Moon, Rabbit And Prophecy

Moon, Rabbit And Prophecy (月と兎と予言の書召喚) is a game event that occurred in Mass for the Dead. It was released on September 17, 2021 to October 4, 2021.

Background
Tsukimi. Through a conversation at the Ashurbanipal, an event came to Momonga's mind, with the Guardians, to plan and host a moon viewing party. However, due to the purpose of the project, there are obstacles. On the day of the moon viewing ――an unexpected natural disaster prevented the moon viewing.

Incident
It all started with a series of conversations in Ashurbanipal. Momonga having come to the library to acquire a new book to help him, encounters the protagonist and Slimeko. The two ask the Supreme One to enlighten them on how to maintain the trust of humans. The Overlord offers to assist the protagonist with any help he can provide. Forgoing the usual protocol in submitting written necessary questions, Momonga offers to provide the homunculus with any cultural knowledge that turns up in the books that the protagonist is unfamiliar with. Secretly Momonga hopes the questions the protagonist brings to him are not advanced high school questions as he embarrassingly is only a graduate of elementary school.

The protagonist shows his master a book that he has a query on. The tome in question has no title and to the homunculus it seems like a prophecy of some kind though its meaning is unclear to him. Momonga taking the book scans the contents of the first page which reads: "Invaders from the moon. A calamity that brings chaos and darkness to the earth in the form of heteromorphs with the appearance of rabbits. A mallet crushes, crushes, and kills those on the earth. Beware of the full moon." Additionally there is mention of "werewolf" and the "sun". Momonga finds that the content is strangely dressed and vague, but guesses that it to be a memo or a self-made novel left by someone, or rather, a reminder of a setting. Since the storyline is jumpy and doesn't flow well he presume it to be unfinished. Still he finds the idea of rabbit-like extraterrestrials from the moon and who make mochi to be odd.

The undead explains to the protagonist that it is simply a book written by one of his colleagues which awes the homunculus. Momonga tells his subject not to worry about it which the protagonist accepts. Momonga studying the paragraph in the book attributes that the book must have been unfinished because it was at the spur of the moment and written in one of the many books of the library and later forgotten. The words moon rabbit and full moon catch his interest and soon gets an idea. Seeing the Overlord's change in attitude, the protagonist inquires what is on his mind. Momonga though tells him that he thought of a way to lessen the burdens of his subordinates. The undead tells the protagonist that he has some preparations to make and excuses himself once the homunculus confirms that he has no other questions.

Some time after the first scene at the library, on that day, an event was scheduled at the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Momonga in his office finishes up reviewing a report with Albedo who also informs him that its near the time of the event that is hosted on the surface. The Supreme Being is eager to begin the event and asks if there were any problems in preparing it. Albedo reports that all the planned preparations went without delay and that the additional preparation to entertain him are ready. On that Momonga states that entertaining him is not necessary and while it is appreciated, he wishes them not to make it a big hassle like the Hanami and the Christmas party. Albedo apologies but cannot help it to prepare the best parties for Momonga so that it would be special for him. Again the Overlord reminds the Overseer Guardian that this upcoming banquet was conceived by him to entertain her and the others. His humbleness though makes Albedo admire his sincerity causing her to lose herself in her emotions. Once she remains her composure the female demon, Momonga adds that the party so far doesn't require any special preparations as the chefs have made dango and gather pampas grass.

Later the full moon is in the night sky and Albedo reveals that the theme of tonight's party is "Tsukimi". A time where people look at the moon to and enjoy small dishes of food. Though it's quite a costly use of time, it may be an invaluable experience because of it's taking place in the current world as in the former world, it was almost impossible to see the full moon in the night sky in real life, except in virtual reality. That being said Momonga believed that Blue Planet would have been happy to be at the Tsukumi.

Albedo noticing Momonga's silence causes the latter to be brought back to the present and focus on hurrying to the event and meet up with the other gathering Floor Guardians. He is informed by Albedo that the protagonist is due to return from E-Rantel. Before they can proceed to the surface, Albedo gets a [Message] from the protagonist. Excusing herself from her master's side, she directs her attention to the call. While she is gone, Momonga looks forward to the moon-viewing feast on the surface as it one of the rare instances he can go outside. And though he can't actually eat the food he wants to enjoy the festivities and notes that the Head Chef prepared other dishes like mochi and "Nazarick-type" food which appeals to those like meat eaters like Entoma Vasilissa Zeta.

Albedo returns with a worried face who states that the [Message] was from the protagonist who reports that some trouble has occurred while he was returning back to the dungeon. Momonga wonders what it could be and worries that it might be a warning of an intruder or some new calamity. Albedo states that their agent is not sure if it is an attack, but it seems that it has made the moon-viewing impossible. To clarify Albedo responds that apparently the sun has not set much to the shock of Momonga.

Reconvening at the Round Table Room, Momonga using the Mirror of Remote Viewing confirms that the sun has not set, despite the time indicating that it should have already set. According to Solution Epsilon, the protagonist and Slimeko who are present at the meeting when the team were headed back to the dungeon the sun was already setting, and yet almost instantly the world was all bright like noon.

Summons operating outside Nazarick report the same thing as if time had rewound. Though Momonga knows that such a feat is impossible as if it was time-control magic none of those with such countermeasures would be affected. But since the target is the sun, Momonga is unsure if casting time magic on is is feasible given the size. He knows that he is being prejudice on the physical laws of the New World as there is no way to determine if the laws of physics are the same as the old world's common sense. Since they do not have enough information, Momonga requests the undercover adventurers to return to E-Rantel to gauge on how the inhabitants react to the phenomenon as there is still the possibility of it being a regular phenomenon.

The protagonist proposes what they are seeing could be like a "midnight sun" which is a night when the sun doesn't set. Momonga doesn't believe such a thing could happen in the current world, though maybe in other lands. And given if no one in E-Rantel mentioned it, it's unlikely. Solution has a possibility of what this could be if it is not a natural phenomenon. Since the phenomenon occurred just before Nazarick's "Tsukimi" it is possible that someone is targeting Nazarick and caused it intentionally. Momonga tells her to be wary of such possibilities, though advises that she should not be prejudice when gathering information. At the moment Momonga tells the trio that Albedo and Demiurge are compiling reports from summons in various regions to determine the range and differences of the phenomenon. To be on the safe side, they have taken more thorough information measures than usual in preparation for the possibility that someone has caused this phenomenon with the intention of studying how Nazarick behaves. As it may take some time, Momonga assures them that by the time they return to E-Rantel, they'll get the results. He also warns them that when returning to the city that they may encounter Chaos Beasts, Contaminated Beasts, and swarms of magical beasts, asking them to be careful and not to neglect their guard as that they might be watched by another party.

Upon arriving at E-Rantel, the undercover adventurers went to the Adventurer's Guild to gather intel. There he and his team meet with the Swords of Darkness. From Ninya, she finds the phenomenon to be also strange as this is the first instance when the position of the day rewound. Dyne Woodwonder adds that this might be a bad sign, though Peter Mauk states that fortunately for now, Chaos Beasts and Contaminated Beasts are not appearing and neither is a demonic army. However the residents of the city are unnerved and worried. In contrast Lukrut Volve finds it a pity that it's day again as atmosphere feels out of tune especially when he wants to go out with a girl, such as Narberal, for a night out. His teammate Ninya doubts that the rogue would accomplish that even under normal circumstances.

Peter tries to point out the positive side of this ongoing day, as if the daytime continues as it is, it may be convenient for their work as adventurers work because the risk of being sneaked upon on by dangerous opponents in the darkness and fighting night-vision opponents during the camp is reduced. In contrast the protagonist notes that the phenomenon might be troublesome in the long-run, as the if the sun continues to stay in the sky then droughts will last longer, there is a risk that the growth of plants such as crops will be hindered and food shortages will occur. Soi adds that the climate might get hotter and cause the wells to dry up unless there is a magic item that provides infinite water.

Ninya argues that its unlikely that the climate will change so quickly, but if the daytime continues, there are likely to be various problems. The protagonist asks the magic caster what kind of magic could cause this to occur. Unfortunately Ninya can't think of anything that could but the closest that matches what is happening would be magic used to control weather. Dyne states that to be [Control Weather] a 6th tier magic spell and in the realm of legends, but even that magic is not described as being able to keep the day going.

The other magic caster agrees, though adds that a master once said that there are places where phenomena that normally do not occur happen in a wide range. There are places where it happened due to the failure of some ceremonial magic. The protagonist recalls such locations: a zone where rotting poisonous gas is scattered, a land where it rains in seven colors for a certain period of time, a desert where a mighty storm occurs once a year for a week. Still if this phenomenon is artificial due to supernatural magic or rituals, you should be wary of the existence of a considerably dangerous opponent.

Someone walks over interrupting the discussion. It is Saint Clementine who informs them that the guild is currently collecting information in the city side as well, but there are few clues that could lead to the elucidation of this phenomenon. After consulting with the guild, the city is adjusting the investigation procedure and would like to ask the protagonist to participate in the consultation. The protagonist agrees to help, and the members of Sword of Darkness bid their farewells to go and gather more information from the other adventurers.

Clementine then guides the group to the guildmaster's office. Pluton Ainzach is glad that the protagonist's team has arrived to help in the emergency and feels fortunate that two busy adamantite-class adventurer teams are staying together in the city. When the guildmaster mentions two sets of adamantite adventurer teams, Blue Roses appears to be also present in the room. Surako is surprised to see Blue Roses but is glad they are present as they might be able to get to the bottom of the current mystery which the female adventurer wholeheartedly agree.

Azinach interjects wishing to get into the main subject as the phenomenon could be a sign of the return of the demons. After the guildmaster warned the adventurers that the change in the sky could be a precursor to an abnormal situation that would hit the city, he immediately entered the main topic of response. As a result, the protagonist's group could not help but feel a certain sense of incongruity.

At the Round Table Room, Momonga hears the report from the protagonist's and his comrades to share what the homunculus has learned from the meeting at the Adventurer's Guild. The protagonist confirms to Momonga that whatever is happening to the sky is definitely abnormal phenomenon for the locals. And possible some of "special environmental change" is involved which leads Momonga to the possibility of Super-Tier magic. Night seems to be also postponed in not just the area around E-Rantel, but is affecting a limited area centered around the city, spanning the Kingdom, Empire, part of the Theocracy, the Katze Plains, and the southern part of the Azerlisia Mountains. Though the effect does not extend to the Holy Kingdom, the Imperial Capital, or the Royal Capital. Apparently, the sun that is staying in the sky right now is not actually the sun after examination by those using [Fly]. It seems that it is a huge sphere of light that is causing the daytime and seems to give no damage or abnormal conditions according to the summons. Despite this Momonga promises to investigate this claim by using other races to examine the sphere.

This is also presents a problem here. If this is an artificial phenomenon, it is unlikely that it has any meaning, although this is not manipulating the sun itself there must be some sort of agenda. The fake sun in the sky as it is good as the real sun and doesn't even have the effect raising the temperature, and according to Mare Bello Fiore may not affect the growth of plants. Momonga is clueless as to why anyone would launch the sun in the sky, but the only possibility seems to be "studying Nazarick's movement during the abnormality".

Such a possibility would be the worse case scenario, though Momonga does not discount that what they are facing might just be some kind of natural phenomenon. To the undead's surprise the protagonist thanks him for his insight. The homunculus tells his master that he had considered the words Momonga said before they depart the dungeon. Such as reminding him that prejudice was prohibited, however the protagonist has come across something that might be significant though it may not be related to the current phenomenon. It potential clue has to do with Blue Roses of course.

Going back previously at the consultations with Ainzach and Clementine and the members of Blue Roses, the guildmaster had just assigned the senior adventurer team to to investigate the sun and sky, and to watch the surrounding area to see if there is a dangerous existences approaching. Soi suggested at gathering the other adventurers for the defense which Ainzach permitted while he set up the budget and also coordinate information sharing with the Theocracy and Empire. Clemetine offered to act as a liaison with the mayor and soldiers and also help prepare plans to evacuate the city inhabitants in case of an emergency.

Ainzach had asked if there were any questions, which Slimeko aka Surako took the opportunity to place a question directed to Blue Roses. Specifically Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra and Evileye as to why the were in lewd bunny girl costumes. Though none of the female adventures of Blue Roses found it to be strange. This caused Surako to be even more confused as normally such outfits would not be worn by the two so boldly. However the adventurers brushed it aside and excused themselves to head to their mission outside the city after the meeting was adjourned by Ainzach.

Momonga hearing this account from the protagonist was intrigued by this information. The protagonist is also of the same opinion of this as recalls a time when he had the opportunity to show the Overlord Shalltear's wardrobe once. And although there were differences in the colors, materials, and detailed designs, he believed what the two adventurers were wearing were similar costumes. The idea that bunny girl costumes exist in this world makes Momonga if their introduction was the work of the Boastful Sage. The news is curious but Momonga fails to see how it is important to the current situation. The protagonist can't confirm what is wrong, but has a suspicious feeling about Blue Roses. The behavior of Evileye not being embarrassed in her costumes has many questions as it is totally out of her character. He also does not think that this is some sort of accident that two prominent members of Blue Roses are wearing such attire as even Clementine and the guildmaster were confused by the scene.

Blue Roses actions do sound worrying, but Momonga asks what is the connection to the phenomenon? He is answered that it is related to the "moon" and "moon viewing". Momonga thinking realizes that bunny girls could be attributed to rabbits which can be connected to "moon-viewing". And he draws parallels to the protagonist deduction with how he organized the Tsukimi after he chat with the homunculus. The protagonist then continues to state that he knows that Momonga planned the "moon viewing" after he predicted that this would happen as it shows that his master came up with a feast for the moon-viewing just when the phenomenon happened. And Blue Roses, who have "rabbits" in there ranks. Both tropes are associated with the moon. Right now an artificially generated sun is obscuring the night. Furthermore, the relationship with the prophecy by one of the Supreme Beings, inferred that invaders who come from the moon, were called "rabbits".

In disbelief, Momonga is stunned that the NPC thinks that the book he showed him was a prophecy when in reality it was just a self-made novel written by someone. But sees that he did not correct the protagonist and deny that it was a "prophecy". Unaware of his misunderstanding, the protagonist goes on to say that the prophecy is most likely accurate on the pretense it was written by one of the Supreme Beings. Elements such as the rabbits and full moon invaders in the prophecy. A feast overlooking the full moon, which was proposed by Momonga after he read the prophecy. Implementation of the "Tsukimi". And this incident that happened on the day of the moon viewing and the abnormality of Blue Roses. There are too many coincidences as noted by the protagonist.

In spite of that Momonga mentally maintains that it's all just a coincidence that the elements of the book match up with what is happening now. For all these inevitable elements appearing at the same time, the protagonist has two major hypotheses that can be made at present. One, when Momonga saw the description of the prophecy, he recognized that it was a "future" event that would occur in the near future, and pretended to host the "Tsukimi" to prepare for this incident. Alternatively, by preparing some kind of ritual disguised as a "moon viewing", he himself induced this incident and the appearance of the "rabbits". In any case, the protagonist holds the belief that his master knew in advance that this incident would actually happen. Since Momonga is the Supreme One, there is no doubt that he can immediately read the deep meaning that the homunculus cannot read from that prognostication, and even if he assume a situation that the protagonist cannot think of, it is rather natural.

All this no true as Momonga honestly had no clue something like this would occur. Momonga struggles to decide whether to acknowledge that this was his plan. If he confirms it now his subordinates' evaluation of him will jump further and he would need to choose his word carefully words while denying it would disappoint them. Finally he states that he is overwhelmed by the protagonist's response, which the homunculus takes that Momonga did not fully understand the "future" of the prophecy.

So the protagonist can only guess his master's concern. His attributes Momonga's confusion to his interpretation being overwhelming as the prophecy is still unclear and open to interpretation. Hence why Momonga did not reveal to them in advance about the future indicated by the prophecy and is still choosing his words carefully for some reason related to "prophecy" and "future". He surmises that if someone other than him knows the content of the prophecy and acts, there is a danger that an unexpected "change" will occur in the future indicated by the prophecy. A small change will lead to a big change in the future, the so-called—-butterfly effect.

When Momonga is silent to this and stupefied, the protagonist takes it as a confirmation that he guessed correctly. Momonga though acts like he knows exactly what the protagonist is saying as to not upset him. The protagonist though takes his silence as a sign that Momonga is unable to reveal too much about the future, and hence asks permission to investigate Blue Roses based on his hunch. Momonga answers that he can't tell the protagonist all the details but permits the investigation of the adventurers seeing that there will be no harm.

The protagonist then states that he will move out into the city immediately. Just in case, he requested to borrow a Shadow Demon to know the position of Blue Roses promising to keep Momonga in the loop by requesting approval for any action. There is no issue and Momonga adds that Narberal Gamma has been dispatched to assist them. The [Message] ends with Momonga bursting out in frustration of how things ended up this way, totally confused by the persuasiveness of the protagonist's words. His worst fears are that the "prophecy" is proven wrong and his own mistake will come to light and reveal he is not the omnipotent master his subordinates describe. It feels that his image has been placed on too high a pedestal and their expectations of him are getting more difficult to maintain. So much so that is image is tied to Nazarick's existence now and if he fails in that, Momonga feels that it will be a disaster. All he can do is pray that the investigation would proceed safely with such a faint expectation.

At the adventurer's suite, Soi asks her leader what is the next move. Both she and Surako heard Momonga's supposed admittance that he knew that the current events would come to pass and are humbled by the revelation. Though it is a cause for praise, the protagonist warns them that they need to tread carefully to avoid unnecessary changes else it would cause the butterfly effect. Since Narberal is set to join them, she will be assigned to monitor their targets, Blue Roses. For him and his team they will be collecting information on Blue Roses.

Aftermath
TBA