Chapter 2: Raising the Stakes
When Neia went to see Robel & Gilcrest, they were still in the main office that Neia had been occupying within the ruined courtyard, and Neia's first question was, "How did the request go?"
She didn't even have to name her request, it was obvious what she meant. "The King said the matter would be under discussion, and he would give us an answer in a week." Robel replied.
Neia opened and closed her mouth, she had to stop herself from saying "Still?" as if ample time had passed, when she had in fact been living in between moments when the Sorcerer King had stopped time for all others. She shook her head, idly hoping that wasn't going to be jarring for too much longer.
"Lady Neia?" Gilcrest began, seeing the odd expression on her face.
She shook her head rapidly, dispelling the thought, "It's fine, I'm fine, a week will be fine. But let's play things up a little here, put out the word that Black Justice has requested permission to build our own temple, and put out the rumor that the King is in favor of it." Neia said, her already narrow eyes becoming near slits as she looked at her colleagues.
Robel looked surprised, "But...how do you know that he's in favor of it?" He asked.
Neia laughed, "Why, because he didn't say no, of course. If he were opposed and had sufficient power on his own, he"d have refused quickly, but we're the city guard, we're the ones who will be watching over the most important merchant in the kingdom, we're the ones overseeing construction of the city, we"re the ones with the backing of most of the people. The nobles are wealthy, and the priests and paladins are powerful, but the nobles lack courage, and both the priests and paladins lack numbers, and neither is receiving the supplies necessary for rebuilding from the Sorcerer King." She explained, their eyes opening wider as Neia displayed an insight she'd never shown before.
"This is what will happen if he opposes us, he will try to shift the reception of goods over to either himself or one of his aligned nobles, and he will start to involve others in the reconstruction in more controlling ways. He will strike out that way to deprive us of our strengths. I can't say what the paladins and priests would do personally, but the nobles would push for that, and probably enlist those two groups to support them. So make sure we maintain good relations with the people." Neia instructed them as they soaked up her lessons.
"In the meantime, let me tell you about this amazing system for accounting for materials that I learned of in the Sorcerer Kingdom..."
And she went on about the decimal system that sorted books, and told them about the library where she was learning with the help of a goblin and a skeletal mage, alongside a demihuman lizardman. The story was so surreal that they shook their heads in disbelief.
"If I did not hear this from you," Gilcrest said, "I'd have never believed it."
Neia laughed at that, "Neither would I." She said, and then moved to leave, "Everything is in your hands. I'm going to prepare to speak at services tonight, and then I'm going to relax for a while. I have to return to the Sorcerous Kingdom soon, so I'd best rest up while I can." She walked away and waved behind her, to the sound of their well-wishes as she closed the door.
Her speech that night was one of the virtues of power applied to a system of justice, and how each person played a part in their society, creating the justice system that each person then lived in, and how weakness in the people permitted corruption within the system, and she tied it back to the incorruptible Ainz Ooal Gown, god of justice.
The crowds were now in the thousands, and instead of being on stage, Neia found that since the numbers now wrapped beyond the courtyard, concealing many behind walls of various buildings that had yet to be rebuilt, she had to speak from atop the damaged roof, which she reached by successive leaps propelled by martial arts.
But when she was done, the fists rose and fell from young child to mother to be to men in armor bearing the scars of battle on their exposed faces.
She looked to the sky and whispered, "Your temple will be magnificent, Ainz Ooal Gown, god of justice and of strength."
After it was over, Neia moved among the crowd, talking to people and answering questions. The whole thing was exhausting, and she was relieved when she could fall to her rest.
Her head hit the pillow, and her arm flopped over her face. She was too tired even to change, and just yanked a blanket over her body. It was that mental exhaustion that saved her life, because she woke to the sudden sensation of being stabbed in the chest. The blow hadn't penetrated because she still wore the armor of the Grand King Busar. The assailant in the darkness spat out a curse of frustration and quickly raised the dagger again, aiming for her head this time, but Neia was not about to give him that chance.
Her fist snapped out and she punched her attacker in the groin, prompting his knees to buckle and his hand to drop the knife in shock, she wasted no effort, but sprang immediately from her bed, behind her attacker, and punched him in the back of the head, knocking him forward in the darkness, his hands scrambled everywhere for the knife, his frantic gestures giving Neia the time she needed, no sooner did he find the knife, than she stomped on his hand, putting mana into the force of her blow, crushing his hand and prompting a scream.
She heard others outside who had become aware of the commotion, and she kicked the knife away contemptuously, before moving beside the attacker, kicking the attacker in the face as he tried to roll over from his stomach while on the floor. She had put him down, and now she had put him out.
She was just picking up the knife when men carrying weapons and a lantern burst into her room.
"It's alright, it's fine, I'm fine." Neia said to her group of wide-eyed protectors. "Bring the lamp over, though, let's get a look at who tried to do this. The face was of an older man whom Neia didn't recognize. He was plainly dressed, wore no rings, and looked utterly unfamiliar.
"Do any of you recognize him?" Neia asked the group of men.
Robel pushed his way forward and looked at the man's unconscious face in the light. "I do. He was one of the priests in the court of the King, he objected to the formation of the temple. "I'm not sure which of the gods he serves, but he's definitely a priest, and he was profoundly unhappy at hearing my request. He had to be removed from the King's hall."
Neia frowned. "Frankly, under other circumstances, I'd just as soon kill him and be done with it, but he's unconscious now, and it'd be no better than what he tried to do, and I'd like some answers first." She looked down at the unconscious man, and an idea began to come to her. She began to stroke his face in a way that looked almost loving, but her voice...her voice was anything but. "And besides," she said, "you may yet have a purpose, you might serve the will of the great god of justice, even as you strive to undermine it." When she looked back up at her men, the firelight of their lantern illuminated her gaze, and it sent shivers down their spines as they felt the power in her eyes.
"You, tell the King about the assassination attempt, ask him if I should bring the assassin now or in the morning." She said while pointing at one of the men. "The rest of you, find rope and chains and something to gag this fool with. We're keeping him under guard until the King sends word."
"Lady Neia," Robel said, "shouldn't you also send word to the Sorcerer King? He's expecting you back soon, and this might complicate matters between him and the Holy Kingdom."
Neia almost refused to bother Ainz, but after Robel pointed out the possible political implications, she closed her lips and nodded. "You're right, of course." She said. However, she wasn't willing to bother him directly, so instead she sent a message to Demiurge. "Demiurge, I have a problem." She said.
In Nazarick, Demiurge frowned as soon as he felt the message come in, learning it was from Neia, he almost chose to tell her not to bother him...but the image flashed through his mind of her cry of near dispair as she struggled to end her life because she thought it was the will of Lord Ainz, and he reasoned she would not wish to waste their time.
"I should probably say this in person, my lord." Neia said, "Could I trouble you for a gate? I will leave informing Lord Ainz up to you if you believe it is important."
"Of course, Neia," Demiurge said, "I will open a gate at your location." He turned to Shalltear and said, "Open a gate at Neia Baraja's location, she has information for us."
"Of course, Demiurge." Shalltear said sweetly, and a portal opened on their end, through which Neia presently stepped. She knelt immediately before Demiurge and kept her head lowered until Demiurge said, "Raise your head and speak."
"An attempt was made on my life." Neia said abruptly.
"So what?" Shalltear said, "Aren't humans always trying to kill each other?" She raised her hand to her mouth and giggled a little.
"I rarely agree with Shalltear, but I do in this. What is the significance of this attempt?" Demiurge asked.
"The assassin was a priest in the court of King Caspond. I believe his reason for trying to kill me was that King Caspond heard my request to build an official temple to Lord Ainz Ooal Gown so that he could be worshipped as the god he truly is. The priest was apparently outraged, and heaped hatred and accusations of heresy and blasphemy on my messenger. In short, I believe this was done to prevent our further service to the one true god. Were he not part of the court, I would have dispatched him immediately, but the political considerations being what they are...I thought I should bring it to you first, since I would sooner DIE than be a hindrance to the Sorcerer King!" Her voice and tenor changed as she spoke, and rose to an impassioned peak, her eyes burned bright as she caught their gaze, and the haughty and beautiful Shalltear ceased her winsome and dismissive smile, and turned her glance to Demiurge.
Demiurge, for his part, had gone quiet. His arms crossed in front of him, and one came up to stroke his chin. "You did the right thing by telling us this, Neia. I will bring this to the attention of Lord Ainz. We should assign a bodyguard to you after this, but you should be fine for tonight. Head back, rest, and prepare to speak before the court of King Caspond. Shalltear, gate." He said, and she recovered and cast her spell, and Neia stood, bowed, and stepped through the gate.
"Interesting one, isn't she?" He said to Shalltear.
"Well, if my beloved lord Ainz chose her, she must be." She laughed, but followed by saying, "What was that I felt from her?"
Demiurge's smile clever as he answered, "That was the power of an evangelist. Evangelists are like bards, they use their voices for power, but unlike bards, Evangelists have a powerful ability to sway crowds, and when turned on individuals, they have a remarkable knack for saying the right thing. She's at roughly level three, I would say, which makes her far more persuasive than any priest I've seen in this world. They rely on manipulating people through ritual and ceremony, but Neia speaks directly to the soul. Oh, she won't win everyone over, but it takes a strong will to resist the voice of the evangelist. Nothing for us is sure, but if we can feel it, she has a real gift for this. She remains a human ant compared to us, but even those who are superior to her in power, will see her as far more, now I had best go inform Lord Ainz of this development, I cannot begin to grasp the depth of his plans, and I would never wish to impede him by some foolish actions of my own, we"ll speak again Shalltear." Demiurge said and walked away.
Neia, of course, heard none of this as she returned through the gate and back to her quarters, and it wasn't long before word came from the King that they should bring the assassin to the castle to answer for his crime and determine whether or not there should be a trial. For now, two guards would be along who would support his Black Justice captors and ensure he remained unharmed.
The night passed swiftly, and when the Sun crested the horizon, she went to see the prisoner. The priest had awakened by that time, and four guards stood watch around him as he sat bound in a chair, his sullen face turned wrathful as he saw his target walk in alive and unharmed. He tried to yell at her, but his gag allowed only choking noises. Neia stood with her fists on her hips, looking down at him through her visor as he gagged on his words. "I'm willing to take your gag off for the moment, if you'll agree not to start screeching like a stuck pig." She said. "Deal?" He calmed himself, looked at her, and nodded slowly. Neia gestured to one of the guards, who undid the gag, letting him let loose a gasp.
"Now, why did you try to kill me?" She asked.
"I serve the true gods." He snapped. "How could you who was blessed under them, who gave her oath under them, turn away to this blasphemy, this heresy, to worship an undead as if it were a god?" He asked in a soft-voiced horror at the very notion.
"Ainz Ooal Gown is god. He is the god of power and of justice, and he saved me, he saved my men, he saved our nation, he came because we asked it of him, he fought in front of all of us, and he changed the world, and his power is absolute, if that isn't a god, what is?" She asked.
"The true gods will punish you, sinner." He said in a dark tone.
Neia's eyes flashed behind her visor, invisible to him, but she tensed up.
"So you still fear the gods." He said snidely as he felt her tense.
"No." She said. "Your gods are dead gods, I no more fear them than I do Jaldabaoth. I serve the only god left in this world, and the world will know his mighty name, his wisdom, his justice, and his power. No, what troubles me is that I AM a sinner." She said, prompting a look of surprise from all those present.
"I am still weak, and therefore I cannot bring the justice of my god to this world, because only by strength is justice done. True, I am now stronger than most within the city, especially with the marvelous equipment gifted to me by the Sorcerer King, but it is not enough. I will not stop being a sinner until I have achieved the pinnacle of my potential, or I have spilled out my last drop of blood to advance the cause of my god. And if my last drop is still not enough, he will, I believe, forgive me for having given all, as a god will not fault a mortal, for not being a god." She said, ending her impromptu sermon.
"You thought!" She said, snapping her eyes down to him, "You tried to end that before I could truly begin, and you failed, now you go before the King to determine if you go to trial, and I think you will be tried, and I think you will be found guilty, and I think you will die, and you will have died a failure before your gods, and perhaps if they receive you, you can beg forgiveness from them for your sin of weakness. But even if you don't, whether you know it or not, you may have just handed the Holy Kingdom's Capitol city into the worship of the god of Black Justice. So thank you...priest of the dead gods." She said with a gentle laugh, and before the stunned priest could begin to scream at her, she gestured to have him gagged.
"Hood him and let's take him to the castle. Just leave him in the chair, no need to preserve the dignity of a mere failed murderer and priest of failed gods." Neia said, and the King's guards hefted the chair between them and walked out.
"Laid it on kind of thick there, didn't you, Lady Neia?" Robel said with some surprise.
"Do you think it was enough?" Neia said with a smile.
"Enough? Enough for what?" He asked.
"To get him to force a few hands for me." Neia said.
"I...I don't quite understand." Robel said.
"If this works, you will," Neia replied, "I learned a lot while I was away, time to see if any of what I learned has been accurately applied." With that, she walked out and followed the guards. There was some confusion as two guards walked through the castle door with a hooded man struggling in his bonds and trying to shout through a gag.
The royals, the nobles, the priests, and the paladins had all gathered to begin the day, and predictably, all were chattering about in a way Neia found rather useless. She was, therefore, grateful that it stopped when she caused a scene by walking in with a man tied to a chair behind her. She knelt before the throne, "I have come with the perpetrator as his majesty ordered." She said.
Dopple-Caspond nodded and told her to rise, and then said, "Remove his hood, let us see his face." The hood was yanked off, and gasps of horror shook the court. They all knew Gindis, the priest of Alah Alaf, the divine mother of the royal family's bloodline. Finding him tied and struggling to a chair was not how anyone expected to start the day.
"Majesty, nobles, paladins, priests, as you know, yesterday one of my people came here and petitioned to begin our own official temple, and this man verbally abused my own, a servant of the king and of the people," Neia began to speak, walking back and forth behind the chair, obscuring most of his body except for his struggling and half flailing bound up limbs and inhuman gagging noises, "he did so so forcefully that he had to be removed from this very hall, only to come to my quarters later that very night and try to end my life with THIS." She said, drew out a dagger, and handed it to one of the paladins, "Can you confirm that this belongs to the priest?" Neia asked.
"Well, this is a priest's dagger, they're required to keep one on them, and this one bears the color of Alah Alaf on the hilt. He's the only one here who should have this, so yes, it does belong to him." The paladin said reluctantly.
"He would have succeeded in his goal, but he could not penetrate my armor, and he was too weak to best me in combat, and so weak I did not have to kill him. Now here he is, and I request justice on behalf of the people from our King, try this would-be murderer." She requested of her King. The court erupted as Paladins were torn between an attempt at spontaneously trying to rescue a priest, while others were horrified at the crime. Priests were stunned to see one of their own in this position, and were frozen as they watched, and nobles were quickly forming a faction favoring one action or another, as they whispered to one another closely.
"Remove his gag," Dopple-Caspond said, and immediately regretted it. The priest had been boiling more and more since Neia's provocation, and he had been egged on by his own failure, and he could contain it no more. "Traitor!" He shrieked. "Traitors to the gods, you and all of those who follow you should be hanged! You betray the holy Queen, you betray the gods themselves, there will be no mercy for you! You should all be burned! You! Paladins! Strike down those who abandon the gods, strike them all down! Strike them all down! Strike them all down!" He shouted until the King gestured for him to be gagged again, returning him to a struggling figure that was...just a little bit quieter.
"Majesty, what say you, shall we have a trial before the people? A trial here? Shall we release him? What would you ask of us, Sire?" One of the royal guardsmen said, glancing out over the court, knowing from experience the power of the court to influence the King, and unwilling to act without explicit instruction, in particular, his eyes fell longer on Neia, who was now looking the King square in the eye, and waited for her answer.