”

This wasn’t the first time Aika and Yuuji had come face to face with the death of another human. They’ve experienced war and death during their time in Tatsuya’s world, and Yuuji had also experienced war in Lelouch’s world. 

But in those worlds, their enemies died from guns. While it was a bloody battle, it wasn’t as gory as the scene of death they’ve just witnessed. 

Seeing a human body cut in half and gore strewn about on the bloodied dirt in mass… regular people their age would’ve received immense trauma. 

But Yuuji and Aika did not feel any pity or shock… 

The carnage and death they’ve witnessed gave them the same feeling as crushing an ant with their fingers or slapping an annoying mosquito against the wall. 

And that realization caused a sense of fear to grow within her heart. The fear of losing her “humanity” and conscience over human life. 

She did not know if it was due to the race and class she had received from the Group Chat, or if she had gotten used to death before she knew it from the “memories” she received for the missions and simply realized it upon witnessing the gruesome deaths. 

But the fact remains… 

“I get it… I stopped feeling it too.”

Yuuji pulled her closer and stroked her head, trying his best to soothe his beloved. 

“It protects us from the mental damage we would’ve suffered from witnessing deaths… And I think, it’s better to have it than not with all these missions from the group chat. But… I don’t want to be used to it.”

“Used to it…?”

“Mm… I don’t want to be used to human death.”

He pulled his gaze away from the mirror showing Momonga and Lelouch conversing with the Village head and his wife, and turned to Aika, gazing at her beautiful, sparkling eyes filled with fear and unease. 

“The reason why we do these missions is to become stronger… Strong enough to protect those important to us. But if we lose our humanity… If we lose our love for those we do all of this for, then what’s the point?”

He smiled, and placed a soft, gentle kiss on her forehead. 

“Sometimes, killing our enemies would be inevitable to protect those we love. But, I don’t plan on going on a killing spree.”

“Uhn… I know. That’s why you made the plan to conquer Re-Estize and the Empire by controlling their economy, right?”

“Mm. That’s right.”

“But I’m still scared… What if I got used to it…? What if… I came to love it? I have a job class called the “Empress of Evil” you know…?”

Yuuji held Aika’s trembling hand and placed her head on his chest. 

“The fact that you’re afraid means that you’ll be fine… As long as you hold on to this fear, this humanity, then I know that you won’t go down that road. And if you forget…”

Yuuji lifted her face up to him and kissed her on her trembling lips. 

“I’ll be here to remind you.”

“Hubby…”

Tears fell down the corner of her eyes, and Aika wrapped her arms around her beloved. Her body, still trembling as she sobbed into his chest. 

“There there…”

“Thank you hubby… you’re the best…”

“You’re welcome… You can always rely on me. And I will, of course, rely on you if I forget myself too.”

“Uhn… I will…”

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

Gazef, the renowned warrior-captain of the Re-Estize Kingdom, had arrived in Carne Village along with his band of warriors and met with Momonga and Lelouch. 

Momonga mused as he observed the famous band of warriors on horses and their wargear. 

The knights from before had breastplates bearing the sigils of the Baharuth Empire, and they were heavily equipped uniformly. While these men were wearing armors as well, their gear varied from man to man. 

Some wore leather armor, while some did not have their plate armor on, exposing the chainmail underneath. 

Some wore helmets, while some went bareheaded. The only thing they had in common was the fact that they all showed their faces. All of them had swords of similar make, but apart from that, they also carried bows, javelins, maces, and other back up weapons. 

Instead of an army, they looked like hardened veterans of the battlefield. Or to put it in a less polite way, they appeared like a ragtag bunch of sellswords. 

The riders of around 20 men entered the square and came face to face with Momonga and Lelouch. 

The leader, Gazef, observed the two of them keenly from horseback. And once he had affirmed that none of them were going to move, he jumped down from the saddle and addressed the Village Chief. 

“—I am the Warrior-Captain of the Re-Estize Kingdom, Gazef Stronoff. By order of the King, I have been visiting each of the frontier villages to exterminate knights from enemy countries who have been making trouble here.”

Gasps of shock and awe quickly spread across the village as the warrior captain introduced himself. 

But Gazef did not mind the murmurs and turned towards the towering figure clad in a luxurious robe of pure black and gold. From his outfit alone, he could already tell that he was a magic caster. And an extremely powerful and rich one. 

“You must be the chief of this village. Can you tell me who is the person beside you?”

Momonga interrupted the old village chief who was about to answer, before nodded to Gazef and introducing himself. 

“There is no need for that. Pleased to meet you, Warrior-Captain-dono, of the Kingdom. My name is… Ainz Ooal Gown. and I’m a magic caster. This village was attacked by knights, and so I stepped in to rescue them.”

Momonga and Gazef continued their conversation, before soon relocating into the Village Chief’s humble abode. 

And as the sun set, and the world was slowly swallowed in by darkness… They noticed figures outside surrounding the village from within the darkened house. 

They were slowly advancing on the village. They appeared unarmed and were not wearing heavy armor. But that didn’t mean they were harmless. 

Magic casters preferred lighter gear, and judging by their appearance, they indeed fit Gazef’s image of a magic caster. 

However, the humans weren’t the ones alerting him. It was the winged monsters floating beside them which confirmed their vocations and his worry. 

Angels. 

Gazef knew enough about them to know that they were troublesome foes. Of course, that depended on the type of angel. Not all angels were difficult to defeat.

However, the angels this time around, with shining breastplates and flaming swords, they were the type that was unknown to him. 

Of course, Ainz knew what they were. 

Archangel Flames. They were low-leveled angel summons armed with magical flame swords. Truly trash mobs by his standards, not worthy of even becoming hindering mobs during a dungeon run. But in this new world’s standards, their numbers and the fact that they could be infinitely summoned as long as their summoners had enough mana made them worthy adversaries. 

Understanding the gravity of the situation, Gazef did try to recruit Momonga and Lelouch as adventurers, and even conscripted them under the name of his king. 

But they both refused. However, they did swear to protect the village in his stead. 

“Thank you very much, Gown-dono. Now I have nothing more to worry about. All I need to do now is charge boldly ahead.” 

“...Before that, please take this with you.” 

Ainz took out an item and handed it to the smiling Gazef. It was a small, strangely carved statuette. There did not seem to be anything special about it. However— 

“If it is a gift from your good self, I will gladly accept it. Then, Gown-dono. Time grows short, but I must now leave.” 

“...Will you not wait until nightfall before setting out?” 

“The opposition should have spells like [Darkvision] and the like, so night fighting is not to our advantage, but I cannot imagine they will be hampered by it. Also… we also need to let you see how we stand or fall.” 

“I see. As expected of the Kingdom’s Warrior-Captain, your keen insight is truly worthy of praise. Then, I wish you all the best, Warrior-Captain-dono.”

“And I wish you a safe journey home, Gown-dono.”