"Ainz Ooal Gown?" Jesebelle asked, finding the name completely unfamiliar in her mouth.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Here's the full report. Nimble, the Fierce Gale, then handed her a stack of paper.
She flipped through it, finding many military and state secrets of the Re-Estize Kingdom, but among these, the report on the magic caster, Ainz Ooal Gown, was clearly the most important.
"Do you think this report can be trusted?"
Only a fool would blindly follow what an idiot who betrayed his own country for a bit of gold said.
"I think so, Your Majesty. The information given by Marquis Blumrush is usually trustworthy, and we received similar reports from other spies we have in the Re-Estize Kingdom."
"Hum… It's hard to imagine that an unknown magic caster would simply appear out of nowhere and save a normal village before vanishing into thin air, even more so one who is reportedly stronger than Gazef Stronoff."
Gazef Strogonoff had been a thorn in her path to annex the Re-Estize Kingdom for quite a few years.
She had tried to recruit him quite a few times through indirect means, but the man had proven to be stubbornly loyal, ignoring any benefits that she promised him.
She would've loved to have him leading her 4 Imperial Knights and would have been happy to give him a noble title, with land and servants to tend to his needs if that was what it took to earn his loyalty.
But the man refused every offer, staying adamantly behind that foolish old king of his.
"What do you think of this, Gramps? Have you heard of this man before?" She turned to the strongest and oldest person in the Baharuth Empire.
"I fear that I haven't, Your Majesty."
The one who answered was a wrinkly old man wearing the robes of an arcane magic caster.
He stood in a curved posture, pulling at his long white beard as he tried to recall whether he had ever seen someone named Ainz Ooal Gown, but no one came to mind.
"If even you don't know him, then Ainz Ooal Gown might be someone from a faraway place or someone going by an alias. Regardless, this complicates things."
She knew that this old man, Fluder Paradyne, was more than 200 years old and had been present when the first emperor founded the Baharuth Empire.
If this old man, who was crazy for magical knowledge, said he didn't know a magic caster of this level, then she could only assume that researching this name would be useless.
And there was a more concerning matter she needed to verify first.
"What do you think about his strength, Gramps?"
As an unknown element acting in the vicinity of her domain, she had to be cautious.
There was a good chance that Ainz Ooal Gown might become her enemy.
"Hum…" Fluder fell silent, and she waited patiently for his response.
"It's hard to tell without witnessing him fighting. Being noticeably stronger than the Warrior Captain would put Ainz Ooal Gown in the realm of heroes, but I don't know how far he has walked into the realm…"
Fluder fell silent once again, and this time he remained silent so long that Jesebelle feared the old man had fallen asleep.
"BUT! I think there's a chance that between us he is the stronger mage." Fluder's eyes shone with arcane light, showing how excited the man was.
Stronger than Gramps?
That felt very unlikely.
"Why do you feel this way, Gramps?"
"Because of the undead he controls. Be it its description or its power, it completely matches that of the Death Knight!"
"Death Knight?" The name sounded familiar.
And after a moment of introspection, she found what it was.
"You mean that undead you captured in the Katze Plains and have been trying to control ever since?"
She remembered reading the reports on Fluder's experiments.
"Yes. Death Knights are legendary undead who might appear only once every century! They have the strength of a hero and are incredibly difficult to control."
Fluder then corrected his posture, foregoing his frail elder persona to assume the posture of the Imperial Mage, the man who, if he so wanted, could take over a minor country on his own.
"In the years I have studied it, the Death Knight has shown no sign of being controllable, resisting even the power of 6th-tier spells. To be honest, I was starting to wonder if controlling it was even possible, but now a man who can do it has appeared. Ainz Ooal Gown might be a stronger mage, and the difference between us could be large."
His face was ecstatic, like that of a child after eating their favorite treat.
"Fufufu, maybe I'll finally have someone to teach me magic!"
"I'm happy for you, Gramps."
Hearing Fluder's mad ramblings, Jesebelle feigned excitement but quickly found an excuse to dismiss him and the others.
After that, she made her way to the royal chambers, ignoring all the bowing servants on the way.
Once alone, she allowed the confident smile on her face to crumble, replaced by a worried expression.
This is bad.
No, forget bad; this is a disaster.
Jesebelle removed her clothes and entered the bathroom, activating a magic item to fill the bathtub with hot water before entering it.
Ainz Ooal Gown… What a worrying man.
A few scenarios played through her mind regarding the mysterious magic caster, some good, many bad.
In the slow war between the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire, her country had the advantage.
Be it in infrastructure, economically, or in military might, everything was in their favor, which meant that they had more to lose with the introduction of a variable.
If Ainz Ooal Gown sided with the Empire, everything would be good, but if he didn't…
It is said that a hero is even more valuable than an army, and if what Gramps said turns out to be true, this man might be a hero among heroes.
If he joins the other side, I might have to rethink my strategy to annex the kingdom.
She didn't like to think about what it would be like to face a magic caster of that level as an enemy on the battlefield.
It would be even more troublesome if Gramps were to betray me to follow Ainz Ooal Gown.
Depending on the man's decisions, the Re-Estize Kingdom might obtain both of them.
That would be the worst-case scenario.
The second worst would be that Ainz Ooal Gown stays neutral, with Gramps still choosing to follow him to learn magic.
The third would be that he remained neutral, and somehow Gramps doesn't betray me.
She felt that this would be a very unlikely scenario. She had seen the excitement in the old man's eyes more than she had ever seen before.
Jesebelle knew Fluder Paradyne very well.
He had stayed by her side ever since she was a baby, and he had done so for almost every emperor, save for the founding emperor, who had been his friend.
The old man didn't have many desires or hobbies; instead, he was consumed by an obsession with magic.
He craved someone who could pave the way for him, for someone who could teach him, but as the best magic caster in the region, who could do it?
If Ainz Ooal Gown is proven to be better at magic than him, Gramps' defection is all but guaranteed.
Which means that there's only one way to keep him here.
I have to get my hands on Ainz Ooal Gown.
That would be the best-case scenario.
Water splashed on the floor as she got out of the bathtub.
Vapors filled the bathroom as she made her way to the mirror and wiped it down.
The image that greeted her was a phenomenal beauty.
She had short blonde hair and blood-red eyes that had given her the nickname Blood Rose years before her ascension to the throne, and the consequential purging of many of her relatives and nobles gave rise to the more fitting title of Blood Empress.
Should I seduce him?
Jesebelle was deeply aware of her own beauty.
Her father had wanted to make use of her as a tool for a political marriage, a foolish decision that had cost him his life.
She didn't agree with that marriage, not out of repulsion for the concept or for the other man, but more so because she wouldn't receive anything out of it, only her father, which was completely unacceptable to her.
She wasn't a foolish virgin in love, and she wasn't even sure that she could love a spouse the way the bards described.
What she loved was power, and if to get that power she needed to offer her body to this unknown magic caster, so be it.
Before that, it's best to get more information on the man.
I should send someone to the village in the report.
Someone with no direct connection to me, who can be discarded immediately if a problem arises.
Yes.
Workers.
***
"My older brother's foolishness never fails to amuse me."
Upon reaching his private chambers, Zanac allowed himself to laugh at his brother's embarrassing behavior.
"Indeed, Prince Barbro is a man of action. Good with the sword, but clumsy with the mind."
Marquis Raven sat in front of him, agreeing without outright insulting a royal.
"I didn't expect the prince to suggest offering Princess Renner's hand in marriage to this Ainz Ooal Gown fellow."
The Marquis continued.
Indeed, what an idiot.
Does he want to become that monster's enemy?
They had just returned from a reunion with most of the nobles living in the capital.
The topic was the Warrior Captain's return from his mission in the countryside.
The result?
A series of back-and-forths between the royal and noble factions, with no one agreeing on what to do.
The Warrior Captain said that the Slane Theocracy was behind the attacks on the villages, and knowing the man's character, Zanac was willing to believe him.
But the noble faction constantly questioned this narrative, demanding some sort of proof that the Warrior Captain couldn't provide, so in the end his father chose to do nothing.
He thought this would be the biggest issue in the meeting, but then the name Ainz Ooal Gown came up and became a problem.
A mysterious magic caster, stronger than the Warrior Captain, who wore a mask and showed no respect for royal authority.
The discussion on what to do with such a man seemed endless, and at some point one of the nobles, a Baron, had jokingly said that if Ainz Ooal Gown was so strong, he wouldn't mind marrying one of his daughters to him, even if he was a commoner.
Everyone there understood the joke, except for his brother, who immediately suggested for his father to marry Renner to the guy, igniting another round of discussion, with many deriding his father, saying that he should really consider that.
For the first time in a while, he saw his father turn red with anger and scold his brother in public.
"My brother is desperate to find anything that can help him become king, so in his childish mind, this was a chance to use something he considers useless to earn a powerful ally."
He was deeply aware of the silent war for ascension between him and his older brother.
Renner, as the third and only unmarried princess, could be a powerful bargaining chip for allies.
Barbro was eager to use her, but he didn't dare.
I don't want to die in my sleep.
Although I would very much like to have this man on my side, and to that, I wouldn't mind marrying one of his female relatives, if he has any.
"It would be wise to be wary of this man."
Marquis Raven gave his verdict.
"I agree. We need more information on him, but we can't send just anyone. They need to be capable and level-headed, the type of people who wouldn't offend Ainz Ooal Gown."
"Does the prince have anyone in mind?"
"I do, but for that, I'll have to ask for my dear sister's help."