Yo yo yo.
Long time no head caanon.
Ziggy-desu. People were talking about the final volumes again. In particular it was the final 3 volume arcs. Mainly it was a "Elves - Slaine " double parter discussion. It's a really common idea for Slaine to follow right after Volume 15... When pushed to explain why: people bring up Draconic is getting axed. See above about the seal scene and recall Maru's various comments about cutting arcs. Ziggy doesn't like this idea. Rather, it feels like Maruyama is building up to Draconic to come after the Elf volume.
Today Ziggy, the absolute mad lad will ramble about why he's delusional! First statement: Draconic Kingdom approving Ainz's invasion of Re Estize is NOT an indicator it's getting skipped. Hear me out: Between a nation that gave mlitary and relief aid to a nation that suffered demihuman invasions and one that does not, which would you side with in a feud if you were a nation of similar conditions as that victim nation? Especially after an allegation the "aggressor" nation pilfered supplies from the "military and relief" dire strait country's humanitarian aid? And also the "pilfering" nation has a history of allegations of smuggling drugs (8 Fingers and government collusion suspciions) and public disorder and nobles abusing priviledges?
Ziggy proposes Draconic was siding with Ainz not because of an offscreened arc but for diplomatic reasons. It's already common knowledge Ainz soloed the Re Estize army and even dueled Gazef and won. Ainz going off to save Roble isn't strange if he's some super strong being, on the level of a Dragon Lord if he can wipe an army of 100 000-plus alone. Draudillion actually knows of beings of such power: her great grand father and PDL at least. She'd understand at least super strong people are not intrinsically incapable of forming diplomatic ties with. In terms of logic and future opportunties to beg for aid, isn't it obvious to let Re Estize fend for themself? It's not like they ever gave aid to Draconic in it's time of need and annihilation like Slaine at least. Most importantly though, Roble's status as being destitute and suffering from a demihuman invasion is important. Draconic is already undergoing similar events and if Ainz would aid them, it was possible Draconic may receive similar aid depending on the circumstances. Siding with the Sorcerer's Kingdom is an investment for potential aid. Re Estize's innocence doesn't really matter: they're bound to lose once Ainz targeted them and so why not take the winning side and also build good will for a future favor?
A heavy silence descended upon the room as she contemplated the statewhich the Draconic Kingdom was in.“The Beastman invasion this time is different, isn’t it?”“Indeed. Given the size of their forces, their aims cannot possibly be as pettyas before. I am certain that they aim to conquer our nation. They must havefinally made up their minds to build a livestock pen.”There was a Beastman Nation near the Draconic Kingdom. In the past, they seemed to consider this place a self-replenishing feedingground, and they had never launched an all-out invasion. However, for somereason, they had done so this time round, and three cities had already fallen tothem. “Currently, adventurers led by adamantite-ranked adventurers have barelymanaged to push back the enemy, but they are simply too numerous. Theycannot stop the invaders if they split up into several tribe-sized elements....Perhaps we must gather all the people to the capital and starve the enemy outof food, but we will probably run out first.”“What a headache. The future’s nothing but darkness.”“Alternatively, we could dispatch a hand-picked force to launch adecapitation strike at the enemy. However, if it is handled poorly, we mightsimply agitate them for nothing, but if we cannot stop the invasion, we mightbe forced to resort to it.” “...If we had the money, we could hire Optics. Speaking of which, what’s theTheocracy doing?”“That, nobody knows.”“Don’t we donate large sums to them every year? Usually, they ought to havecome to help us by now, right? It’s not like I want them to send out the BlackScripture, but they haven’t even sent out the Sunlight Scripture.”The Theocracy had always sent their troops to aid the Draconic Kingdom insecret. The reason why it was a secret was probably because she was its leader.“So this is our retribution for entrusting our national defense to anothercountry. What a tragedy.” “If the Theocracy’s abandoned us... ah yes, why not ask the Empire for help?If our country is wiped out, the Empire will be next, right?”“There is still the Katze Plains between them, so it will not be the Empire’sturn right away. They might also detour around the lake to attack theTheocracy.”“...True, I doubt they’re brave enough to charge into a place where theundead appearen masse.”Incidentally, both of them had skipped over the Wyvern-controlling tribesalong the way.“It’s not that they’re not brave, but that the undead are inedible, so there’sno point conquering that place. Only fellow undead would be happy to take aplace like that. Besides, the Empire ought to be busy too, right? Their yearlywar is about to take place.”“Seems a little late this year.”“Yes, by about half a year. Some ridiculous magic caster made a declaration.Do you wish to read it?”“Ahh, who cares about other countries! Enough of that, saving our country’sthe important thing!” “A last resort, hm? I hope that day never comes. Then, I shall attempt torequest aid from the Theocracy.” [V9]
“What about asking the retired members of the Black Scripture for help?That way we can restore our fighting strength, no, maintain our vigilance. Wecan send them to the Draconic Kingdom as reinforcements. The chances ofthem dying are very low.” [V10]
Still, it’s hardly unusual for the Pleiades to go outside for their work. Thefact that the maid demons are now the Sorcerer King’s minions has spreadfrom the Holy Kingdom to the other nations by now. [V13]
The topic of this meeting was something that was delivered to them days agoby an envoy from the Sorcerous Kingdom, an ofβicial document that bore theroyal seal of the Sorcerous Kingdom. The content of the document reads,“Agrain convoy meant to serve as humanitarian aid from the Sorcerous Kingdomto the Holy Kingdom had been taken by force by a citizen of the Kingdom. Wedeem it a hostile action against the Sorcerous Kingdom and hereby declarewar on your country.”The document also bore the seals of other countries that approved of the Sor cerous Kingdom’s actions.As of now, the envoy was staying within the capital, waiting to deliver the King-dom’s response letter back. Given that this was an ofβicial communication be-tween countries through documents, it would not have been unusual to givethe other side a week or two to respond. I’m terribly sorry, because we have had to investigate two of the six seals onthe document from the envoy, it took us quite a bit of time.”The one who had lowered his head was the minister of foreign affairs, whowas also the minister of seals and was in charge of the investigation over theseals approving of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s decision.“The ones we were certain of before were the four from the Sorcerous King-dom, the Empire, the Draconic Kingdom, and the Holy Kingdom, correct?” Has the Draconic Kingdom also bent their knees to the Sorcerous Kingdom?”“We can’t be certain, your Majesty, because we have yet to receive intel onwhat had happened in the Draconic Kingdom. Perhaps they had fallen prey tosome honeyed words or perhaps they simply felt that there was more to gainby siding with the Sorcerous Kingdom than siding with us.”The DragonicKingdom was probably only endorsing the Sorcerous Kingdom’sactions and was not participating in the war itself. [V14]Second Statement: Ainz in Volume 14 never mentions traces of a Draconic Arc in terms of Wild Magic acquired intel, national ties, etc The most obvious scene is when Ainz sees Riku use a ability that uses HP not MP with strange properies. If Ainz had met the Queen of the Draconic Kingdom (a living user of Wild Magic) and or spoke to Fluder or consulted his notes on various foreign nations before going, surely Draudillion's Wild magic would of come up. It's already noted by scholars of magic to be readily distinct from Tier Magic at least. It already came up in Volume 9 from Fluder already and Ainz had Fluder share all his geopolitical knowledge. Yet even in the big group post Riku figt no one brings up weird Ancient Magic as a possible origin of his power. This comes contingent on the idea Fluder couldn't shut up about it.
“That is a fact. Among the 5th-tier divine spells, the resurrection magicRaiseDeadconsumes vast quantities of life force. Perhaps higher-tiered resurrectionspells might reduce the amount of life force that is lost... but nobody can usethose, so that is merely academic. Then again, I have heard that the DragonLords and their ancient magic could return the dead to life without the loss ofany life force―”“―Then, could the Queen of the Draconic Kingdom achieve such feats?”“An excellent question, Vermillion. Indeed, that country’s queen has beenconfirmed to have inherited the ability to use what we call ancient magic, orprimal magic, or perhaps the magic of the soul. There are many names for thatsort of magic. This is because the blood of the Brightness Dragon Lord flowswithin her veins ― that is known. However, whether or not she can useresurrection magic remains to be seen. Ancient magic and our current style ofmagic are completely different from each other, and we who can only usemodern magic may never be able to understand it.” [V9]
“First, how is the matter that I as―”He changed his mind halfway through the word “asked”.“―that Iorderedyou to handle? That is to say, making a written record ofthe Empire’s information on the various countries? [V10]Then again Ainz learned about a Wild Magic Talent early on but never focused on it without a notable example user post V3.
Much like martial arts, talents were abilities that did not exist inYggdrasilbut which were unique to this world. About one in every two hundred peoplewas born with a talent. While talent-holders were not rare, the abilitiesthemselves varied greatly in potency and type.For instance, there were talents like being able to predict tomorrow’sweather with seventy percent accuracy, the ability to strengthen summonedmonsters, hastening the harvest by several days, using the magic of the dragonswhich once ruled this world, and so on. [V2]
I can’t be sure just yet... judging from the information supplied by theSunlight Scripture and my own experience with this sort of thing, I’m certainthis is some form of mind control. Of course, I don’t know how or why theundead Shalltear was controlled. Could this be the result of some phenomenonunique to this world?” [V3]You could argue Ainz doesn't end up reading the report from Fluder or Draudillion hides her ability or heritage. Doesn't explain why none of the NPCs who should of read the report didn't mention it at the discussion about Riku's abilities. Maybe Maruyama just forgot? As you can tell Ziggy doesn't buy that idea though. Third Statement: We hear about Draconic's situation not improving
Though it might be easy for them as an adventuring party to escape, the leaderof the party would still have to consider various scenarios.ThreecountriesneighbouredtheKingdomotherthantheSorcerousKingdom:the Council State, the Holy Kingdom, and the Empire.By the process of elimination, all that was left was the Council State since theHoly Kingdom appeared to be friendly to the Sorcerous Kingdom and the Em-pire was its vassal. An advantage of choosing the Council State was that itwas relatively close to where they were, but other than that, their optionswereprobablytheCityStateAllianceortheTheocracy. TheDraconicKingdomwasn’t doing so great the last she heard and the other countries have humansin the minorities. [V14]That can be argued to be out of date information since even Re Estize's higher ups do not seem to be aware of any notable Draconic intel. As far as we can perceive though, Draconic is not publicly aligned with Ainz outside of the seal on the War Declaration; neither Nazarick nor anyone in the Kingdom bring up any news of an international alliance or relationship between the two. Not concrete proof, but the fact Draconic seal warranted a notable response implies it's not the status quo, presumably. So right now as of Volume 15, it doesn't appear the Draconic Kingdom arc was offscreened. Maruyama could just focus on wrapping up Slaine, but Volume 14 reinforces the idea we may yet see a Draconic arc in my opinion. ==== Now, using sequences of events let's examine what may happen: Ainz goes to the Elven Kingdom with the twins Twins have heterochromia Notable/legitmate Elven Royalty possess heterochromia (presumably) Slaine was at war with the Elven Kingdom (given Elven slavery, probably since before Ainz came) Slaine wanted permission to deploy Zesshi with no consequences Volume 15 is titled "The Half Elf Godkin"
The Dark Elf nervously lowered her head and advanced toward Igvarge.It was then that Igvarge realized her outfit was quite exceptional. Both herclothes and armor were masterfully made, of the sort which Igvarge himselfwould not be able to acquire. In addition, her eyes — the memory of somethingan Elf friend of his had once said surfaced hazily in his mind [V3]
The Republic was very strong.To be precise, the danger lay with one of the councilors of the Republic, thePlatinum Dragon Lord, child of the Dragon Emperor. If they did battle withhim, the mightiest of the Dragon Lords, they ran the risk of their country beingreduced to scorched earth. [V10]
“Yes. We need to avoid opening up two fronts at the same time.”At this moment, the hostility in the room seemed to swell.“Those filthy traitors.”“Those bastard elves.”The Theocracy was currently at war with the Elves of the Great SouthernForest. Originally, the Theocracy and the elves had a cooperative relationship.But that relationship had been broken, and the Theocracy was now fighting theElves with their own power.They had built a forward base at Crescent Lake, seat of the Elven Capital.According to the plan, the Capital should have been destroyed in a few years,but that plan was slowly going off-script. [V10]
Still, if we deploy that girl, that Dragon Lord might respond in kind.”“The power of the gods, Downfall of Castle and Country, will probably not work on that fellow who can use wild magic, unlike with the Catastrophe Dragon Lord. How about using it on the Sorcerer King?” ... “It can’t be helped. Should we send a messenger to talk with that DragonLord about the Elves?”“Who knows what they’ll ask for?”“Let’s just accept if the request isn’t too unreasonable. After all, it’s for thepeace of that girl’s soul.” [V10]
“The Theocracy is building a field camp nearby. If this carries on, they willattack our Royal Capital in the coming years.” [V11]
Someday, he would use an army of his mighty children to encompass theworld.He walked back into the room, imagining the glorious future that wouldsoon dawn. Facing him was a full-length mirror which reflected his image.It was that of an Elf whose eyes had mismatched colors. [V11]
After he completes a certain amount of work, he should take those children tothe Elven nation to make some friends.Ainz stood up and walked out of the room with that plan βirmly set in his heart. [V14]Given the Council State didn't condone (orendorse) Re Estize's invasion and Tsa being against "going too far", we can extrapolate a few facets. [see lack of Agrande Council seal on war declaration document V14]
”I did not mean to clash with Your Excellency. This whole thing started be-cause the Kingdom stole the grain that was meant as food aid to the HolyKingdom. Between them and us, the greater evil should be obvious. Whatdoes Your Excellency think? That we were the greater evil!?””...You went too far. There had to be better ways to deal with that.” ... ”Although the root of every wrong could be traced back to us, I will not seekforgiveness for that. I cannot allow you to continue on your current path ofdestruction. That is why - Perish.” [V14]
First, Slaine and Agrande are not publicly supporting Ainz's actions.
Slaine not using Zesshi is probably a reservation against drawing Tsa's intention to step in for some reason (to help a former 13 Hero memeber(WN), to stop a Player descendant reltaed massacre, 'going too far' etc). Assuming the Elven Kingdom isn't already wiped out when Ainz gets there, Zesshi getting deployed there right after Re Estize's ruination implies Slaine only got permission recently, probably in part due to PDL/Riku's fight with Ainz. At least we can try to explain the time lag that way. PDL conveying a distaste for massacres and abuses of power would also explain Slaine's reluctance to deploy Godkin openly and quickly. It's fair to say if Slaine's regular army and non Black Scripture elements can push the Elven Kingdom back, a mobilized Zesshi alongside the same military is going to make short work of the same forces. We can assume then Zesshi probably wasn't mobilized for long as of Volume 15 using a logical argument given how strong Panda Bear Oreo Cookie probably is (at least above the Captain and Agrande's regular Dragon Lords by the twitter level list).
Now here is why this is relevant: no matter how Volume 15 ends, I suspect Slaine will pull it's aid from the Draconic Kingdom. Will it because Ainz annexes the Elven Kingdom? Ainz wiped out Slaine's army? Who knows. From a narrative standpoint, many events feel like set up for tis story beat. Draconic's military issues, Slaine lagging in sending aid due to pressure from Ainz after Katze and the loss of Nigun's unit, Ainz annexing Abelion, Ainz's "appear friendly" foreign policy finally bearing fruit in a nation actively seeking a friendly relationship without Ainz going there first. The gag being Ainz accidentally surrounds Slaine by just trying to get away from work. So Slaine's indoctrinated propaganda of instilling fear of being surrounded comes true.
The basic tenet of the Theocracy was that humanity was chosen by the gods,and all other races had to be exterminated.Thus, they inculcated an attitude in the people that they were surrounded byenemies and that they had no choice but to work together. This was the onlyway they could focus their national power and become a strong country.However, if they became neighbors with the Republic, there was a chance thattheir philosophy might lead them in a dangerous direction.Everyone here understood that they could only plan the future of the SlaineTheocracy by knowing the strength of their country, those of the othercountries, and which matters to prioritize. However, the common folk wouldshout for war with the Republic in order to destroy the enemies of mankind. [V10]Maybe I'm just delusional...but: 1.) Ainz already conveyed an interest in military contracting or exporting undead. For vassals or friendly nations at least.
So the number of adventurers had gone down because the number ofrequests had gone down as well.The cause of that was Ainz.Ainz had used his own military forces ― the Death Knights ― to patrol thestreets and maintain the internal security of the Sorcerer Kingdom. In the end,it caused people to flee the threat of those monsters.He considered that if they kept up their patrols, people like adventurersmight completely cease to exist.He would need to prepare requests for them in order to keep them around― no, there was no need to keep the adventurers around.Anything adventurers could do, Death Knights could do better ― thoughthey might have difficulty with certain tasks, like picking herbs. But in thatcase, all he had to do was to rent the Death Knights out to herbalists asbodyguards.Ainz still could not think of any uses for adventurers. [V10]
“After capturing the Quagoa who invaded Feo Raizo, I learned of their plans to attack this place. If you have no faith in your strength of arms, then I — myKingdom — will gladly render assistance. Yes, that’s right — it will be a goodshow of friendship.” [V11]
“But do you not command legions of the undead, Your Majesty?”“Huhuhu,” the Sorcerer King laughed quietly. “It would seem you ladies andgentlemen of the Holy Kingdom have seen my undead forces and deemed themquite satisfactory. Then, will you not accept a loan of these undead troops inplace of Momon? I trust you have all seen that all the undead I command arequite potent. They ought to be able to eliminate mere demi-humans.” [V12]
“Still, it’s not like I don’t understand why they’re so resistant to lettinganother country handle our national defense.”“Don’t complain about that to me, tell Albedo-sama. Also, didn’t we alreadysay that we weren’t entrusting everything to them?”This came from Prime Minister Albedo’s instructions to supplement theEmpire’s military manpower with the Sorcerous Kingdom’s undead armies.Jircniv believed that this was part of the program to complete thevassalization process, and so he obeyed it. He planned to let some of theknights retire and disbanded two of the Empire’s eight legions [V13]
If I were to lower their rental costs and raise them in the future, no one wouldrent from us again. Plus I don’t want to cut prices directly ...Should I create arewards system? The Empire rented quite a lot of Death Cavaliers from us, sowe should probably focus on marketing to nations directly...but... [V14]2.) Ainz aims on exploiting opprutunities Nazarick's profit.
I hope they don’t retreat just yet. If they build a camp, it’ll mean the danger is stillclear and present. That way, the Dwarven nation will have to work with us. I shouldorder the Death Knights to hold back for now... it’s quite troublesome when you can’twin by too large a margin. [V11]
“That is hard to say. Given the size of the enemy force, we don’t know whenthe opposition will begin their advance in earnest. Once we take the bridgeback, we’ll need to solidify our defenses, investigate their flanking route, andplan a strategy against them.”Ainz smiled evilly within his heart.It looked like there would be many chances to sell this country favors in thefuture. That being the case, it might be best not to change his Death Knights’orders to retake the bridge. [V11]
Ainz had originally hoped that the war between the Quagoa and the Dwarveswould go on.With the obvious enemy of the Quagoa before them, the Dwarves might wellchoose to flock to Ainz’s banner. However, leaving the Quagoa alone — givingthem too much time — would be very dangerous.If they were a race that habitually spawned powerful individuals, then whilethey might only have slain Death Knights now, who knew what else they woulddestroy in the future? Right now — while he could still deal with them — thebest thing to would be to either enslave them or annihilate them completely.The latter might well be the better course of action.Ideally, I would be able to subjugate the Quagoa and have them threaten theDwarves from the shadows, but... A single misstep might lead to a fatal error. Itwould be safer not to do that. [V11]
According to Demiurge, if they formed a defensive line at this city, theywould attack until there were eighty five percent casualties.Ainz had no idea what he was talking about.Since Demiurge felt it ought to be this way, then it should be a better answerthan anything Ainz came up with. If all those deaths brought benefits toNazarick, then let them die. Rather, Ainz would think about whether killingmore would bring even more benefits to Nazarick and such things [V12]3.) Ainz trying to improve his PR
Ainz pondered the matter further.Led by Demiurge and Albedo, the Guardians were proceeding with theirobjective of world domination. Ainz could not completely deny their point.After all, this could spread their name to his comrades.However, would it not be better to spread that name through means otherthan ruling through force? By letting the Sorcerer Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gownbe known as a utopia, they could make many people choose to bend the kneeand submit to his rule for that sweet, honey-like promise.It was like using sugar and a whip.If Demiurge and Albedo were the whip, then Ainz would be the sugar.What a great idea.. [V10]
Now that they had to vassalize the country which they appeared to have hadthe best relations with, their name would live in infamy if they ended upwaging war on the Dwarves as well.Therefore, they had to do their best to sign a treaty of friendship with theDwarves. This way, they could show the nearby countries that the SorcerersKingdom was an entity which could abide by pacts and agreements. This wouldalso give them the moral high ground and allow them to limit the actionswhich could be taken by any players hiding out there.What would players do if they were wary of the Sorcerers Kingdom? The most likely outcome was that they would deem the Sorcerers Kingdoman evil empire, and use that as a rallying cry to make war on them.On the flip side, what would they do if they heard that the SorcerersKingdom had signed a treaty of friendship with the Dwarven Kingdom, like aproper, decent nation?Some people might think that it was signed under duress or that it wasgunboat diplomacy. However, on the surface it would appear to be a fair andnormal treaty.Hypothetically speaking, if a player decided to wage war on the SorcerersKingdom, that player would certainly invite entities on his level — most likelyother players — to join him in his crusade. However, some of these peoplemight think of the Sorcerers Kingdom as a decent nation. These war-aversepeople might cite the Dwarven treaty as a reason to stay out of the conflict.Granted, this was a presumptuous conjecture, but he might even be able tostrike while the foe was in disunity and defeat them, whereupon the bombshellof “That’s why I didn’t want to fight” would go off and tear the enemy apart.This was the reason why he wanted to place himself on the moral highground.After all, the only thing Ainz feared was a group of players, not just one ortwo other players.It was true that players with World-Class Items were fearsome, and so wereplayers with very powerful classes, like World Champion. That said, if theywere alone, they would not be able to defeat Nazarick without using one of theTwenty. [V11]
“─That being the case, things like spreading the undead around must surelybe to encourage the other nations to rely on you rather than viewing our troops as dangerous elements, Ainz-sama. That must be the right answer forsomeone who views the world from such a wide angle. Still... how fearsome youare... [V11]
“...Why are you being so kind to us?”This was the first time Dyel had cast aside his preconceived notions. Neiacould feel him looking at the Sorcerer King himself.“Fufu... I wish to defeat Jaldabaoth. Therefore, the demi-humans under himare quite troublesome. Having you go back to your villages is also a way oferoding his power.”“What do you mean?”“Unlike Jaldabaoth, I am a merciful king. If you spread the word for me, thatwill surely cause unrest throughout his forces, and there might even be thosewho decide to turn coat and support us, don’t you think?” “However, don’t you think that’ll be difficult? Many of Jaldabaoth’s vassalsare bloodthirsty maniacs. Even if we spread the word in our villages, it wouldnot have much effect.”“That’s fine too. I intend to use everything I can use. And if Jaldabaothcarries out a reign of terror, there might be demi-humans who will betray himtoo. Mm, speaking of which, will you not help me fight Jaldabaoth?” [V12]
“Now then, after this, I will provide the rations you will need until youreturn to your villages. In addition, I will supply soldiers to defend you.Returning home safely with those bodies of yours will require much time andeffort.”“You would go this far for us?”“Of course I would. Do weep and wail at great length about the generosityand magnanimity of the Sorcerers Kingdom and spread my name. [V12]
It is a fact that the Sorcerer King stepped forward by himself to offer aid to a country which was neither an ally nor one that was friendly to him. If wedisregard the fact that he is undead... those actions would qualify as heroic.” [V13]
Perhaps things might have ended the same if Momon had come. The shockwould simply not have been as great as the impact which the Sorcerer Kingmade. A king conquering a city by himself is an incredibly striking image. Thefact that said king is one of the undead who are our nation’s sworn enemies isalso a big factor in this.”In other words, a villain doing a good thing had a greater impact than anaverage person doing the same thing. [V13]
Neia looked upon the demihuman army that was sprawled outside the city.There were well over 30,000 demihumans there, but the pressure of lookingdirectly at them made them feel more numerous than they actually were.Neia could understand why anyone would wish for the aid of theoverwhelmingly powerful Sorcerer King in the face of such a force. That wasbecause Neia had once felt the same way too. [V13]
What would the Sorcerer King do under these circumstances?Would he give a grand, spirited speech to heighten their will to fight? Orwould he laugh it off?Neia had no idea what heroic actions he would take. Still, even if she knew,she could not emulate him. After all, she was completely different from theSorcerer King, who was both a hero and a king. [V13]
Once Ainz made his move, victory was all too easy. After wiping out thedemihumans attacking the city and finishing a couple of other things, Ainzreturned to his own room.One of those things was to show his face at Caspond’s chambers and ask himfor some minor favors in the future. The long and short of it was that aftertrampling the demihuman encampment underfoot, he had no issue with givingthem the leftover rations and everything else ― magic items excepted.Since Ainz had devastated the demihuman camp by himself, then the spoilsfrom the demihumans should have rightfully belonged to him. Dumping theminto the Exchange Box would have yielded quite a tidy sum. However, if hemonopolized it all, the goodwill he had so painstakingly built up might end uplosing its value. That being the case, he ought to write it off as an investmentand give it all to the Holy Kingdom. [V13]
“Umu. I had intended to see if the transportation of logs was going well...Are you busy with practice, Miss Baraja? If you don’t mind, would you like toaccompany me?”In order to solve the lack of fuel and housing, they were using the SorcererKing’s undead horses to transport logs from a distant forest. Initially, manypeople had been averse to using undead horses for transport, but now therewas a steady stream of praise for the merits of these undead horses. [V13]
“...This time round, that sturdy fortress line was broken, and thedemihumans rushed in like an avalanche. Will such a tragedy only happenonce? Does anyone believe it will not happen a second time?” “I fully understand how uneasy you are. Perhaps our generation and that ofeveryone’s children might be able to rest at ease. After all, the tragedy that justoccurred will spur us on to unceasing vigilance... However!” “Can anyone guarantee that such a tragedy will not repeat itself in thegeneration of our grandchildren, or our grandchildren’s grandchildren? Doesanyone dare say it will never happen again since it happened before!? That iswhy we must prepare, so the fortress will line never be breached again! “I trust there are people who served in the fortresses during yourconscription. Then I ask you to search your memories. If the daily expensesand stores consumed back then were tripled, do you not think it would greatlystrain the nation? At that time, do you think a country that only knows of thattragedy from memory will remain vigilant?” “—That is why we need the protection of His Majesty!” “I am saying this precisely because he is undead. His Majesty is powerful, butmore importantly, he is undead, and so in that far distant future, he will still bealive — still exist.” [V13]
The result was delayed aid for the people of the north, some could not evenreliably acquire food.TheirsavinggracewasthegrainprovidedbytheSorcerousKingdom,thegrainthat was being shipped from the Kingdom’s warehouses to the Holy Kingdomthrough land and sea routes.An absolutely brilliant plan, Zanac thought.In such dire straits, they had no time for scruples about where the food camefrom, even if it was from one of the undead.“If it were us providing the food aid instead, the goodwill that the SorcererKing has been receiving would have undoubtedly been ours. But ...there’s noway we could do that in these conditions.”What if that battle never happened?No,atthebareminimum,ifJaldabaothhadnotplunderedallkindsofresourcesduring the chaos in the royal capital they would at least be in a better positionthan they were now. If they had been the ones to provide the Holy Kingdomwith food aid, there would be no way that undead’s reputation would be asgood as it is now. [V14]
Hm, normally this is how things would go ...the Sorcerous Kingdom has beenproviding aid to the Northern Holy Kingdom, if all went according to theirplans, they would have an easily manipulated country in their hands. Shouldwe try to contact the south?”If it was the Northern Holy Kingdom that was maintaining amicable relationswith the Sorcerous Kingdom, then the south must view the Sorcerous King-dom as their enemy. If the Kingdom were to form an alliance with the south,it was possible they could contain the Sorcerous Kingdom’s efforts somewhat. [V14]
Still, I βind it hard to believe that the Empire would actually import goodsfrom the Sorcerous Kingdom.”“...Well that was an awkward way to change the topic, not that I mind ...hm,those things aren’t that bad for a vassal state like the Empire, right?”The most exported goods from the Sorcerous Kingdom to the Empire in termsof the revenue they generated were undead creatures. Apparently they weredistinguished by categories such as menial labor, military service, cargo trans-portation, and so on.“Oy oy, we’re talking about the undead remember? The enemy of the living?”“Buttheydon’trequiresustenanceanddon’tgettired. Franklyspeaking,they’rethe best kind of worker you could hope for. You’re correct in thinking that im-porting the Sorcerer King’s undead into our country would be risky since itwould essentially be us allowing another nation’s soldiers onto our own soil.But on the other hand, it’s also a gesture to the Sorcerous Kingdom that itsvassal does not have anything to hide from them. They’re basically handingthe other end of the leash they’ve placed on themselves over to the SorcerousKingdom. [V14]
Ziggy's view is Draconic is probably meant to illustrate the first nation to actively come to Ainz for aid and friendly iplomacy, rather than Ainz / Nazarick orchestrating a work or going over first. The impetus being Slaine relieves it's Former Black Scripture aid. Draconic, probably betting on Slaine's strange provision of aid being delayed gambled on forming diplomatic ties with Ainz in the event some event occurred to be on their own again. Because the Empire was a vassal state, even if Draconic goes to them, it'll still be like asking Ainz as they are his vassals now. If Slaine doesn't aid them, there is literally no other nearby nation to give aid.
That would explain why there being no hints of a forgotten Draconic arc but they approved of Re eStize's massacre/war. Ainz had already proven to be able to easily wipe their armies out. Unlike the nearby Agrande and Elven nations, Ainz actually goes out and doesstuff and provides public aid to nations in difficulty. Despite being of Dragon Lord Descent, Draconic doesn't appear to evenconsider going to Tsa for help. Most likely due to his desire to be on the look out for Players and not expending resources. Perhaps only possessing a Southern border (an area described as lacking much humanity) leads to the events of the final arc.
Maybe Slaine's populace not realizing the threat of the Sorcerer's Kingdom act on their own. Or Slaine, being forced to censor their own people as Ainz takes up more and more land leads to internal issues. There was already military corruption and even the Sunlight Scripture tended to draw on only the most devout before Ainz came, as well as differences in faith. The fact salaries drop off to discourage greed would suggest families with too much influence do exist too. Belius is a good example of one.
....Captain Belius.Londes’s frown deepened.Overcome by his lewd desires, he had tried to rape a village girl and thensought help from others after he got into a fight with her father. After he was pulled off the other man, he vented his anger by stabbing the father with hissword. That was the kind of man he was. However, his family was quite wealthy in their country, and he had joined this unit because of his family’s riches. Everything had gone wrong because he had been made their leader. [V1]
“Offer up your faith to the gods.”Everyone began their silent prayers, a shortened version of their usual praiseto their gods.They had to spend time in prayer even when operating in another country.This was not complacency on their part, but a symbol of their faith in theirgods.These men who offered everything to the Slaine Theocracy and the godsthey revered were far more devout than the average citizen of the Theocracy.This was why they could perform cruel acts without the slightest bit ofhesitation, and why they felt no guilt for doing so. [V1]
The basic tenet of the Theocracy was that humanity was chosen by the gods,and all other races had to be exterminated.Thus, they inculcated an attitude in the people that they were surrounded byenemies and that they had no choice but to work together. This was the onlyway they could focus their national power and become a strong country.However, if they became neighbors with the Republic, there was a chance thattheir philosophy might lead them in a dangerous direction.Everyone here understood that they could only plan the future of the SlaineTheocracy by knowing the strength of their country, those of the othercountries, and which matters to prioritize. However, the common folk wouldshout for war with the Republic in order to destroy the enemies of mankind.That would be disastrous. ... Of course, everyone here could easily quash such resentment through force,but that would produce backlashes that would weaken their national power. Inaddition, they could not deny that a war might break out in the future. [V10]
“By hair do you mean the fur on the head? It was light black.”“Black? So it doesn’t belong to someone from the Holy Kingdom?”Neia’s heart was somewhat at ease. For a moment, she had wondered if thehead belonged to the Holy Queen. Now that her guess had been proven wrong,she felt a sense of profound relief. At the same time, Neia noted that this mightbe a hint to another riddle.She had heard that humans from the southern regions generally had blackhair.So that’s it,Neia thought.Had Jaldabaoth come from there,she wondered.To the Holy Kingdom, the southern regions were not a land that was ruledby humans. Less than half the population was human, and many of those hadthe blood of other species, and that number was steadily increasing. Accordingto what Neia knew, only the Holy Kingdom, the Empire, and the Kingdom wereruled by human royalty. The City-State Alliance and the Theocracy did nothave royal families.So that was why no news about Jaldabaoth had reached these human-dominated countries. [V13]Ziggy doesn't know if it will end in mass murder or a civil war like the Web Novel was leading toward. Maybe Agrande gets destroyed instead and Slaine just gets offscreened. I doubt it but you never know. Hopefully I've illustrated why in universe and in writing why it doesn't appear Draconic will get skipped. The Queen's got to spill the beans about Downfall to Ainz.
