Hello Scrolls and Nazarins, , now I bring you the new arc that I consider the climax of this phase in my fanfic The One Who Came Back.
Worry takes over the Holy Kingdom and bad news continues to arrive.
With you
The one who came back
Chapter 71: Unpredictable Variable
"Another one of these endless meetings."
"I hope His Holiness doesn't want to raise taxes again."
"How many has it been since last year?"
"Five increases, several new laws, and countless restrictions, we are swamped. Can't the church do something?"
"No, the most we can do is limit our assistance to the crown, but even then, we only open space for heretics."
"The new religion, are they causing problems?"
"More or less. As a follower of the Six, I see that much of what they preach seems linked to Surshana's teachings, despite worshipping the Sorcerer King. Other than that, there aren't many differences, but they don't even officially consider themselves a religion. The bigger problem is that they offer cures and services for free, which seems to attract more and more followers."
"So, there's no way to force their dissolution through pressure on the Holy King?"
"No, these 'Nazarins' support the crown and seem to have become an independent force, an alternative to the Paladins."
This conversation between a noble and a priest depicted the kind of confusion Neia Baraja was causing, especially for Demiurge.
The Archdemon had only faced problems since the archer appeared in the grand plan.
From the start with the emergence of Jaldabaoth in the Holy Kingdom, everything she did went against what was expected, at least in what Demiurge counted as expected.
Due to the complexity of the Ten Thousand Year Plan, some nuances couldn't be seen by lesser beings. This is what Demiurge imagined when something escaped his analysis and calculations, for example:
When the original delegation came to the Sorcerer Kingdom asking for help, it was considered to let the Holy Kingdom suffer longer before they begged for help again.
But the squire at that time broke protocol, interfered in the negotiation, and made the Sorcerer King leave immediately for battle.
When his master decided to gift Neia with a runic bow, it was obvious she should promote the instrument. In fact, she was directly instructed to do so, but when the nobles questioned the nature of the weapon, she refused to show it. And when a demon tried to extol its qualities, she denied it again, making everything lost, at least that's what Demiurge thought.
At first, it seemed that Neia should show the weapon to the nobles and thus sell its qualities. When she didn't do that, a trading area was lost because these same nobles never bought any shipment. Instead, those who saw the weapon were the common people and adventurers, the final target audience, which Demiurge could only recognize as the real potential after the events unfolded.
In retrospect, it was something like this that happened: The nobles of the Holy Kingdom did not try to monopolize the purchases of runic weapons. The Sorcerer Kingdom itself exclusively began selling them directly to adventurers, generating much greater revenue in the long term. In other words, selling in large quantities at low prices would surpass high-priced elitist sales that probably would have been generated through noble trade.
So, going back to Neia's first interference, in the same way, the immediate intervention of the Sorcerer Kingdom in the conflict caused by Jaldabaoth led to a faster fall of opposition in the Holy Kingdom and the emergence of a religion based on faith in Ainz Ooal Gown.
Now it was happening again. The acts of "Caspond Bessarez," the infiltrated doppelganger, were supposed to have caused a revolt among the population, discontentment, and at least opposition from the nobles, finally leading to the hatred of those from the southern lands. All the laws and changes imposed by the crown were obvious and necessary solutions, but most of them did not have the desired effect, of course, due to the secret manipulations made by the external agents of the Sorcerer Kingdom.
Many would imagine that making the Holy King seem incompetent would suffice, but it wasn't that simple. The real Caspond had been a noble trained to become a capable king in case something happened to his sister, Calca Bessarez, the Holy Queen. A change in attitude or capability would generate immediate suspicion, either doubting the king's sanity or even if he was being mentally controlled.
Thus, glaring incompetence would result in a revolt too quickly, leading to the forced deposition of the king. That was why everything had to seem like a great misfortune, where decisions just went wrong due to unforeseen circumstances, not pure incompetence. Still, the blame would fall on the crown. After all, someone needs to be blamed, and the people, no matter how loyal, could only hold those in power accountable. This would generate discontent at all levels until the pressure cooker burst.
But Neia was an incongruence. Instead of fighting against the crown because the people suffered, generating a revolt with her as the leader and assuming the regent's post when the tyrants fell, she was doing exactly the opposite of what was expected of her. She supported the Holy King. Her teachings dictated that weakness was a sin and enduring pain and suffering was an unbreakable virtue, with willpower being justice and justice being the Sorcerer King himself.
Thus, the ever-growing population of Justice Followers, even with hunger and cold, accepted what seemed to be their fate and maintained faith in Neia. If she supported the king, then they would too. Only the discontented remained the nobles and the southerners, the plan continued with changes Demiurge could not predict.
The breakdown of the "people's redeemer" paradigm was unsettling for the archdemon. This was probably in those hidden areas of the plan that he couldn't see. So he had to believe in the plan itself, believe that his master didn't make mistakes, and that everything would be as Ainz Ooal Gown planned from the beginning.
The noble and the priest entered the court hall. It seemed they were practically the last to arrive, as the Holy King himself was announced next.
"Gentlemen, once again I call you all here to discuss the situation in our kingdom."
No one spoke; this was not a dialogue. At best, the king was merely announcing new measures to try to keep the kingdom running.
"As many know, the kingdom has been at the mercy of various tribulations. The court has sought to mitigate most of these with emergency measures, which have not had the desired effect."
For the nobles, such words were just a pretty way of saying that nothing was working. For every decision made, it seemed something made it useless.
"Our attempts to stabilize the kingdom's economy have only been frustrated. I would like the church representatives to provide us with an analysis of the situation among the people."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," said Cardinal Ebeas. "The church has done its best to treat the people, but with the crops dying from the plague, the reduced fish supply from the south, and the imminent early winter, we are simply overwhelmed."
"Still, I don't see any priests losing weight," said a voice amid the crowd.
People moved away from the one who had said those words. In the middle of the crowd of nobles and clerics stood Neia Baraja.
"What are you doing here, woman? This is a solemn meeting, this is not your place."
"My place is where I am needed, and I was summoned to attend, summoned by the royal court."
There was a wave of consternation. The woman was a commoner and, despite having so many followers that now rivaled the Church of the Four within the Holy Kingdom, her group was still considered just a company of mercenaries, even rebels, if not for the fact that they supported the crown instead of confronting it.
"Cardinal Ebeas, Miss Baraja was requested to attend at my behest. The assistance she has provided to the crown is invaluable."
After several events, Demiurge now believed that Neia Baraja was a fundamental, unpredictable piece that should be placed as exposed as possible.
"Yes, Your Grace, but her attitude toward us borders on sacrilege."
"Sacrilege is charging for cures when the people are sick, for food when they are hungry. I regret that my presence bothers the church members so much, but I would like to reinforce the fact that we no longer follow your dogmas."
"THIS IS APOSTASY!"
"This is religious change. Despite the similarities to Surshana's teachings, our faith is now based on a new truth. A truth where we do not charge for the help we can give."
"YOU HERETIC..."
"Cardinal Ebeas! Although the Holy Kingdom is based on the faith of the Four, we do not prohibit the practice of the faith of the Six and, consequently, we will not prohibit any other variant religious manifestation. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Your Grace," said a resentful cardinal.
"Thank you," replied Neia Baraja without any pride, as pride was a weakness.
"To mitigate the people's suffering, we will seek support from our southern brothers. We know that tensions with the southern baronies have grown considerably, and even hostilities have been reported. Even now, they refused to participate in the last congresses with empty excuses. Therefore, a delegation was sent to try to establish order, bring the nobles back, and discuss solutions for the Holy Kingdom as one. Captain Gustav Montagner left two weeks ago with this intent, and we hope for news soon."
As if coordinated, the royal messenger arrived with a missive, which was handed to the Holy King.
"It seems we have received some urgent information. Let the messenger in!"
To everyone's consternation, an abbot carrying an urn entered.