Hello Scrolls and Followers of Justice, Mr.Bones with chapter 27 of my Overlord fanfic.
Néia is in danger during a reunion.
Thank you for reading this far, I appreciate the comments.
With you
The One Who Came Back
Chapter 27: Reunion
"CZ, what are you doing here?"
"I came to visit Neia," said the android, firing several times with her rifle under the arm that held the enchanted arrow.
All shots hit the same window on the other side of the square.
Neia opened a big smile, which suddenly disappeared in the chaos that ensued. People realized that the Faceless Saint had almost been killed and started to gather around her.
Several passed by security, a child with a wooden knife on his waist, a tough man wearing heavy metal gloves, a young woman in a revealing outfit, an old lady - all ran towards Neia. Some took positions to defend her, others tried to see if she was hurt. When someone tried to touch her face, a scream stopped the crowd.
The old lady was screaming a few centimeters from Neia's face. Below her, black hands held her ankles, the sound of them being crushed was quite audible, and then the old lady was knocked down and dragged several meters away, before being swallowed by the shadows.
"What was that?!" exclaimed Neia, perplexed.
"Shadow demon, Neia Baraja," a voice replied.
"A demon killed that old lady? Am I being attacked by demons?!"
"Absolutely not, my dear. These beings are here to protect you and I believe that, from the marks left by the trail of that lady's hands, that is some kind of poisonous oil. I suggest you clean up quickly before someone accidentally gets poisoned."
Neia then realized where the voice giving such a formal explanation was coming from a creature that looked like a black and white bird, hanging by a harness in front of CZ's body.
"By the Supreme... IT'S SO CUTE!" CZ just raised her thumb up as a sign of approval and Éclair snorted.
"Miss, I'm Éclair Éklair Éklare, the number one butler of the Gran... Humm, His Majesty the Sorcerer King."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Éclair," said Neia.
"Ma'am, it's best if we leave the street, it's still dangerous," said Bertrand, Neia's assistant.
Bertrand was one of the first to join Neia, back when they formed the first search teams for the Sorcerer King. The most loyal of the Followers of Justice.
"Yes, Bertrand, you're right. Let's go to my office."
They entered the ruined church, part of it was being rebuilt, but much still needed to be done before it could receive the faithful.
At the back of it was Neia's office, separated only by a door from her dormitory. CZ took Éclair out of the harness and was almost immediately caught by Neia.
"STOP MISS! Stop, stoo-oh... that feels good," said Éclair after being grabbed and having his head petted. With CZ, it was always an eternal strangulation, but now he felt... snug.
"Let's go, CZ, tell me what you've been doing! How are things in the Sorcerer Kingdom? How is His Majesty, will he come to the festivities?"
"Festivities?"
"Yes, in the next few days it will be the date when His Majesty returned to us. Some wanted to celebrate it as the fall of Jaldabaoth, but we thought it better to exalt the return of our God. A few months ago, they even wanted to celebrate my trip to the Sorcerer Kingdom as a special date. They imagined that perhaps His Majesty would come to visit us because it was an important date, but we know he's too busy for something so trivial," Neia said, at first with enthusiasm, but at the end with obvious disappointment.
"His Majesty the Sorcerer King is the busiest person in the world," Éclair intervened.
"His responsibility is so great that his absence could lead several kingdoms to ruin. Still, he would probably feel honored by the invitation."
"Oh no, we didn't send an invitation. We know how busy His Majesty is, and with a possible civil war breaking out here, it would be terrible to bother him with an invitation to a ruined place."
"I see your point. It seems like you... Followers of Justice? Is that what you call yourselves? It seems like you're going through a lot of hardships."
"Yes, when we first started, we called ourselves Followers of Justice, like in other religions, followers of the God of Fire, Water or Earth, but a few months ago someone started calling us by a different name and it seems to have caught on. We're being called..."
KNOCK KNOCK*
"Oh! Come in!"
"Excuse me, Lady Neia, I brought tea and some biscuits for your guests."
"Thank you, Bertrand. I'm sorry for offering so little, as Mr. Éclair said, we're in a cost-cutting situation."
"Neia should receive support from the Holy King."
"Yes, he declared his support, even offered resources, but we had to refuse. Such an attitude would only fuel the hatred of the Southern nobles. We cannot be the reason for the outbreak of war. In addition, the temples receive resources by selling cures to the faithful, which we do not do. So all we have are the meager donations from our followers, and I managed to get a good amount for my parents' house. We only have resources for works and to help the children of the war."
"We don't want to be compared to those fat priests dressed in gold and jewels. We will be pure in our objectives and overcome adversities, after all, becoming strong is justice."
"I understand your point, miss, but still, as a representative of a deity, you should be in a better situation. Self-denial is commendable, but how will you do what is necessary without resources?"
"His Majesty will help Neia if she asks" - said CZ, taking two fingers to her head as if she were about to start a message.
"NO! Please don't, CZ. I can't ask him for that after all he's done for us! We'll be fine. Soon, the Holy Kingdom will rebuild itself, and adversities will only make us stronger."
"Adversities like today, miss?"
"Ah! That?! If they don't try to kill me at least once a week, I can't even sleep properly hahahaha!"
"So that's common?"
"No" - Neia sighed – "at least not so many at once. It seems to have increased recently. Thanks to His Majesty's gifts, they all got frustrated."
"Neia was in danger today" - CZ said as she took out three chocolate milkshakes from her dimensional space. Neia eagerly grabbed hers – "the knife was a distraction, but without your protection, they would have killed you in seconds. The arrow had powerful arcane magic, it could have fatally injured Neia, and the poison the old lady was using was strong enough to overcome the poison ring you wear. Neia needs better equipment."
"But everything was a gift from His Majesty. I could never get better items to protect myself."
"Let it go, Miss Neia. Although they are good for occasional situations, they are not the best for what you were facing today. If it weren't for Miss CZ and the Shadow Demons, you could be undergoing resurrection right now."
"I'm glad they came with you today. I need to thank them."
Neia didn't know, but those demons were with her since Ainz's departure, protecting her in the shadows and passing reports to Demiurge, the one responsible for the development or downfall plans of the Holy Kingdom.
"In fact, CZ, how do you know about the poison and all of this?"
"Report from the Shadow Demons. Two of the attackers were interrogated, the Rogue and the Alchemist. They do not recognize who hired them, both are specialists in their fields and were paid with money from the Holy Kingdom."
"But who shot the arrow?"
"The Archer was not located. The weapon was left at the scene, a crossbow with a double bow for long-range shots. Blood from two people was in the room, one was from the resident, who had his throat cut, the other blood was from an unknown agent, quite skilled at dodging some of my shots and fleeing fast enough to not be located... yet."
"Wow, it seems they really made an effort this time, CZ! I missed you, but I know you didn't come here for nothing. Your service to His Majesty is very important, especially after what happened in Re-Estize, so you must be here on some mission, right?!"
"Yes, Neia is right. I missed you, but His Majesty sent me on a mission. I need to find a person."
"What's his name?"
"Telcontar, but it could be a fake name."
"What did he do?"
"I cannot say."
"When was he here?"
"I cannot say - as it was the first few days of searching for everyone, there was not yet a chronological timeline of the Traveler's whereabouts."
"What does he look like?"
CZ then took out the Traveler's portrait and handed it over with mini sandwiches and another vanilla milkshake. This time, Neia took her time enjoying the food while analyzing the drawing.
"Hmm, I don't recognize him, his appearance is too common, but maybe someone knows who he is."
Neia quickly got up, swallowing the rest of her mini sandwich, and headed for the door. CZ and Éclair followed, probably she was going to ask Bertrand or someone else about the Traveler.
As she left the church, she headed back to the pulpit and spoke up.
"My people!"
At this moment, the square, which was still filled with very worried Followers about whether the Saint was okay, stopped what they were doing and looked in her direction, all at once in a coordination too frightening not to be noticed, except by Neia, who was already used to these things.
"My people, I am looking for someone!"
'She won't do it!' thought Éclair.
"Have any of you seen this person?!" Neia shouted, holding up the poster.
'She did it, and there goes the discretion' Éclair thought again, while CZ raised her thumb in a positive signal.