The rusty walls, the white porcelain floor stained with some unknown rusty-colored substance, and those strange hospital beds, cribs, and so on—Nigredo's room style was entirely like an abandoned hospital. However, this wasn't the key reason for Iri's bone-chilling fear.
What truly frightened Iri, who had seen much of the world, was a room full of "Little Yi" dolls of all styles.
Uh… to be precise, it should be a room full of Iri dolls, of all kinds, big and small, and… they were incredibly lifelike, weren't they?!
The moment Albedo pushed open the door, Iri felt all those "Little Yi" dolls simultaneously looking over, creating an atmosphere that was as horrifying as could be. Emerald Tablet truly was an expert in horror films.
Originally, Iri hadn't intended to listen to Albedo, but seeing such a terrifying scene, Iri instinctively shrank behind Albedo.
"Heh heh… Sister, if I recall correctly… I am still a prisoner, am I not? Why have you come… come here?" Nigredo, dressed in a funeral-like outfit, was in the center of the "Little Yi" dolls. She slowly raised her head, glanced at Albedo through the strands of hair covering her entire face, then lowered her head again, continuing to work on another "Little Yi" doll in her hands.
"Sister Nigredo, it's not me who wants to see you… it's Little Yi," Albedo said. Iri then poked her head out from behind Albedo to observe Nigredo; after all, she was the one asking for a favor, and hiding didn't seem very polite.
Nigredo heard Iri's name, paused, then slowly put down the unfinished "Little Yi" in her hand and shakily stood up from her chair.
"Sister… what… what are you saying? Can… can you say it again?" Nigredo's voice trembled slightly.
"I said, Little Yi has something she wants to ask you to do," Albedo repeated impatiently, not forgetting to extend her hand to shield Iri.
"Li… Little Iri-chan… Heh heh… Little Iri-chan… asking me… Heh heh…" Nigredo seemed to be acting strangely!
Although Iri knew that Nigredo's character setting included a pathological affection for children, she felt that her current size should be outside Nigredo's strike zone, right?
But looking at the room full of "Little Yi" dolls, Iri felt genuinely scared from the bottom of her heart, regretting her decision to come and see Nigredo in the first place.
"Sister! Be normal! Little Yi is right here! Don't scare her!" Albedo's unnecessary remark exposed Iri's presence.
"She's… she's… she's here? Heh heh! Heh heh… Where is Little Iri-chan?" Nigredo's gaze was already sweeping over. Since she was here, she would have to meet her sooner or later!
She decided to go for it! If she could handle the two perverts, Shalltear and Albedo, then adding Nigredo… shouldn't be a big deal, right? Probably…
With newfound determination, Iri poked her head out from behind Albedo again.
"Hello, Aunt Nigredo, nice to meet you… I am Elizabeth… yo!" Iri mustered her courage to greet Nigredo, though her voice trembled involuntarily.
"Li… Little Iri-chan… came to see me… Heh heh! Heh heh… Come, come, let Auntie have a good look." Nigredo slowly raised her hand and beckoned to Iri. Nigredo was standing in front of Iri, yet her voice came from behind Iri, making Iri feel as if someone was behind her, sending shivers down her spine.
"Sister Nigredo!" Albedo immediately turned around and hugged Iri tightly, as if afraid Nigredo would do something bad to Iri. Although Nigredo looked terrifying, you're going too far, Albedo. She's your sister!
"Mama Albedo, I'm fine. Can you let me go first? I have something to say to Aunt Nigredo," Iri said, trying to break free from Albedo. But after all, Albedo was a large gorilla… Iri's symbolic struggle was completely useless.
"Be good… Little Yi, Nigredo isn't what you imagine…" Before Albedo could finish her sentence, Iri felt another chill down her back.
"What about me? My sister… I just want to see my niece… What's wrong? What's wrong with me?" The voice came from behind again.
Iri turned her head to look and saw Nigredo truly behind her, her terrifying face incredibly close.
Although covered by hair, Nigredo's eyeless eyeballs were clearly visible, staring intently at her.
Gah! You scared me to death! Can you teleport?! Nigredo! Iri doesn't have Ainz's forced calm; anyone, no matter how thick-skinned, would be startled by this, and Iri was no exception.
"Sister Nigredo! I warn you! If you scare Little Yi like that again! I will ask Lord Ainz to forbid you from monitoring Little Yi!"
"Mm…" Nigredo immediately behaved, then vanished from Iri's sight in a flash. Iri turned her head to look, and Nigredo was still standing in her original spot… So what was that Nigredo behind her just now?
Nigredo's special skill? Isn't Nigredo specialized in intelligence? Can she also use illusion-type skills?
Hmm? Wait a minute? What did Albedo just say? Forbid Nigredo from monitoring her? Does that mean?
Uh… Nigredo had been monitoring her all along! Iri just realized that sometimes when she activated her senses, she did feel an uncomfortable sensation like a prickling on her back. Because it happened too many times, she had gradually stopped paying attention to it. It turned out to be Nigredo's ultra-long-distance surveillance!
It was then that Iri noticed that the clothes on the "Little Yi" dolls in the room were almost all clothes she had worn before.
There were princess dress versions, Adventurers versions, all sorts of styles that Iri had worn out. Even the "battle-damaged" version, which she used to trick the Blood Emperor into wrapping her in bandages, was there. This was too much!
Hmm? The "Little Yi" doll Nigredo was holding earlier was now on the table. Wasn't that the Irubyue cosplay outfit from this morning?
This… this means Nigredo was monitoring her at all times! How terrifying! How terrifying!
This person was truly too frightening! It was then that Iri finally understood Albedo's reason for saying Nigredo had mental problems and didn't want Iri to come see her when they were on their way.
How is this just a little problem? It's a huge problem! Your level of perversion is no less than Albedo's!
Truly, like sister, like sister! It seems their sister, Belud, is probably also mentally unsound. Emerald Tablet, you've designed all your daughters to be perverts!
Fear aside, the matter to be requested still needed to be clearly stated. Since she was already here, Iri thought, and after adjusting her mindset, she spoke to Nigredo again.
"Aunt Nigredo, I have something I'd like to ask of you. Mama Albedo told me that you are the most skilled in intelligence and surveillance in Nazarick, so… I asked Mama Albedo to come and bother you," Iri said.
Although she was a pervert, Nigredo's abilities couldn't be denied. She had been monitoring her for so long without Iri noticing. Astrology Thousand Miles's surveillance level was truly far inferior to Nigredo's. If she could build a good relationship with her, it would definitely be very useful in the future.
"Not… not bothering at all. I… am very… looking forward to seeing Little Iri-chan with my own eyes. Not bothering at all…" Nigredo said excitedly, then slowly, step by step, dragged her zombie-like body towards Iri, extending her hand as if to touch Iri.
"Sister!" Albedo once again stood in front of Iri, preventing Nigredo from touching Iri. Hey, hey! This is too much, Albedo.
"Mama Albedo, it's alright. She's my aunt; she won't do anything to me, will she? Can you please be quiet for a moment?" Iri said with a dignified and slightly displeased tone, then stood in front of Nigredo.
"Wuwu… Little Yi has grown up, she's becoming more and more like Lord Ainz." Albedo said something of unclear meaning and obediently moved aside.
"Mm… Li… Little Iri-chan, are you… not afraid of me…?" Nigredo asked timidly.
To be honest, she was very scared… but not of her appearance, but of other aspects. After all, she was a peeping tom pervert… who wouldn't be afraid!
"No, I'm not afraid of Aunt Nigredo," Iri said, then actively extended her hand and held Nigredo's hand. So cold… completely devoid of body heat.
"Wuwu… Little Iri-chan isn't afraid of me… Heh…" Nigredo's demeanor suddenly became strange, crying and laughing at the same time. Well… after all, she was a character designed according to horror film tropes, so her erratic behavior was probably normal!
"Then, Aunt Nigredo, can I ask you to do something for me?" Iri asked, wanting to get to the main point first.
"Mm! Mm!" Nigredo immediately nodded vigorously, indicating her willingness. To some extent, Nigredo being an "Iri" fanatic was also quite good, making it easier to ask her for favors.
"Aunt Nigredo, can you help me find this person?" Iri described the appearance of Tia of Blue Rose and briefly explained how Tia had been monitoring Theocracy and the Black Scripture, and had lost contact.
However, Iri was still quite worried that Nigredo wouldn't be able to find Tia, after all, the twin sisters looked exactly alike. When the two stood together, Iri had no idea who was who.
"I know… The ninja of Blue Rose, Little Iri-chan wants to find the one who was frozen to death by Little Iri-chan and then revived, right? I'll help Little Iri-chan look for her right away." Nigredo agreed quite readily.
Iri no longer wanted to dwell on why Nigredo knew that the Tia she was looking for had been frozen into an ice sculpture by her and then revived. If possible, Iri truly wanted to cover her face and run away now… For Nigredo, Iri truly had no secrets left.
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