Ainz Ooal Gown: Noble Knight

Yau instantly became excited. She straightened her back, and her right hand instinctively rose, preparing to give a German military salute.

"Lord Ainz, you can test me anytime!" Aou said confidently. "I've memorized it all!"

Ainz no longer had the energy to correct Yau's salute; he was currently proud of his quick thinking and improvisation skills.

"So," his voice regained the composure befitting a supreme ruler, "what are your next plans?"

Yawu immediately started counting on his fingers.

Her movements were earnest, much like a top student being called upon by the teacher to answer a question.

“First,” she said, holding up a finger, “they’ve been attacking the capital so frequently, but the dragon still hasn’t shown itself. This means the dragon is most likely not within the kingdom’s borders, and may even be quite far away.”

Ainz nodded, confirming her statement and gesturing for her to continue.

“So,” Yau raised his second finger, his excitement growing even stronger, “we are going to establish a nation!”

Ainz nodded subconsciously, but then suddenly stopped.

The light from the magic lamps poured down from the dome, illuminating Ainz's skeletal face, which could not hide its shock.

Ainz even wondered if he had missed something.

To establish... a nation?

He did know that Demiurge was planning something, but an operation of this scale, "establishing a nation," was far beyond what he had anticipated.

Fortunately, the skull face could conceal his lapse in composure to the greatest extent possible, otherwise he would probably have been exposed.

“Then,” Ainz felt he had to ask, “what is the purpose of my plan to establish a nation?”

Aou was clearly unaware of Ainz's true intentions. She replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "Because an attack on the royal capital has too little influence and a limited scope of spread. Although we can rule out the dragon being outside the kingdom's territory, we still can't confirm exactly how far away it is."

Her eyes instinctively looked upwards, probably recalling what Demiurge had explained, before she continued speaking.

"Lord Ainz has established a nation, so news can travel further. We can use this to further determine just how far away that dragon is from us."

Ainz suddenly realized.

So that's how it is. Nazarick's next move is actually a plan of this scale.

He felt a surge of relief; thankfully, he had asked one more question earlier, otherwise, even after the country was built, he might not have known why it was built at all.

“Then,” Ainz’s voice became a little calmer as he continued to press along this line of thought, “what is the reason for establishing a nation?”

Yawu blinked, tilted her head, and a hint of confusion flashed in her heterochromatic eyes.

"Does establishing a country...do we need a reason?" She scratched her head. "Why not just establish it directly?"

Ainz's heart stirred slightly, and his gaze turned to Demiurge.

Demiurge was standing a few steps away, and answered immediately the moment Ainz glanced at him.

"Yau did not ask his subordinates about the reasons for establishing the state. His subordinates thought that Yau already understood the key points."

Ainz felt his chance had come.

“Demeurge,” his voice took on a slightly serious tone, “your intentions are good. However…”

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over all the guardians present.

"Next time, explain it to me and the other guardians."

Demiurge paused slightly, a hint of confusion appearing on his cunning face.

Ainz continued, his tone full of concern for the Guardians: "This way, I can judge whether your explanation is accurate, and point out the parts you've overlooked from the simplest perspective. Spending some time and effort for the Guardians' growth is worthwhile."

His words sounded so eloquent that even he himself found them to be very reasonable.

Yau's eyes lit up, and Mare whispered, "Lord Ainz...you're so thoughtful."

Cocytus nodded slowly and exhaled a breath of cold air.

Albedo clasped her hands together in front of her chest, a hazy glow appearing on her exquisite face.

"Lord Ainz..." she murmured softly, her voice filled with emotion, "You care about me so much..."

Demiurge lowered his head, and the expression on his face began to turn guilty.

"Your subordinate...is truly ashamed." His voice carried a hint of self-reproach compared to before.

"I thought that explaining things to the Guardians in advance was to ease Lord Ainz's burden. But I never expected that Lord Ainz was considering far more than just efficiency; he was also thinking about the growth of the Guardians."

His gem-like eyes reflected heartfelt admiration behind his glasses: "Lord Ainz is so thoughtful... The gap between me and Lord Ainz is truly enormous."

Ainz sat upright on the throne, maintaining the composure befitting a supreme ruler, but inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief.

That was close; we got away with it.

But Ainz's confusion remained unresolved. There must be a reason for establishing a country, right?

Even if it's just a superficial excuse, it should at least be plausible.

Just as he was wondering whether he should ask another question, Demiurge straightened up, adjusted his glasses, and looked calmly at Yau.

"Let me add to the question about the reasons for establishing the nation." He nodded slightly to Yau. "Since Lord Ainz said that I should explain in front of everyone, then this is a good opportunity to make things clear."

Yawu nodded repeatedly.

Demiurge cleared his throat and began his explanation.

“If Nazarik wants to build a country that can develop in the long term, then of course he needs a legitimate reason that can convince the people. Whether it is to defend against foreign enemies or to relieve suffering, as long as the reason is sufficient, the people will support it and the country can be stable.”

He paused for a moment, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"However, the nature of this nation-building is completely different."

“This nation-building,” Demiurge announced, “is Lord Ainz’s plan to sacrifice a pawn.”

The air seemed to freeze for a moment in the throne room.

Ainz was shocked.

A sacrifice?

Ainz thought he had a general idea of ​​Demiurge's true intentions, but it was clear that Demiurge had much deeper thoughts.

Demiurges continued, “If it’s a country that needs to be managed long-term, then of course it needs a legitimate reason. But a country that was designed to be abandoned from the beginning doesn’t need any of those.”

"This country was destined to be destroyed from the day it was born."

Demiurge surveyed the guardians present, calm and resolute.

Whether the reasons for establishing the nation were justified is completely irrelevant. Because when it is destroyed, those reasons will also vanish into thin air.

Ainz felt as if he had unknowingly become involved in a vast game of chess far beyond his imagination.

He sat upright on the throne, maintaining a composed demeanor, but in his mind, more details he urgently wanted to understand were already surfacing.

The most crucial point is the purpose of "sacrificing a pawn"...

The answer to this question will likely only be revealed when Demiurge continues.

Chapter 125 The Real Purpose

Inside the throne room, Demiurge was still giving a more detailed explanation.

“Well,” Demiurge pushed up his glasses, then changed the subject, “although the establishment of this kingdom does not require a legitimate reason to convince the people, it is still necessary to raise a sufficiently clear banner in order to attract the dragons’ attention.”

His lips curled up into a confident, wicked smile.

"To avenge the vampire Henrietta Nymph. That reason alone is enough to make the dragon controlling Shalltear react."

Yawu's ears perked up, and she nodded subconsciously: "That makes sense. If that dragon can hear this signal, it should take some action."

Demiurge nodded in affirmation: "Exactly."

Then he looked around at the guardians present and asked his next question: "So, what should this country, which is used to test the dragons, be named?"

The throne room fell silent for a brief moment.

Yawu was the first to react, and she almost blurted out, "Let's call it 'Henpeniu Kingdom'! You can tell what it was established for just by hearing the name."

Marley muttered to herself beside her, "...So long."

Demiurge stroked his chin, a thoughtful expression appearing on his cunning face: "While it is certainly direct, it's probably not very dignified as a country's name."

“Then let’s just call it ‘Vampire Kingdom’,” Yau immediately suggested.

“The Vampire Kingdom…” Demiurge considered the name carefully, “It’s not bad, but…”

"How about calling it 'Demon Kingdom'?"

Cocytus's voice came from the ranks, deep and steady, with the buzzing quality unique to insects.

His compound eyes calmly gazed ahead as he presented his proposal.

Yawu tilted his head and repeated, "Demon Kingdom... does sound better than Vampire Kingdom."

Mare nodded slightly: "...Sounds...quite impressive."

Demiurges's lips curled into an approving smile: "Cocytus's suggestion is quite good. 'Demon Kingdom' is a very good name for a kingdom of vengeance, and the word 'Demon King' itself is intimidating and should help attract the dragon's attention."

He turned to Ainz and bowed slightly: "What do you think, Lord Ainz?"

Ainz snapped out of his tangled thoughts and gave an affirmative answer: "...Yes, let's call it the Demon Kingdom."

The guardians all nodded in agreement, and no one argued further about the name.

After all, what a country destined for destruction should be called is not worth spending too much energy on.

The name is just a facade; what really matters is its purpose.

Demiurge continued, "Now that the name of the country has been decided, let me explain the deeper meaning behind this country."

"The Demon Kingdom is used to test the dragons, so it won't send out too many troops. I will send the Demon General to carry out the test mission and create enough commotion to attract attention. Although the Demon General is not weak, he is definitely no match for the True Dragon King."

He paused for a moment, as if he had anticipated that scene.

"Therefore, the Demon Kingdom will inevitably be destroyed after the Demon General's defeat. But there is no need to regret it. As long as we can gather various intelligence on the dragons in the process, the destruction of the Demon Kingdom will be completely worthwhile."

Yau listened intently, but she quickly raised her hand, like a student asking a question in class: "Demiurge, what if the dragon ignores us? Wouldn't the Demon Kingdom have been built for nothing?"

Demiurge's jeweled eyes flashed with a sharp light behind their lenses.

"If the dragon has ignored this country for a long time, it proves that the dragon is indeed very far away from here and cannot pay attention to what is happening here."