36 Downtime

Thoth desperately needed some normalcy in his life at the moment, which he was given not too long after returning.

Of course, Albedo demanded he make a full report on things, he also informed Ainz about the Platinum Dragon Lord and his repeated attacks against Nazarick, insinuating that he must be dealt with soon.

Of course, Ainz showered Thoth in praise for a job well done, which was great and all, however, after all of this was done, Thoth remembered how boring it is to do nothing.

He didn't want to stay cooped up in his library, that place was silent and still constantly, so he decided to visit Carne village, where his four angels could be seen sitting on a random roof watching Lupus talking to Enri.

Enri was dressed in her typical clothing, however, on her ears simple wooden earrings could be seen, one a simple depiction of Thoth and the other a simple Depiction Ainz. The entire village could be seen decorated with these items, there were even large ones in important places like the town square, where a few people could be seen worshiping the statue.

Indeed, when confronted with things beyond their comprehension, like many before them, they too turned to worship.

Lupus and the angels were more than pleased by this, both sides agreeing that the mortals should worship their superior, though who the superior was they never mentioned.

Nonetheless, Bard, Wizard, Warrior, and Protector could be seen sitting on the roof, each one bored out of their minds, though an undertone of anxiety could also be felt in their expressions.

Bard, being the extrovert of the group, decided to break the silence first: "...Why hasn't the elder come yet?"

Warrior spoke immediately after, happy the awkward silence was banished to the shadow realm: "I don't know either, it has been a while since we've last seen him, and we know he has risen again so why hasn't he come?"

Indeed, since they are directly beneath Thoth, they felt him rise even as he was so far away, which prompted them to celebrate of course, however, it's been two days, and he still hasn't visited them.

Wizard spoke up next, stuttering a bit as a possibility worse than death appeared in her mind: "D-Did we do something to displease him?" a few nervous looks were exchanged, between the three.

Protector then shook his head as he sighed a bit: "You are overthinking things, he is no doubt in Nazarick as we speak, reporting and dealing with things there. He hasn't kept watch over that undead for a while, it's possible he must ensure his soul remains untainted."

Everyone sighed in relief, to disappoint the last Archangel alive would be a sin beyond measure. They might as well end themselves if that happened.

...They would be surprised how similar they are to Nazarick NPCs in that regard.

 Bard spoke once more: "Thank Goodness, we would have nothing to live for if we disappointed him."

Everyone nodded with approval, indeed, they would have nothing. No purpose, no light, nothing.

Warrior then made an observation: "That's true! You know, from what I've gathered from that Lupus chick, she seems to feel the same way about that Ainz person."

As the group has been in this village for a while with Lupus, they would inevitably have some contact, and while it was minimal due to the inherent tension between the two parties, Warrior was the only one who didn't particularly care about it, allowing him to learn some new things.

The other three then immediately glared at Warrior and spoke the same thing at the same time, they had never been united, not on this level anyway: "We are not the same." x3

"Okay okay! Jesus..." Warrior said while raising his hands in the air.

"Who is that?" Bard asked, prompting the entire group to take a second to think.

"..."

Thoth was observing the entire conversation, and to say the least, he had some concerns. Mainly one,

'I dont want to become Ainz 2: Electric Boogaloo!'

With this thought in mind, he dispelled the "[Perfect Unknowable]" spell that was hiding him, prompting the angels to jump in surprise as they suddenly felt his divine aura appear behind them.

Protector dutifully kneeled immediately, the other three on the other hand...

"Lord Thoth!" Bard shouted as she flew up and hugged him, prompting the other two to follow her.

"You-!" Protector shouted, considering stopping them, but he changed his mind halfway.

He wanted a hug too.

And so he flew up as well.

Thoth meanwhile was completely overwhelmed, thank God (literally) that they were so small, or else he would have been knocked to the ground by their energy.

Well, not really, they couldn't even move his finger unless he allowed it, but you get the point.

"Hey, you four! It's been a while..." Thoth patted the four on their heads carefully as they hugged his clothing.

"Yeah, it's been a few months! We were worried about you Lord Thoth!" Warrior shouted, prompting Thoth to apologize.

"It's okay, you're here with us now," Wizard said, to which Thoth smiled.

Thoth then sat down on the roof, putting all of the angels in his palms, who sat down on them.

"So, how have things been here while I was gone?"

Bard then energetically shouted: "Oh you wouldn't believe some of the drama here, did you know there is this woman who is gossiping about her best friend cause she is jealous that she has a handsome husband?" Before Thoth could respond, Bard continued: "And don't even get me started on Enry and Nfirea!"

Thoth's mind sharpened as those two familiar names came up.

"What happened to those two?"

Protector then gave a more concise report on the situation, much more coherent than Bard's excited babbling: "Nfirea confessed to Enri after the giant of the east attacked as he protected Enri, but was... Well, not rejected but not accepted either."

"Yeah, poor guy, he earned my respect after that... But... well... Women." Warrior said while shrugging, prompting a slap on the back from Wizard. It was pretty weak since strength wasn't exactly her specialty.

Bard then spoke again: "Yeah, she told him she doesn't know how she feels and asked for some time, which is what we were doing here before you arrived. Enri was going to ask for advice from Lupusregina over there." Bard then motioned to the duo, who were continuing in their conversation.

"Oh, I'll join you in listening then." Thoth then made himself comfy and turned his full attention to the two women.

Meanwhile, Enri tried not to twitch her eye, but it did anyway.

"How am I supposed to ignore those five? They are staring at us!"

"Just do it you big baby, they won't bite, if anything, you should be more worried about me!" Lupus said what was clearly a joke, though Enri the people who overheard it, especially Thoth, felt that they really should be more worried about her than anything else.

Enri, oblivious to this or just ignoring it with a perfect act continued as if nothing was happening: "Okay. So, what should I do? I kinda like him but... I don't know, it's weird."

Lupus meanwhile suppressed the urge to sigh, she wanted to kill her so badly... Alas, she was useful for now, so Lupus instead decided to ensure she would be useful to Nazarick.

"...You should give him a shot." Lupus didn't care. Not a bit. However, when Lord Ainz became enraged at her for failing to report properly, he mentioned how important it is that Enri and Nfirea remain alive cause they tie each other down, so if they became partners, wouldn't this only strengthen?

That's right, Lupusregina was going to take some initiative to make up for her mistakes, Lord Ainz would no doubt praise her! Yeah! She will show off so much to the other Pleiades!

"...Do you think that? I don't know..." Enri still felt a bit unsure, but Lupusregina continued to push her.

"You should! Lord Ainz and Thoth would no doubt approve too! I mean, why do you think he is still watching this conversation?"

"... That's true, okay, yeah. I'll give it a shot!"

 "Go get him, girl!" Lupus cheered as Enri walked away, at which point Thoth flew over to Lupus.

"Heya Thoth!" Lupus greeted casually, prompting the angels who were now on his shoulder to feel a bit offended on his behalf.

"Hey Lupusregina, good job with Enri. Lord Ainz will take notice of this I'm sure."

"Thanks! I heard you came back a few days ago, did you have a nice trip?"

"Well, it was certainly something, I think the world has a mind control fetish."

"Huh, that's funny, I did hear you got controlled again, you should really keep an eye on that."

"Oh yeah, this mask is never coming off again. Thoth said as he revealed the mask that was covering his face all along."

"Ooh, fancy~ Slay~"

'...Since when did they understand that slang??? Please tell me they don't know any of the more... "modern" variations.'

As Thoth silently prayed, he noticed the religious statues and symbols around, or rather, he desperately searched for and found a way to divert the topic.

"Are these thanks to you?" He said while motioning over to them.

"Oh no! They did that on their own, they are at least intelligent enough to recognize true greatness." Her eyes grew colder for a second, "Though they should have made Lord Ainz bigger statues than yours."

"I agree." Thoth nodded.

The two then spent a few more minutes chatting until Thoth excused himself and returned to Nazarick, much to the despair of the four angels, to their relief, he swore to visit them to chat regularly.

Thoth then teleported to Nazarick, and the first thing he did was go to Ainz to praise Lupusregina for her initiative, as he left Ainz's office, he felt Shalltear's eyes on him again.

'Seriously, does she think I can't see her? She is a tank DPS, her job is to be seen and to deal damage, even a normal human would notice her.'

Shalltear does in fact think she is the sneakiest thing in the entire tomb, she feels like a secret spy, such occasional bouts of surprising innocence and naivety were also given to her by her creator to satisfy another one of his... More concerning fetishes.

Thoth ignored her, he had promised to come to play with Aura's pets months ago, and he has yet to live up to that promise. So, since he wanted to relax, why not do that?

He teleported to the Amphitheater, where a few Elder Liches dressed in dark robes could be seen patrolling. They all bowed to Thoth as he appeared.

"Where is Aura at the moment?" He asked the closest one.

"Miss Aura is on her break as was ordered by Lord Ainz."

"I see, thank you." Thoth dismissed the Elder Lich and then flew up, searching for the large tree the twins called their home.

To be exact, it was a world item, a world item in the form of a tree.

Thoth flew in that direction as he flapped his majestic white wings, he considered visiting later, but knowing how the NPCs think, Aura would probably appreciate the distraction from resting.

Shalltear meanwhile ran around the tomb, looking for Thoth to no avail.

"Damn it! Where did he go!" She yelled as she cursed the world for stopping her from helping Thoth.

Ahem... anyway, Thoth arrived at the home of Aura and Mare, he then knocked on the door and eagerly awaited her response.

Soon, Aura opened the door, however, she wasn't in her normal outfit, instead, she was now wearing a comfy-looking green shirt and stylish modern white pants.

Aura's expression visibly brightened when she saw Thoth, and she spoke with a big energetic smile as he stared at her: "Hey, Thoth! What can I do for you?"

"..."

"Eh? Are you okay? Hello?? Nazarick to Thoth?"

"..."

Oh no, Thoth.exe crashed.

-x-x-x-

I haven't uploaded in a while, sorry about that.

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