"... not enough material? That's... hmmm."
Neia always felt a bit bad about making their dates about something else, but she felt like asking for advice should be okay sometimes.
Right now, she wondered if the Sorcerer King had any ideas about new topics for her speeches, or if he would tell her new stories to draw from.
Either way, he did not seem at all interested in involving himself more directly by doing things like giving her his own scripts to follow.
He finished thinking and turned to her.
"Well, you've only really been to my kingdom once before, isn't that right? Perhaps visiting again would give you material."
"That's a great idea! Did you have anything specific in mind? Would I be taken to points of interest by a guide, or perhaps I would just be let to explore on my own?"
"Hmm. Perhaps both is good. There are probably many things which you would find interesting that I would not, so a combined approach should be ideal."
She nodded forcefully, and so he continued.
"I will let you handle the details in regards to that unguided stay. It's probably best if you present your plans to me on our next date? And in regards to points of interest, there is a specific place I had in mind. The town of Carne is a place whose population mostly consists of an army of goblins, loyal to an Enri Emmot."
That name was very vaguely familiar, but Neia could not place it.
"That sounds like a very interesting place indeed! Who is this Enri Emmot?"
"She's a girl I rescued during an attack on Carne when it was a small village..."
Neia suddenly felt like she could understand this Enri.
"... she and her husband have been good allies."
"And how did she become a leader of a goblin army, if I may ask?"
"She summoned them with an item I gave her."
Neia chuckled.
"Ah, maybe I should've expected Your Majesty was involved somehow?"
"Well, I will do my best to arrange a trip to Carne for you. I will teleport you and your people there when the time comes. We will finalize the details through letters. I hope you will be prepared sometime soon? The second trip, the one to E-Rantel, can happen some time after that."
… … …
Having gathered outside her mansion, Neia and her most loyal paladins were to once again travel together.
Being surrounded by them again made her remember her failure in that southern city.
She was wearing her most common outfit, with the Grand King's armour and the rest of the magic items.
Visiting the Sorcerer Kingdom again was quite exciting, even if it was some other place besides E-Rantel.
Looking around, the paladins also looked very eager, which made her happy.
The servants seemed to both be disappointed that they would not be coming, but also happy they would see the Sorcerer King appear.
And with that, he did.
Everyone, including Neia, knelt.
"Rise, everyone. I hope all is ready, Miss Baraja?"
"Yes! We are ready to depart!"
"In that case... [Gate]."
Something which looked like a disc of darkness and energy appeared behind him.
"Please, follow me."
Neia was the first to immediately do so, and without hesitation. The men followed closely behind.
Much like with teleportation, she was a little confused momentarily.
Looking around, she was surrounded by many kneeling goblins, humans, some other non-humans and a few dwarfs. It was a welcome ceremony. It was likely meant more for the Sorcerer King than them.
They walked closer to a woman and man kneeling close together.
"You two may rise."
As they did, she saw that the woman was blonde and young, and had decent muscles. The man's eyes were mostly hidden behind his also blonde hair. Neia assumed this
was the mayor and her husband.
"I have business to attend to now, so I hope you give Miss Baraja and her paladins a proper welcome."
The woman responded quickly.
"Yes! Leave it to us, Your Majesty!"
"Thank you. In that case, goodbye."
The Sorcerer King teleported away, leaving Neia standing right in front of the pair, with her paladins not far behind.
"Greetings, Lady Baraja! I am Enri Emmot, and this is my husband, Nfirea Bareare. Would you like to be escorted to your lodgings?"
"Yes, please."
...
After being shown where they would be staying by the mayor, Neia immediately felt like getting to work.
"Mayor, do you have time for me right now? I do wish to have a conversation as soon as possible, if that's okay."
"Of course, Lady Baraja! I have mostly cleared my schedule for the next several days in preparation!"
"Excellent. Should we go right away?"
...
She was led through the city by the Mayor, and followed by several of her men.
As with E-Rantel, everything seemed normal, and there was nothing to indicate any distrust between the different species.
They quickly arrived at a rather humble-looking home. There was something strange going on with the chimney. She'd probably ask about that later.
As they turned the corner to enter, Neia saw someone in a maid outfit standing in front of the door.
Could it be?
This person turned their face to them.
As expected, it was a beautiful woman. Her hair was red, her eyes were golden, and her skin was tan. She also had a pair of dog ears, and her smile was wide.
She then walked over to them.
"Yo, Enri."
The maid walked past the Mayor, who seemed uneasy, and headed straight for Neia.
"Yo, Shizu's friend!"
"Ah, hello! I don't believe we've met?"
"That's right. But I heard about you."
"I see. What you heard was at least flattering, I hope?"
She joked around a bit, sensing that the maid was the sort of person to appreciate that.
"Heh. Perhaps... but I'd be more interested in judging you myself..."
Neia was not sure what to say to that, so she kept silent.
"But I see that you guys are busy. I'll let you get to it, then."
...
After sitting down alone with the Mayor, Neia let herself relax a bit.
Until now, it seemed like this Enri was quite an honest and good person.
"Ah, I'm sorry about Lupusregina... she gets a bit nosy like that, you see?"
"I don't really mind. Not at all. And if I did, it wouldn't be your fault anyway."
"Maybe, but I'm your host. I'm responsible for your comfort, right?"
"Which you have provided just fine so far."
"Thank you. I'd heard that you were someone very significant, so you are probably used to better than what our little town can manage..."
"Don't worry about that at all. More importantly, I wanted to know more about you, if that's okay."
"Ah, I'm not really that interesting or important, so I don't know how someone like you would find the topic of myself."
Neia recalled that such a statement was rather familiar.
She realized that she said those exact words when the Sorcerer King first asked about her.
"I'm just a Mayor of a small town. I live with my husband, and we take care of my younger sister together."
"Your younger sister, have I met her before?"
"No, she's still very young, and... well, I just let her play inside for the moment."
"I see. Well, when it comes to me, I am the High Priestess of the new faith in the Holy Kingdom. My faith speaks of the glory of His Majesty Ainz Ooal Gown."
"Yes, that's what I've been told... I suppose that makes the difference in our status obvious, huh?"
Neia furrowed her brows, even though Enri could not see because of the visor.
"I don't really feel like that's the case. I've never felt that important... I grew up as a simple commoner, you see. I was nothing before I met His Majesty."
Some sort of spark seemed to appear in Enri's eyes.
"That's... that's sort of how I was... I grew up here, until my parents were killed in an attack on this place. His Majesty rescued me and my sister, and everything from there has also been his doing, really. It's because of him that I'm alive, and it's because of him that I'm the mayor of a town!"
"I see. I am sorry to hear about your parents. I can only assume they would have been very proud of you."
"It's fine. But I suppose you are speaking from experience? Your parents must be proud very themselves."
"No, they're dead too. They were killed when Jaldabaoth attacked my country."
"Oh no, I'm so sorry!"
"It's fine."
Neia wasn't sure that it really was. Thinking about Enri's words, she really did wonder if they would be proud of her. If her father saw her all grown up, becoming the High Priestess... what would their proud looks be like?
She spoke again to stop herself from tearing up.
"But you also said something about the goblin army being the doing of His Majesty? It was a magic item, correct?"
"Yes, I was given two, back when the village was first attacked. When I first used it, only a few goblins appeared, but when I used another one during a battle, it summoned several thousand goblins. I don't really know to this day why there was a difference..."
This got Neia thinking about how exactly those items worked, but it was very impressive either way. Using summons and the undead was one thing, but magic items that permanently created actual people were something else...
Neia's thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang coming from somewhere in the home.
A man's voice was heard along with it.
"Don't worry, I'm fine!"
Immediately after, Neia's paladins burst into the room.
"Your Holiness! Are you all right?!"
"Yes, I'm fine."
Enri seemed unbothered by the interruption, only concerned with shouting back at the male voice.
"Are you sure you're okay?!"
"Yeah!"
She had a concerned look on her face as she turned back to Neia.
She spoke again once the paladins left the room.
"Sorry about that. My husband is an alchemist..."
"I see. Is that the reason for that strange chimney?"
"Yes. Alchemy requires strong ventilation to ease dangers related to breathing in certain gasses for too long."
"Hm..."
Husband... she thought about her own love life.
"It seems you two are happily married."
"Very much so!"
Neia sat there quietly, thinking about one day being happily married to the Sorcerer King.
"Do you have any love interest, Lady Baraja?"
"Ah- uhm... well, there is someone I'm trying to court, but... things are complicated. Even if we were madly in love, it seems politics are in the way..."
She said that, but perhaps it was no longer the case? Before, there was no hope for her to marry the Sorcerer King because she was just a commoner, but she was now rising in status.
She's never really thought about that. Perhaps it was time to focus on improving her own reputation as well? Will it improve her chances?
"I'm so sorry to hear that! I can't imagine politics getting in the way of my love life... It seems being someone of status comes with a lot, huh?"
Neia smiled bitterly.
"It definitely does."
"May I ask, what problems would it lead to, specifically? I don't really know about what it means to be High Priestess."
"It's... perhaps I should not say any more. Or maybe I shouldn't have said anything in the first place? I hope you keep this conversation between us..."
"Of course! I would not divulge the contents of a private conversation!"
"That's a relief... I would not want any unsavoury rumours to damage my reputation... not these days..."
"Not these days? Is there something going on?"
"My country seems divided in half at the moment. Most of it accepts His Majesty, but there is much of it which remains loyal to the old faith... I'd recently tried to speak in one such city, only to have rocks thrown at me."
"Oh, that's horrible! Those savages! You seem like a wonderful woman, and I would not wish such a thing upon almost anyone!"
"Thank you, Mayor. It's... taken its toll on me..."
Enri had an understanding expression on her face.
They sat there quietly for some time.
Neia broke the silence.
"Well, it seems we've come quite far in getting to know each other. Should we discuss my schedule here?"
...
Ultimately, it was decided that Neia would give several speeches, and most of her time would simply be spent enjoying the town.
… … …
She stepped out onto the somewhat crude, makeshift podium.
The share of humans and dwarves in the audience was larger than the share of those same groups in the town's overall population.
It did not seem like volume-enhancing magic would be necessary.
"... Hello, everyone!"
She was used to giving a small pause here to allow for cheers, but this wasn't necessary today, either.
"You might have heard of me before. I am the High Priestess of the Roble Holy Kingdom, Neia Baraja! In less than a year, my faith has largely replaced the old 4 Gods of my country. What is my faith? It is a faith which simply speaks of the glory of His Majesty, the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown."
Some cheers were heard now, but not many. She sensed that the audience was mostly just listening curiously. It seemed speeches about the Sorcerer King were not really a thing here. Or any speeches at all.
If she worked hard, she could probably fix that over the course of her stay.
"Today, I hope to tell you tales of my country's great struggle against the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth, who led demi-human armies which were raised against their will, maintained by fear of his might! And of course, how His Majesty destroyed both!"
What followed was a summary of the Holy Kingdom's desperate war for survival.
In this first speech, she mostly wanted to get across the sort of general foundation she would be working from in future speeches.
She would probably learn a lot here about speaking to those not from the Holy Kingdom. Since that was her usual audience, there were many things she did not need to explain. It being necessarily here would give her good experience with a new kind of audience. She wondered if she would make speeches to such audiences in the future.
Thinking about travelling to far away places to spread her faith... it was both exciting and a little scary.
Perhaps it was time to properly send preachers to those faraway places?
Some of her speakers were already undertaking pilgrimages on their own, travelling to places such as the Sorcerer Kingdom or the Baharuth Empire.
Yes, proper, large scale deployment was probably something she should start organizing sometime soon.
Though that could pose its own problems due to the current state of her country...
...
As Neia was finishing her speech, she felt that a lot of the audience was at least brought closer to a good level of zeal.
Most of them would take a few more speeches to get there, however.
Before heading down from the podium, Neia noticed for the first time that the demon maid from before was watching from quite a distance away. She just barely managed to spot her before the maid disappeared into the night.
"Lady Baraja, that was a great speech!"
She felt that it really wasn't her best, since it was in large part meant to introduce what she'd be talking about later.
While Enri stood there praising her, her husband stood behind her somewhat timidly, and her little sister ran over to Neia.
"That was so cool, Lady Baraja!"
"Thank you, Nemu. And thank you, Mayor. Though the future ones will go into more detail, so they will hopefully be even more enjoyable."
"That sounds great! ... Right, Nfirea?"
She elbowed her husband.
"Uh, right! It was a great speech, Lady Baraja! If the upcoming ones are even better, then I am very excited to see them!"
"And Nemu, don't stand that close to Lady Baraja! It's rude!"
… … …
Demiurge was finishing up reviewing a rather large pile of reports.
And then, he received the [Message] he had been expecting.
"Demiurge-sama, it is as you said. The preacher is spreading her religion here."
He smiled.
"Thank you, Lupusregina. Is that all?"
"Yes it is. Bye!"
And with that, she cut the connection.
The demon could only smile.
It seemed he was right about his master's plan.
He truly was intending to use this girl to spread word of his glory throughout the entire world.
He smiled to himself.
But this meant there were also other things which needed to be done now.
He should review the internal workings of her organization, and ensure it is able to be effective even if their leader is off to make appearances in other parts of the world.
When the time came, he would present his ideas to his master.
… … …
It was the day of Neia and the Sorcerer King's wedding.
There were all sorts of people around them, talking and eating great food, but the two of them were entirely focused on each other.
"... So, Neia... Is everything like you expected it?"
"It's even better."
"I am glad to hear that. Though perhaps you should wake up now?"
And so, Neia woke up.
Realizing what is and isn't real, she was deeply saddened that the dream couldn't at least go on for a bit longer.
A little grumpy, Neia sat up and looked around her.
The lodgings were better than camping when travelling, but she still missed her mansion's expensive bed.
Taking a few moments to yawn and stretch, she still didn't really feel rested.
"Ugh..."
She just wanted that dream to last longer... but nothing could be done about it now.
"Time to get up properly..."
...
After getting dressed, she left her room and greeted the two paladins standing guard.
"Your Holiness!"
"Good morning. You go get some rest. A new, well rested group should accompany me to the town."
...
She walked out of the building with four paladins following her, looking around and smelling the air.
It seemed quite similar to the many towns and villages she's visited in the Holy Kingdom.
It was nice.
Everything was moving, and birdsong was never too far away to escape her senses.
She was told the place didn't have any particularly interesting things about it, but she'd still do her best to explore and enjoy it.
And also do her job, of course. The job of gathering more material for her speeches.
...
She walked slowly.
Her group got many looks and stares, but she did not mind.
They were all curious but respectful.
She stopped in front of a tavern.
Looking at it from the outside, it didn't look like a high-class place at all.
She decided to enter.
Doing so, she found that the place was rather empty at this time of day, as she expected. Everyone was working.
The already silent place became even more silent as she made her way to the bar.
She was greeted by a middle-aged human man, who seemed quite happy to see her.
"Greetings, Your Holiness. What brings you to my humble establishment?"
"Hello. I must apologize, but we won't be ordering anything. I just wanted to ask around, if that's okay."
"Of course! I wouldn't dare demand you order, and I am very happy to answer any of your questions!"
"Thank you. In that case, can you tell me about how you came to live here? I'd already heard some things about the history of the town, but what about yourself?"
"I was actually one of the original residents of Carne when it was just a small village, before the three attacks. I even knew the Mayor's parents!"
The three attacks referred to the attacks by the men with Imperial gear, the non-humans, and the attack from the Kingdom during the time of the Katze Plains Massacre.
There weren't many people who were there to see all three.
"So, have you fought during them?"
"The first attack was a one-sided slaughter until His Majesty saved us all. I did fight during the latter two, however. And I must say, the first one might have been the most terrifying of all. Might be because it was my first time being in such a situation, but seeing all those people, thinking it was the end, only for even scarier undead to appear and kill our attackers... It was also a very confusing situation, I must say, haha..."
He laughed somewhat awkwardly.
"I'm sorry to bring back bad memories like this."
"Oh don't you worry at all. Everything's fine now."
"In that case, how did you come to own this establishment?"
"I founded it, sometime after the first attack. The population increased, as people came here from other surrounding villages which were targeted."
"Is the business good?"
"Hah, those dwarves drink like their lives depend on it!"
They both chuckled.
Neia was happy to see all these different races co-existing.
The Sorcerer Kingdom indeed seemed like a uniquely peaceful place, where everyone can live without fear.
"So life in general is good here, is it?"
"Very much so. Although there's been some problems due to the rapid population growth with the army appearing, it's been good. Undead who don't tire, sleep or eat work the fields most of the time. This makes the food cheap and plentiful despite everything."
Neia nodded with understanding before asking her next question.
"Say, how's it feel to be the minority here? It's mostly goblins now. It must be strange suddenly seeing that if you were just a villager who only dealt with humans for most of your life, correct?"
"Aye, it's a bit strange. But you mostly get used to it pretty fast. Neither the goblins nor the dwarves are that much different from us when it comes down to it."
Neia understood that very well at this point.
"How is it in the Holy Kingdom? Anything except humans there?"
"Not yet, no. We have an unfortunate history with our non-human neighbours."
"I'd heard. That's very unfortunate indeed."
"Well, maybe I've taken enough of your time by now..."
"Don't worry at all, Your Holiness!"
"Ah, perhaps there's one more question, then. Have you attended my speech yesterday?"
"Of course! A glorious one, I must say! We hardly get to hear much from outside the surrounding areas."
Neia smiled.
"Thank you. I am grateful for your attendance, and your praise."
...
She left the tavern quite happy about the conversation.
The people here seemed to be decent and honest so far.
Resuming her walk, she also thought about the strategy she would use with her upcoming speeches.
Most of this place was goblins, but those goblins did not seem to have full free will. They were ultimately perfectly loyal to their summoner, Enri Emmot.
In that case, she should probably focus on the humans and dwarves, the easier targets.
She felt that this Enri was probably quite devoted to the Sorcerer King already, but maybe deepening her loyalty would also affect those goblins?
… … …
Neia stepped onto the podium.
One again, the Mayor and her family were watching.
Today, she would talk about some of His Majesty's feats in more detail.
Once again, there were quite a few humans and dwarves, relative to how many there were in this town in total.
Almost all of the humans from the entire town were probably here, and the same was probably true for the dwarves. The goblins once again did not seem as interested.
"Greetings! Thank you all for coming here..."
As she went on with her speech, her eyes looked for the demon maid. Was she watching again?
Sure enough, she found her.
And once again, she was quite a distance away, hidden in the dark.
...
Lupusregina listened intently to the speech.
"Hm... this girl... Lord Ainz sure is good at recognizing talent, even among these worms..."
She looked away and smiled to herself.
"And CZ is good at picking good friends."