“Understood! Then. Please. Excuse. Me.”
Cocytus went to his hands and knees, prostrating himself on the ground.
The image of Shalltear overlaid itself on Cocytus from Ainz’s memory.
“...I think I know what is going on, but it might be best to ask, just in case. What are you doing?”
“I. Heard. That. Shalltear. Once. Did. This. As. Well. Therefore. I. Sought. To. Imitate. Her.”
“That was a punishment for her. There is no need for you to do this.”
“But. The. Lizardmen. Under. Me. Have. Spoken. Disrespectfully. To. You. Ainz-sama—”
“There is no need to bring up the past. I already said I did not mind. Did you not hear me?”
“That. Is. True. But—”
Haa—
Ainz had tried to talk him around, but Cocytus was proving unexpectedly stubborn. Despite the fact that the undead did not get tired, fatigue filled Ainz’s soul. Sensing difficulty all around him, Ainz decided to abandon his resistance and made a pronouncement.
“—Ah, that’s enough. Then, I shall be taking a seat, Cocytus.”
“Understood!”
His reply was quite forceful.
Sitting down like this in front of others was very — well, to some extent, it was embarrassing.
Still, the others would find it strange if he hesitated here. What he should have done was to adopt the air of an absolute ruler and matter-of-factly sit upon the body of his vassal.
Ainz bent at the waist. In truth, it was very uncomfortable. In truth, it was very uneven. And in truth, it was very cold.
On top of that, Cocytus seemed to be huffing and puffing in excitement, leaking an ever-thickening white mist, so it looked as though someone had sprinkled water on dry ice and the vapors were billowing out from between Ainz’s legs. It looked like some cut-rate special effect used to make someone look more impressive, and it made him feel like he was sitting on a bed of nails.
“Does. It. Please. You. Ainz-sama?”
Crap. He could not be honest here.
A bizarrely curious part of him wanted to know what would happen if he did speak his mind, but the thought of Cocytus’ reaction was too frightening.
?
