"She was a squire who became a daughter, a soldier who became a legend. I asked too much of her, I often thought, but she delivered, and when she did, she changed the world, not many people get to live a life that so shaped the course of events for so many. And because of her, a lot of people of many races are better off. I miss her, I miss her every day, but I don't forget her, and I visit her resting place whenever I... feel certain things, and when I do... sometimes I think I can still feel her, hear her, praising me and calling even a god, to be more than that." ~Ainz Ooal Gown "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p.1

"She was my friend. She was cute, even old. That's why I put a sticker on her forehead when we put her in the box. I miss her, and her wife, also a good friend. That is why I teach their children. Both were hard, but so were the times. They made things better. What more do you want than that?" ~CZ Delta (In an interview at the Baraja practice field) as published in "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p.35

"Who won the war? Sounds like a stupid question, doesn't it? After all, the Sorcerer King's flag waved over Kami Miyako, that's what defeat looked like for us. But you know, more than anything else, I think it wasn't the Sorcerer King who won. It was his subjects. He already had wealth and power, he was already the ruler of an empire. What do a few more provinces matter? No. The real winners of the war were the subjects who won brotherhood without borders from one corner to the next. There is no tavern or merchant door through which a uniformed and armored vampire cannot walk without being greeted as a hero. There is no place that a demihuman can't buy a farm or land for a ranch. No city in which an elf would walk, where they need to fear the lash of the master. The auction blocks are gone now, most of them left to rot and some torn down, people who recognize me, sometimes ask how I feel about that. I grew up in the Slane Theocracy, fought for it, bled for it, and would have died for it if that would have done any good. It's strange, I admit, to wave to a passing elf, and see no collars, no whipping posts for public discipline, to hear no barkers calling out prices and lauding the virtues of the stock they had to sell. But I don't miss those things, I have a more peaceful world, and that's all anyone worthwhile really wants, that their home be safe from threats. I didn't much like that old institution, forgive me a moment as I quote Dominic, but he once said 'The problem of the elf slaves is that we're stuck riding a wolf, we can't let go, and we can't get off, if we do, it'll turn on us.' In a strange way, he was right, but the Sorcerer King solved that problem for us. I may never really forgive Neia for what she did to my people, but I'd be a liar if I said, after what we did to hers, after we sent that damned monster to her, that I don't understand it. And also, I know this, she could have done a lot worse, and when it came down to it, chose not to. Does that make her a saint? No. But there have been worse winners, and worse losers, than she and I in this world." ~General Boabdil "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p.45

"I ended up loving the girl I hated. She became my hero, my commander, my wife. A lot of people never let go of their resentment towards her, I guess that's kind of a sore spot for me, because what else was she supposed to do? The world, our very god, asked the impossible of her, and she delivered, as did we all. Imperfectly perhaps, but his will was done, nonetheless. Now here I am, she's been gone a year now, and I think I won't last much longer myself, not that I mind. I want to lay down beside her one more time, our children will be fine, the world is in their hands now, and still led by our divine lord. So what have I to fear? We set an example I think, that is 'mostly' worth following. There are still people who want to criticize my wife, Johnny come lately types, spectators, armchair critics who think they could have done better, or who sit in comfort in the places that she led armies over. Screw them. You want to get down to the bottom line, imagine you're in chains somewhere, some master with a whip, some mistress with her cruel whims, who do you want outraged over it? Neia Baraja, who brought down kings and broke chains... or one of these damn soft fools who sit idle on the peace our blood bought for them and say how they'd have done different? You're damn right you'd want her, because she would never stop, never quit, never say die until there was nothing left of her, to break your chains and get you home. If that isn't a hero, then I don't know what is. Sorry, I don't mean to lose my temper with you, I know you're just asking questions, but I've found my patience has gotten less with age."

~Skana Baraja, in her final interview, "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p. 125

"People say we were heroes who lived in an age of heroism, but I think we just did what we had to do. When I think back on the things she did, that's how I see her. As someone just doing what she thought she had to do. Whether she was right or not, a lot of people have had different opinions about that. Many have decried her as bloodthirsty, violent, sadistic, or cruel. I think back on the way she treated captured overseers though, and the way she lost herself in Wheaton... and I see something different. It wasn't pleasure, or even hate, that drove her. It was pain. I didn't really start to understand this until she went to trial and I saw the way she reacted as the stories were told about what she witnessed. Her eyes might have inspired incredible terror, but behind all that rage, behind all that fury and power, lay a wounded soul. All her violence, all her brutality, looked at through that lens, was just a defense from the horror of her own circumstances, it was all she could do to maintain some semblance of sanity, and crush the thing that hurt her. Maybe, in a strange way, she was the best of us, and what she did was just what happens when you break someone like that. And if that is true? If I'm right? Then there but for the grace of luck go I." ~Lakyus "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p.134

"She gave my people back their souls, made the world see evil for what it was, and more than anyone else, gave me a side to join when my own turned out to be... all wrong. I'll never forget her, she was never as strong as I was, but she was more firm in her convictions than I had ever been. More than that, she was a friend, and I was proud to serve at her side. Maybe some people say she went too far, but I say... screw them. What good did they ever do? She tried to warn others to stop, and they wouldn't. To me, when confronted with that kind of will and that kind of power, refusal to stop atrocity is the same as suicide. She'll be a hero to us forever, and anyone she isn't a hero to, is probably my enemy." ~Zesshi Zetsumei "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p. 223

"Viewed from the perspective of the peaceful, the devout, the genuinely good who loved the gods of their forefathers and foremothers... Neia Baraja seemed a nightmare of brutality, violence, and atrocity. Every inch of her a traitor to humanity. But, measuring her worth by the sentiment of her age, and her people, not least of all those most defenseless victims of the old gods followers? She was swift, zealous, decisive, just and righteous, an angel who would tear herself apart rather than allow a single wound upon those she loved or to those whom she was merely loyal. Taking her all in all, when measuring the tremendous magnitude of the burdens placed upon a girl who began her journey at an age where most were not yet even managing a farm, and considering the necessary means to necessary ends that she saw must come to the world? Why, perhaps she was not infinitely wise, but she was infinitely brave, and infinitely giving of herself, and never did the world send anyone to it who was better fitted for her mission in life, than Neia Baraja. May she rest in peace."

~Enlaith "Heroes in a Heroic Age" p. 329