Inside the carriage, Miss Arshe glanced uneasily at Iri-meimei sitting beside her. Iri-meimei noticed and gave a confident smile, hoping to reassure her.
Only Iri-meimei, Imina, and Arshe were in this carriage. Hellank and Uncle Roba were taken to another, with two guards watching them.
"Where are you taking us?" Imina asked impatiently.
They had been traveling for a long time since being forced into the carriage, and the curtains weren't allowed open. Imina was quite agitated not knowing their final destination, while Iri-meimei didn't care about the destination, certain it would lead to a meeting with the Blood Emperor.
"…" The guard completely ignored Imina's question.
"Tsk…" Imina grew more displeased.
"Um… Big Brother, where are we going?" Iri-meimei feigned a very anxious look, looking up with pitiful eyes as she asked.
Originally, Iri-meimei didn't want to get involved, but seeing Imina's agitated state, Iri-meimei feared Imina would cause further trouble.
"…" The guard still didn't pay any attention to Iri-meimei.
Tsk… Iri-meimei also became displeased. Although Iri-meimei had always been averse to all forms of malicious cuteness, her own cute attack had no effect, so she was naturally unhappy.
"Ugh… Sister Arshe, I'm so anxious. We won't be sent directly to the execution ground and killed, will we? We… we finally escaped from that terrifying place… and now… now…" Iri-meimei feigned extreme fear, hugging her body and trembling.
Of course, it was all an act.
"No… um, little sister… we are just taking you to the Imperial Palace… We… we… won't kill you." The guard answered flustered, probably seeing the little sister, who had suffered such severe injuries, so terrified, and feeling a bit of pity, so he directly revealed the destination.
"Hey! Don't talk 'nonsense'!" Another guard quickly reminded him.
"Ah… is it… the Imperial Palace? Although I'm still a bit anxious, thank you, Big Brother." Iri-meimei feigned a slightly relieved look, then displayed an "incredibly radiant" smile.
"Uh… ah… you're welcome." The guard was stunned for a good while before he reacted.
Hmph… So this is all it takes, Iri-meimei thought disdainfully. I've watched countless moe-themed anime in that world! I know all sorts of cute tricks like the back of my hand.
Ugh… why am I taking these background characters so seriously? Seriously… Iri-meimei, realizing this, suddenly felt drained.
Imina and Arshe, meanwhile, watched, utterly bewildered.
…
"This might not be good, right?" Hellank whispered.
Now, Iri-meimei and the Four Strategists were being led through a corridor in the Imperial Palace by several fully armed and well-equipped guards. Hellank was a bit worried.
Iri-meimei was right; the mastermind was indeed the Imperial family. The Imperial family hiring Black Workers to explore the ruins of an enemy nation… such a matter naturally couldn't be 'exposed,' could it? After the meeting, once they got the information they wanted, they would definitely kill them to silence them.
"It's fine." Iri-meimei still responded with full confidence. Iri-meimei had indeed thought of this; the Blood Emperor would definitely silence them in the end, there was no doubt. The only prerequisite was that he had the ability to silence them in the first place.
"Trust Iri-meimei!" Uncle Roba, however, trusted Iri-meimei completely. Naturally… after all the trouble of saving them, he couldn't let the Blood Emperor dispose of them here, could he?
Soon, they arrived. The elite guards stopped in front of a large door and signaled the guards standing at the door.
The guard opened the door, and Iri-meimei saw the true face of the Blood Emperor, who could be called a Handsome guy.
That guy was sprawled on a reclining chair, a smile still on his face… Standing behind the reclining chair were the Empire's Four? Great Generals, or rather, three Great Generals, since one had just died.
Iri-meimei saw the Blood Emperor adopting a lazy posture and felt that this guy was also quite an actor. He had just been tricked by Fulda into poking such a huge hornet's nest, and one of his Four Great Generals had died, yet he could still maintain this lazy demeanor. It must be said… if he hadn't met Papa Ainz, he truly would have been an emperor capable of great things.
"Greetings, Your Majesty…" Hellank, however, took the lead and knelt. Iri-meimei, of course, was unwilling to kneel to this guy, so as she feigned a kneeling motion, she directly clutched her chest with her hand and feigned a look of unbearable pain.
"You may rise… Little sister, are you injured?" The Blood Emperor asked with great concern when he saw Iri-meimei's appearance.
"I'm very… sorry, Your Majesty. I… I got a little injured while escaping… Ugh…" Iri-meimei continued to act.
"Is that so? I'm truly sorry. Bring a chair for this little sister." The Blood Emperor said to a guard beside him.
"So Iri-meimei was so severely injured… I'm sorry… I never noticed." Uncle Roba said with great self-reproach.
"It's fine. As long as everyone is okay." Iri-meimei could only steel herself and continue the act. She had only pretended to avoid kneeling to this guy, but she hadn't expected to fool Uncle Roba as well.
Ugh…
There was a reason for Roba's misunderstanding. Roba had witnessed the entire battle between Iri-meimei and Ainz. A normal person would have died from that level of combat.
Afterward, whenever he saw Iri-meimei, she was wearing a dress, so he never noticed Iri-meimei's injuries. After they came out, he saw Iri-meimei, who had changed into casual clothes, with bandages on her face, hands, and neck.
Initially, everyone was very concerned when they saw Iri-meimei in this state and asked about her injuries. Iri-meimei merely smiled and replied that there was no problem… Now, seeing Iri-meimei in such pain, they realized how severely she was injured.
Actually… Iri-meimei's appearance was merely for disguise. Originally, just a little bandage on her face, covering one eye and half her face, would have been enough.
After all, Iri-meimei felt that her heterochromatic eyes were too recognizable, so it was better to cover them. As for the bandages on her hands and arms… they were just put on because of a sudden chuunibyou moment and she thought it was fun.
However, since a chair was brought, there was no harm in sitting, so Iri-meimei sat down quite unceremoniously.
"Then, I have some questions for you. What did you see inside that ruin?" The Blood Emperor went straight to the point.
"Undead… lots and lots of Undead… and they were all very powerful! Besides us… no one else escaped." Iri-meimei answered, feigning sadness.
"Besides the Undead, what else? Did you see the master of that ruin?! That guy named Ainz Ooal Gown!" The Blood Emperor completely lost his composure… His previous lazy demeanor was gone, and he stood up, staring intently at Iri-meimei as he asked.
"Um… ah, Ainz Ooal Gown… I saw him… and… we were captured." Iri-meimei replied.
The other members of the Four Strategists, kneeling beside her, were very surprised and didn't understand why Iri-meimei would say that. Although what Iri-meimei said wasn't a lie, strictly speaking, Iri-meimei should be a person from Nazarick, shouldn't she?
"Captured? Then how did you escape?!" The Blood Emperor stood up directly and continued to 'press' Iri-meimei for answers.
"Eek… Originally… originally, after we were captured, we were scheduled to be executed, but a kind person saved us." Iri-meimei answered, feigning fear.
"I'm sorry… I scared you. I got a bit emotional. Can you forgive me, little sister? So, who saved you?" The Blood Emperor sat back down and feigned a smile again.
"Hmm! It's okay. It was… it was the Princess of that ruin who saved us." Iri-meimei said.
What?? The members of the Four Strategists were all dumbfounded… The Princess of the ruin is just you, Iri-meimei!!
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