Chapter 10: Final Days
"What do we do with the rest of them?" One of the escorts asked Skana.
"Well, we know they're from the Slane Theocracy now...in hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have killed her, but oh well, I'm confident she wasn't actually in charge either, she might have had some rank, but if she were really in charge, she would have been personally defended." Skana scratched her head as she thought, her plain brown hair was pragmatically short, but it still felt good to scratch when she thought.
"We may need to kill the rest of them. I'll leave that to Lady Baraja, but I don't think she wants a war with the Slane Theocracy before we've even rebuilt our own country." Skana said thoughtfully.
"King Caspond." A guard said.
"I'm sorry?" Skana asked curiously.
"King Caspond," the guard reiterated, "I believe you meant that those decisions were for the King to make."
Skana blinked several times as she realized what she'd said. "Oh...yes, please excuse my ill-controlled tongue."
"Think nothing of it." The guard said, "I don't mind the thought, but that isn't a slip of the tongue that should be repeated often. Kings take a dim view of that thing, I would imagine." He said sardonically.
Skana laughed at the way he said it, "Yes...I'd imagine so." She replied. "I'm sorry, I don't think I know your name."
"Don't apologize, I know you don't know it, because until now we've never spoken." He said with a grin, "I'm Balur, and I only joined our organization a few months ago."
Skana looked him over. He was a larger man, she reminded him vaguely of an oversized teddy bear, and he had unusually sparkling eyes for a man who swung sharp, pointy objects as a profession.
"Nice to meet you, Balur, and...thanks in advance for not mentioning my little indiscretion." She leaned in and whispered, sticking out her hand, which he took and shook firmly.
"My pleasure, Skana." He said. "Now...about the rest of these prisoners?" He asked.
"Oh yes," she said, scratching her head again, "I think I'd like to speak to one or two, but after that we'll let Lady Neia refer the matter up to the King. I anticipate an increase in our skeletal workforce, but until a decision is firmly made, make sure they're well fed and secured and are unharmed, and also make sure that all the documents we've gathered are secured somewhere until they can be delivered to the King."
"As you say." Balur replied, and the guards went back to their business.
Skana went to the next small building and walked in. A man leaned against the wall. He was slender, even wiry, and had short black hair and a slightly crooked nose that had obviously been broken at some point in his life. His shirt was gone, and only his pants remained.
"Let me guess," Skana said as she moved to the table and sat down facing him. "Your shirt was torn up during the fighting before you were knocked unconscious."
His glare said enough.
"Thought so." She said. "The Slane Theocracy really does train its operatives to be stubborn and tough."
He looked at her with surprise.
"I had an interesting conversation with Torli next door." Skana clarified. Shock was written all over his face.
"She had a lot to say, more than I anticipated, really. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, after all, how do you think we found your hideout?"
She saw understanding dawn on his silent face.
"Well, that, and the Red Bird's connection." She said, "Really helped us out to know there was a secret entrance, hell if that place had been found blind, your meat shields in there could have held off an attack while the rest of you simply walked out the back of the restaurant. I don't think...personally, that she was rewarded enough for all that she's done. I'll be asking Lady Neia to offer more to her after this is all over." Skana smiled as she finished her sentence and then leaned back in her chair, propping her feet up on the table. The overwhelming arrogant certainty she felt was washing off her like dirt from her body when she jumped into a stream.
It wasn't lost on her crooked-nosed captive.
"If it matters to you," Skana said, "Torli did ask that your lives be spared."
He remained silent, but he was clearly paying attention.
"Do you know why Torli betrayed you? Sold you out to us, gave us your hideout, gave us your escape route, and made sure that we knew to have a patrol there when you were most vulnerable and all together?" Skana said, spinning a detailed lie that answered unasked questions in her prisoner's mind...and gave him a different question on top of that, which she proceeded to answer when he shook his head.
"Because she knew your whole mission was fucked from the start. Well, that's how Torli put it. Oh, sure, it was fine when you were just there to observe, report, and gather data. But when your boss pushed for more active actions, she knew you were all screwed. The Sorcerer King is incredibly popular here, you don't think he has eyes in this city, you don't think his intelligence apparatus is good enough to catch overt operations and ensure they are screwed. If you want the truth, even if Torli hadn't told us hours in advance that you were impromptu backing Remedios's plans, the Sorcerer King's apparatus is even better than ours, and the plan was doomed from the start. You only lasted this long because we wanted that operation to go down so we could get rid of most of our enemies in one shot."
She saw the understanding continue to grow as more and more was filled in.
"Torli saved your lives." Skana said, "Even if she did disobey the commands of the Slane Theocracy, one thing she denied was having anything to do with Remedios's escape. She gave up your role behind the attack on our headquarters...but...why deny that?"
A guttural howl came out of the man's mouth as he rolled his head in anger, realizing that Skana had everything. "Because we didn't actually do that." He said, "I suppose there is no point in saying nothing about that, now that she's already told you. I knew that stupid operation was fucked. Remedios was and is a moron, she's like an arrow- good if unleashed on target, but anything it does on its own is worthless. I didn't think Torli would take it so hard, though that she'd betray her orders to save our lives...but still, you're right, we were behind that operation just like she said, but we weren't behind Remedios's rescue. I don't know who did that one, but it wasn't us."
"I see." Skana said.
"Mind telling me just 'why' you took that risk? Torli described it as if it were just an opportunistic thing, you had an outraged Paladin and a group of people in reach that she'd be happy to kill, and you took a chance. But I find that hard to believe."
He clenched his fists and rattled his chains as he shook them in frustration.
"You're loyal to the undead, of course, we wanted you all dead, and we took the chance we saw presented with that stupid paladin...stupid operation though it was, it had to be done, we can't let you grow your influence and drive people from the gods. You have to be put down, or who knows how close your nation will grow to the Sorcerous Kingdom!" He said and spat at the floor for emphasis, and he turned his eyes on Skana, and she could feel the hate coming off of him as they bored into her, "Mark my words, that undead will betray you, he'll cast you down and use you like toys and make you suffer if he's not stopped, if you put him into your hands, we'll grow weaker and weaker until we can't stop him."
She felt the hate was less directed at her and more directed at the undead. It was only by the greatest of control that Skana kept her anger in check and asked, "So you planned to stop the undead by taking the lives of people?"
He went sullenly quiet.
"How many of us would you kill to keep us from controlling our own destiny?" She asked the sullen and furious prisoner.
"Fucking all of you." He said.
"You'll never get the chance." She replied as she stood up, walked out, and locked him in the room by himself.
"That was a most productive interrogation." Skana said softly to herself, just as someone approached with a series of documents.
"Are those the interrogation reports?" Skana asked, and the courier quickly nodded in the affirmative.
"Very good." She took them in hand and began to flip through them, one prisoner had managed to take his own life by bashing their skull against the wall when he was left alone, but others had yielded some significant information on what nobles had helped, and some had given up information on some criminal elements that had been responsible, all had denied involvement in Remedios's escape, and several contacts were listed.
Skana was most troubled, though, by the uniform fanaticism they displayed, none of them seemed even slightly bothered by the idea of exterminating even her entire nation if that is what it took to keep the nation from forming stronger ties with Ainz Ooal Gown. That was the thought that bothered her most, as she went off to find something to eat.
In the castle court room of King Caspond...
Neia listened to the report delivered by Robel & Gilcrest on everything that had transpired, and when the report came that it was the Slane Theocracy behind it, she turned pale. An internal faction was one thing...a rebellious element even...but a foreign government?
Her pale skin had not recovered its color when the King called upon her to come forward.
"Lady Neia," King Caspond said, "I believe you had a matter to present to me today?"
Neia approached and knelt before the throne, "I do majesty...yet I now know more than I did, thanks to the efforts of my heroic people, but so much more, that I fear to surrender that knowledge here."
The King's expression turned dark. "You wish to conceal things from me?"
"Never, majesty." Neia said, "I wish only to do so privately, with those you trust most, or better, none at all."
Caspond's expression held firm, and silence had fallen among the court.
"Very well." He said, "We will gather in the council room immediately, but this had better be worth it."
The council was summoned, as the King got up and walked to a nearby private chamber, and soon Neia found herself in a room with Count Handor, Commander Gustav, and a small collection of other nobles, military, and priestly figures, which made up the private council of the King.
"Neia Baraja, state your peace." The King said as everybody took their seats.
Neia's voice was firm and filled with darkness as she spoke. "The Slane Theocracy was behind the attack on the Black Justice quarter of the city."
Silence was thick in the room as Neia continued. "They had an operation center in the city, made up of a single building in one of the squares, and augmented by a secret path underground between it and a restaurant called 'The Red Bird'. The entire staff of the restaurant was made up of operatives, other operatives are scattered about at various public establishments like taverns, where the proprietors would feed information back to the headquarters building to be compiled." She said.
She looked them over, some of them were striving to conceal their nervousness, others looked dumbfounded.
"All of the documents of their headquarters were seized in a raid launched by my people early today, and we're currently sorting through documents and will have them delivered here soon. I trust I don't need to explain the problem here?" Neia said sharply.
King Caspond nodded slowly, and his expression went from impatient to very grave.
Gustav almost collapsed, his eyes and mouth were wide open in horror.
"This is tantamount to war on our country." Count Handor said, in a soft voice the likes of which Neia had never heard him use.
"It is." Gustav repeated. "I...I just can't believe it."
"The question is...do we say anything at all?" Neia asked.
"What do you mean?" The King asked.
"Well, majesty, there aren't many operatives involved. If we simply kill them all, we can plant a few rumors that it was identified as a criminal headquarters that was taken down in a raid, and not make any further issue of it. The Slane Theocracy then won't have to officially respond or deny anything publicly, and privately they'll know that fucking with our national security is a bad idea." Neia said bluntly.
"Or..." Count Handor said, "They'll decide the lack of public response means we're too weak to respond and they'll just do something else."
Neia hated that he wasn't wrong.
"We are too weak to respond." Gustav said flatly.
"We've only finally almost rebuilt the Capitol, much of our population is dead, we would be starving if it were not for the food aid of the Sorcerer Kingdom, vast amounts of treasure were taken and hidden by Jaldabaoth and his minions, and nobody knows where it went, and we still haven't rebuilt much of the North. The only intact place is the South, and the South cannot hope to defeat the Slane Theocracy on its own."
"You doubt us?" A richly dressed nobleman said, "We came to fight Jaldabaoth after all, and we are also supplying aid to our nation's reconstruction."
"No. Viscount Takran." Gustav shook his head as he looked to the southern noble who had spoken. "The help of the South has been invaluable, and I do not doubt your courage in battle, but in terms of military strength, our entire nation has been weakened. Your navy was eroded badly by Jaldabaoth, and the North does not have the military power to fight another nation on land. If we fight a war with the Theocracy, victory would be as bad as defeat for our people."
The Viscount tried to look hard and sure, but in the end, his face collapsed in a sigh, "As expected of Commander Gustav, you are right. If the Theocracy escalated things, much would be lost even if we won."
"We could simply send the Slane Theocracy the heads of their operatives and say nothing more." A young nobleman said. "Would that not be message enough?"
"It may be." Neia said, "However, it might to provocative. Perhaps we should approach them through an intermediary, someone they'll listen to."
"Such as the Re-Estize Kingdom." King Caspond said.
The table looked at him in surprise, including Neia, it was the first time she'd heard him say something that spoke of noble foresight.
"Yes." Neia said, "I suggest that we follow the King's suggestion, we approach them through the Re-Estize Kingdom, and inform them that their operation has been shut down. While I don't suggest we overly threaten them, I do suggest that the King promise not to inform the Sorcerer King that they had sought the deaths of hundreds of the people he took the time to save...if...they provide some appropriate compensation to the Kingdom." Neia improvised some additional benefits as she spoke, and subtly attributed them to the King would make it more likely to be accepted by both the council and himself.
There were no objections in the room, and the King silently thought at the table for a moment, and then nodded. "Agreed. We'll further go an extra step and offer to return the survivors for a set price per person, refusal will end in their demise or their sale to the Sorcerer King if he wants them."
It was an astute move on the King's part, she had to admit, the Theocracy would not want their operatives in the hands of the undead monarch, of that much Neia was certain.
"Majesty..." Commander Gustav began, "We must consider the possibility that they will respond to this with military force. What is our plan if they choose to do so? While we have substantial troops in the South, I doubt very much the North can hold out for long, and the South remains vulnerable since so many of their resources came from here."
The Viscount turned his gaze to Gustav as he realized the significance of Gustav's words, he mentally ran through the number of mines and farms...the South had more large cities and a vibrant coast, but it was mineral poor compared to the North, and it imported much of both mineral wealth and food to allow it to focus on producing finished goods, the permanent loss of the north was unacceptable.
King Caspond said it flatly and most unhappily, "We will have to appeal to our neighbor, the Sorcerer King, for help again."
There was a collective swallow in the council.
"Would he provide it?" Gustav asked doubtfully.
"He invested much in rebuilding us." King Caspond said. "It seems unlikely he'd let that investment go to waste by allowing us to be not only overthrown and conquered, but also become the province of a power that is overtly hostile to him in particular."
There were accepting nods around the table as people considered that their King's reasoning was sound. Neia in particular found that logic compelling, and she felt excited about the idea that she might get to see his heroism again...though as she considered the matter...she did not like the idea of watching him kill humans, even if it was necessary.
"Lady Neia," the King said, "Have all documents delivered to the castle, my operatives will go over them in detail, and we will see to the arrest of those responsible for collaborating with the Slane theocracy ourselves."
"It will be as you say, Majesty." Neia replied.
"Dismissed." The King said, and as they walked out, Gustav approached Neia. "Walk with me a little, will you?" He asked. She responded by falling into step beside him, and Gustav said, "I'll be blunt, while I'm shocked that Remedios got caught up in all this, I don't believe she was intending to betray the nation, and I doubt she knew that she was serving the interests of the Slane Theocracy."
Neia shrugged, "Does it matter? Whether she knew it was another country or thought it was some internal faction, she still set out to kill me and everybody who has adopted my thinking. Even if I believe you to be right, the only charge that changes is that she wouldn't be charged with conspiring with a foreign power. She still committed treason, among numerous other crimes."
Gustav's shoulders drooped, "I suppose you're right, it's just...this is all so much to cope with. I served with Remedios for many years. I knew how she was, I just never imagined that would lead to who she is."
"I know what you mean. She damned herself by inches, through one choice after another that she never considered looking back on, and now here she is, treasonous, murderous, and an escapee on the run... it's not how I expected her to be living after the war." Neia replied.
"Well, thank you, Lady Baraja." He said and clapped her on the shoulder, "Well done today. Who knows what would have happened if your people hadn't done their work?" He said and turned off down the hallway.
She left the royal court after that, feeling the confused and suspicious gazes of the members of the nobility behind her. It was never a comfortable thing to do, but she was never accosted on her way out.
When she returned to the area where the prisoners were being held, she gave instructions that all documents should be provided to the King immediately, but as he had given no instructions about the captives...they remained where they were, and Neia went to her office and begin sorting through the reports from the raid, Skana had executed it well and with minimal harm to anyone, the last of the nonparticipating parties who had been at the restaurant were recently sent back home with some compensation for lost time, and while complaints were not absent, people were more understanding when they learned they'd just been caught up in the pursuit of those responsible for the raid on the Black Justice quarter.
With only days to go before her trip, Neia had little time left, but she chose not to skip her evening speech.
"Strength is the means by which all justice flows. Imagine if all criminals, murderers, rapists, and thieves were stronger than all those who would stop them, could justice ever exist? NO! Because those who would be predators can be stopped by stronger men than they, they must hide themselves, or be brought to the headsman's ax! So it is not that might makes right, but only by might may right be done! When those who rule are unjust, it is right that the just turn on them, and if you lack the strength to triumph over the unjust, seek strength to make it so you can! What can one bully do against one hundred who will not let him bully others? We who survived the terror of Jaldabaoth should know this best of all, for it was one entity over all others who answered the prayer that we be saved, the Sorcerer King! He came with his strength, seeking greater strength to better protect his people, he took away the orcs who refused to harm our people, and who had been tormented for their trouble, he slew the demihumans that wore the skulls of our children as decorations for their clothing, he brought down Jaldabaoth, allowing our army to finally end the scourge that plagued us! He took the hills where the demihumans sprang from, so that they would never come against us again. This makes him the one true god, and the definition of justice!"
Her voice rang out over the crowd, and not a one did not shiver with enthusiasm at her words.
Her voice went lower after the climax, and she walked closer to the edge of the stage, "Yet what are we? Do we not ALL seek justice, do we not share that with he who is our god? Do we not come in common mind, hoping to be well treated by others, that we may live peaceful lives of prosperity and hope? Is that spirit of that god not then within us all? We are ALL agents of justice if we choose to be, the only question is whether or not we have the courage to take up that mantle, and the will to pursue the strength to make that justice manifest in the world, so that WE WILL NOT BE BEATEN AGAIN!" Her voice rose to a sudden fever pitch in her final five words, and it electrified the crowd, resulting in cheers ringing out over the masses.
When her sermon ended, she walked down from the stage, and Sebas fell into step behind her as was his habit, and she said nothing to him, for now was her time among the crowd, shaking hands and talking to people individually, answering questions and praising people for their will to survive, and hearing out individuals with problems.
Along the way, she encountered Skana, who clapped her on the shoulder and said, "Well done as always, Lady Neia, you really know how to move people."
"Thank you, Skana." Neia said with a grin, "It helps when every word is true." She replied further, and moved on to others as the crowd dispersed, until finally she made her way to the edge, and went back to her office/residence.
"Well, Sebas, it looks like our time together is coming to an end." Neia said as she reached her door.
"Yes, it does, and I have enjoyed seeing how you have been handling the challenges you are presented with. Lord Ainz was right, you are an...interesting human." Sebas said in his customary polite and even tone.
Neia blushed bright red at the implied praise. "Th-thank you. The Sorcerer King is incomparably kind." She said and shut the door behind her, and went to her rest.
The next two days were a heady affair, the merchant caravan arrived at the city and began to gather supplies to replenish itself before the next leg of their journey, where Neia and her band would accompany them, the documents supplied to the King resulted in a treasure trove of data and several minor nobles and citizens were arrested and hanged, but a break in at the facility where the documents were stored had evidently taken place and several materials were stolen, and the theft was not discovered until after the hangings of the more minor figures, making questioning them impossible. Neia had managed to attend the execution of the priest who had tried to kill you, as a kind of token apology, the King sped up the execution by a day, allowing her a front row seat to watch him die, so she could go in the morning without a living enemy behind her. She thought she'd enjoy some satisfaction, but she knew in her heart she hadn't, she didn't feel the hatred she thought she would. She felt...sadness well up in her heart, not peace, he was just another lost soul who died fighting for the wrong side.
When it was over, she approached the executioner and held out a few coins. "This is for his body." She said. "Have him buried in accordance with his beliefs, he's been punished enough."
The man's expression was one of shock, and without saying anything, she turned around. Neia Baraja walked home alone.