Here be Chapter 3!

Takeo, an old man with barely any hair left on his head pushed open the wooden doors to the shrine. It was opening time and he would have to prepare for today's visitors. A new shrine maiden was supposed to show up today, his daughter had found a replacement as she moved out. He sighed, it was lonely without her around.

As Takeo begun to wash his hands he heard a knock on the wooden door.

"Excuse me?"

Takeo turned around and nearly fell to his knees. There was no way his daughter could have found this goddess to replace her. Takeo, however, noticed her traditional shrine maiden outfit. What else could she have been if not the replacement?

"Come in, come in!" he said, though his voice was wavering. Surely she could be doing better for herself. A model perhaps. Maybe she was very religious, he could respect that.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"Ah, sorry for not introducing myself sooner. I am Takeo Chibata, the caretaker of this shrine." he gestured to the small buildings around him.

"It is very beautiful" she said. Takeo grinned and proudly puffed out his chest.

"Of course! Nothing but the best!"

She giggled softly and Takeo felt his heart lurch unsteadily in his chest. Was she teasing him?

"Thank you for coming on such short notice" he said. He continued to wash his hands and missed the confused look on her face.

"Were you expecting me?" she asked.

"Not this early. But that's fine. I respect hard workers!"

As he finished washing his hands he turned to her and gestured for her to follow him.

"I think you might have the wro-"

"This is where you'll spend most of your time. It isn't much, but the foreigners seem to like it." Takeo interrupted and pointed out the rickety wooden shack that sold souvenirs, small plush dolls of shrine maidens and good luck charms. Next he showed her the small stage where the dancing would occur, followed by the prayer mats.

"This is all very nice and all bu-"

"Hello!"

Takeo and the woman turned to the entrance to see a young girl dressed as a shrine maiden waving at them.

"Welcome!" said Takeo. The closer she got the more confused Takeo was, why was she also wearing a shrine maiden outfit. Was she looking for a job?

"I'm ready to start!" she said, but her excitement fell at the sight of the other woman.

"Is the job already taken? Your daughter told me it was open"

Takeo frowned and looked at the woman he thought was the one. Even if she wasn't, he was reluctant to give her up. She could easily draw a large crowd.

"No" she said before Takeo could answer the question. The girl smiled and looked back to Takeo.

"Then who's getting the job?"

Takeo was frozen in place, what was he supposed to do? On one hand he had a young girl who his daughter had brought in as a replacement for herself. On the other, he had the perfect candidate already here, but might not have been here for the job.

"Shall we see who's a better shrine maiden?" the young girl asked and winked at Takeo. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted.

"There's no need. You take it." The woman bowed to both of them and made for the exit. Takeo wanted to say something, anything that would make her stay. But could not find the words.

"Are you not a real shrine maiden then? Scared you'll lose?" the young girl said, clicking her tongue. The woman froze in her steps and turned around, the calming expression completely gone and replaced with an ice-cold scare that sent a shiver down Takeo's spine.

"I'll show you who's a shrine maiden" the woman muttered, storming past the girl and Takeo.

"That was harsh" he said to the girl. She smiled at him but it did not match the rest of her expression.

"I know... I just wanted to see a real shrine maiden in action. Even if I lose a job because of it"

Takeo smiled softly as the girl went to join the woman on stage. They were both fine candidates.

"Huh?"

Suzuki looked at Albedo like she had just stabbed him in the heart.

"I'm sorry Momonga-sama, did we displease you?" she asked. Suzuki opened and closed his mouth repeatedly. How was he supposed to respond to that?

"It wasn't… I didn't… You…" he stuttered.

"Perhaps you need more rest Momonga-sama?" asked Demiurge. Suzuki looked over at the suited demon and silently thanked him.

"Pandora. Shizu." was all Suzuki could manage to say before he shuffled awkwardly into the bedroom and slammed the door behind him. Pandora's Actor and the CZ entered shortly after, softly closing the door with a click.

"Does Momonga-sama not consider us worthy enough to be called his creations anymore?" Albedo asked, biting her lip. Demiurge shook his head but said nothing. Something was definitely up.

"What. Kind. Of. Spell. Did. Momonga. Sama. Use?" Cocytus droned from outside, still invisible.

"It must have been a taxing one. We are no longer in Nazarick… What did he call this world? Japan?"

"Earth. Japan is the name of this country" Sebas said, correcting Demiurge.

"Is there any research we can do on this world?" asked Demiurge. The other guardians glanced around the room but struggled to find any books. Yuri Alpha made an 'ah' sound and slid a crumpled magazine from underneath one of the chairs. The guardians gathered around her and looked at the front cover.

"Playboy?"

"What's wrong Momonga-sama?" asked Pandora as Suzuki sat down on the edge of the bed, his hands shaking. Suzuki's eyes drew to Pandora's and remained there for several seconds.

"Who is your creator Pandora's Actor?" Suzuki asked. The doppelganger hesitated to answer for a second but regained his composure.

"It could be none other than you Momonga-sama" he replied, bowing deeply. Suzuki's eyes turned to Shizu, although she was an automaton her expression was easy to read.

"And you?" said Suzuki.

"You are my creator, Momonga-sama." replied Shizu in full confidence, though she frowned when Suzuki flinched.

"Are we not your creations Momonga-sama? Even though you are… human… you still created us, right?" Pandora asked, slight panic in his voice.

"You are my creation Pandora, I was the one who made you, gave you abilities and a name. The other guardians on the other hand, Shizu included, are not" Suzuki said, looking back to the maid. He was caught off guard as she appeared to be on the verge of crying. Weren't automatons supposed to be emotionless?

"I'm not… your creation?" her voice was shaky and barely audible. Suzuki cursed himself internally, he couldn't just drop such a bombshell on the guardians. A single tear rolled down her cheek from underneath her eyepatch.

"I didn't mean it like that Shizu. You are all my… creations. One way or a another" Suzuki muttered the last part to himself. He was pushed back as Shizu wrapped her arms around him, her orange hair smothering his face. Her face and arms were warm, which was again unexpected but nonetheless comforting for Suzuki.

"You are all my children to me" he whispered to her. She pulled away from Suzuki suddenly and looked at him enthusiastically.

"You want to put children in me?" she gasped. Suzuki's eyes widened in horror and he shook his head vigorously.

"That's not what I mea-. Wait, can you even get pregnant?" Suzuki asked, though he immediately regretted it.

"I am fully equipped to carry a child, see?" said Shizu, she began to pull up the bottom of her maid dress as if to show off her nether regions but was stopped by Suzuki's frantic hands.

"Ok. ok!" he squeaked.

"If you did not create the other guardians than who did?" Pandora asked. Shizu seemed to flinch at the question and looked very frowned at the doppelganger. Suzuki scratched the back of his head and sat back as Shizu rested her head on his lap.

"Back in YGGDRASIL, the world you all know. I was the guild leader of Ainz Ooal Gown, which had 41 members. Of those 41 members, everyone created their own NP-… Children." said Suzuki.

"I know of Ainz Ooal Gown Momonga-sama, but you were the only member" said Pandora. Suzuki frowned, after all of his guild members had left and he was the only one remaining perhaps something had happened to make all the NPC's forget about their creators. It was possible, they had somehow teleported to the real world after all. Suzuki continued to explain to Pandora the inner workings of the guild and his memories of his guild mates. Though Pandora remembered none of this, he made sure to pay close attention and remember it incase it served useful in the future.

When Suzuki had finished the room fell silent and Shizu had closed her eyes.

"Does that mean the other 'Supreme Beings' will come to collect the guardian they created?" Pandora asked. Suzuki bit his lip. All of his guild mates had not only abandoned him, but also abandoned their creations. If Shizu's reaction was anything to go off, would he be able to abandon each of the guardians and send them off to his guild mates? He still remembered the pain and anger after each member left, giving up on the guild they had created. He didn't want to put any of the guardians through that.

That would also mean making sure none of guardians were found by their respective creators. Though he was not in contact with all of his guild mates, the ones he did talk to would undoubtedly recognize the NPC they created.

Was it wrong to keep the guardians away from their true creators? No, Shizu had truly believed that he was her creator. He doubted the others would even remember his guildies names.

"No, I am leader of Ainz Ooal Gown and the only one who can lead the guardians" Suzuki said, though his tone of voice did not match the words he was saying.

"Alright, let's go back out" he said, gently lifting Shizu out of his lap and standing up from the bed, he shakily reached for the doorknob and hesitated briefly before pushing it open. What had they been discussing out there? Did they question if he was the real Momonga yet? He expected it to happen at some point.

As Suzuki pushed open the door and entered the living room he noticed Demiurge and Sebas restraining Albedo whilst the Pleiades had gathered around Yuri Alpha and were reading something.

"Put children in me instead Momonga-sama!" Albedo shrieked, evidently having heard his conversation to Shizu in the bedroom. Yuri looked up from the magazine in her lap and held it up for Suzuki to see.

"What is playboy?" she asked.

Suzuki chuckled lightly to himself before promptly fainting on the spot, held up only by Shizu. He could very quietly hear Pandora's Actor in the background until his vision faded to black.

Tatsuya silently lead the little girl he had been stuck with since his trip to school towards the closest police station. It was going to take him at least half an hour to backtrack his way to school. Maybe he could get the police to write a note excusing his tardiness. His teacher probably wouldn't accept the "I was saving a little girl" excuse, he had been late enough times to warrant the failure of many genuine and non-genuine excuses.

When he came to a halt outside the police station he had noticed that the little girl supposed to be following him had disappeared. He looked around frantically and noticed a small group gathering back down the sidewalk. He hurried over and pushed through the men with their cameras to find her looking into the window of a store. She seemed fascinated.

"What are these?" she asked, turning her head to look up at Tatsuya. He ignored the rising butterflies in his stomach and followed her finger to the metallic box that seemed to have caught her interest.

"That's a microwave" he said.

"And that one?" she asked, shifting her gaze to the next electrical appliance.

"A toaster… Have you never seen these before?" said Tatsuya.

"No." she replied, looking up at him. He felt his breath catch in his throat and looked away, only just noticing the crowd still gathered around her. He was being completely ignored.

"Come, let's get you into the station" he muttered, unconsciously grabbing her hand and pulling her through the crowd. When they entered the police station he noticed that he was still holding her hand and quickly dropped it, his cheeks burning red. Even though she looked like a little girl, why did she give off such a dominating aura of power.

"Shouldn't you be in school young man?" the policewoman on reception duty asked. He gestured to the girl beside him and scratched the back of his head.

"She wasn't with her parents at all and she doesn't know where she is" he said. The woman nodded and walked around from behind the desk, kneeling down so she was eye level with the girl.

"I'm Officer Akira, nice to meet you…" the officer said, waiting for the little girl to state her own name.

"Rubedo"