Written by: AtheistBasementDragon
Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

...Outside Prart...

As Neia got on her horse next to Tinamoc, she felt a glow of satisfaction, victory was like great sex, leaving satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment from a job well done, in that it left everybody who mattered, satisfied and happy... it was impossible not to smile in such circumstances, and this was no different, with Prart's reconstruction now back on track and the Black Justice temple established, there was a fresh sense of hope that filled the city, replacing the miasma of corruption that had filled the air like smoke in a chimney when she her caravan had arrived not that long ago.

“Hell of a job." Tinamoc said to her as they spurred their horses to a comfortable canter at the head of the column.

"Same to you." Neia said with a genuine smile on her face, "Your expertise with trade and coin made all the difference in sorting out the corrupt, and with a few of your older partners deciding to settle there, work with the temple and with the council... well there is a triumvirate of progress set to fix all that went wrong. I hope I get a chance to visit this city again in a few years and see what they've done with the place."

"It'll be a site worth seeing I'm sure." Tinamoc said, "But now that we're heading south, well... how much do you know about it? Ever been there?" He asked.

"No." She answered, "I know they weren't hit as hard by Jaldabaoth, and that the temples are very strong there, I know their coasts are well defended and that they produce many finished goods, and their population is more concentrated than the North, at least that is what I gathered from the briefings I sat in on during the war." Neia said, reciting what she could remember in a fashion more hesitant than her usual commanding tone.

"That's about right." Tinamoc responded.

"It'll take us a while to get to the border even traveling by the most direct route. We'll be pausing at roughly one day per village to take on and drop off laborers and travelers, and of course to trade, but when we reach the border... well, it is almost like a completely different country. The South has never had to have the same fear of the Abelion hills that the North has, and though they've had some trouble with demihumans over the years, it hasn't been nearly on the same scale. As a result, they don't have the same strength of hostility against the demihumans that the North does, but they also don't have the same reverence for the Sorcerer King either." Tinamoc said casually.

Neia listened intently, soaking up the information.

"The Southern nobility has strong ties to the Slane Theocracy through sea trade, and as a result the priests have strong influence, from what I heard, there were many who argued that the Northern Kingdom should have been abandoned entirely as punishment for consorting with the undead to save themselves, Jaldabaoth was considered to be divine punishment for impiety, and consorting with the undead was just 'proof' of that failing." He said, prompting Neia's jaw to tense tightly.

"As we come closer and closer to the dividing wall at the narrow land bridge, expect your message of the glory of the Sorcerer King to have fewer and fewer friendly ears, and if word of it has already reached the border guards, expect them to give us trouble getting through, the King's writ will force the issue and we will get through... but expect to be harassed about your faith. Just remember your mission, guard this caravan, spreading the message of Black Justice is secondary to furthering trade ties." He reminded her in a serious tone of voice.

Neia nodded silently, trying to imagine herself not spreading the word of Ainz... and finding that her imagination just wasn't good enough to picture that. Nonetheless she said, "I understand. I'll... be as discreet as I can be."

The next few days were joyfully peaceful, as word of the successes and ferocity of Black Justice spread from place to place, and as a result both bandits and demihumans in hiding gave a wide berth to the path of the caravan, which was particularly noteworthy because of the apparent richness of the prize if someone were to plunder it successfully.

Two events in particular had given Neia incredible joy. The first was that she began to receive the long distance correspondence of Ainz Ooal Gown which critiqued her assessment of his Justice and served as the foundation for her compilation of his sacred text... and in the second... word came from the capital of widespread conversions, the first priests had begun to move out into the villages and towns Neia had passed through. Of similar significance was the success she had in evangelizing to travelers who joined the caravan for safety. The nightly training of Black Justice made a powerful impression on the people, as did the powerful speaking of Neia Baraja herself.

They were peaceful and profitable days, with the first few towns she went to already having converts present as a result of people moving outward from Prart and even from the capital, and all was well till the day she saw the column of smoke in the distance.

Skana was the first to see it as she had ridden ahead, but by the time she made it back to the caravan to warn them all, the smoke had grown into a column large enough to be seen from the caravan's line of travel.

Neia's eyes were hidden by her visor, but behind her visor, gone was the happy contentment that had filled the recent days, and returned was the veteran commander, the acolyte of the Sorcerer King's justice.

Tinamoc sensed the change in her, but even had he not, a column of smoke on a clear day that was visible from miles away... was rarely a good thing, still, he held out hope.

"Could they be burning the stubble out of the field?" He asked Neia.

"Unlikely." Neia said, "Not at this time of year, that should take place in the fall after harvest."

"Shit." Tinamoc said.

"Yes." Neia replied.

As Skana rode up, she found orders already waiting for her.

"Take the other scouts, check the town, take no unnecessary risks, look for survivors, but avoid engagement if at all possible." Neia said swiftly.

Skana had barely finished hearing the orders when she called up the rest of her scouting unit. She swiftly changed her mount for a fresh one, and then they spurred their horses on, leaning low to ensure that they could move as swiftly as possible, as they moved out, Neia looked over to Tinamoc, "We don't know what we're getting into here, so I'll have the wagons circle into defensive posture, you and the rest of the merchants take safety positions, whatever caused that fire may be entirely benign, or it may be hostile forces that would love to target a merchant caravan."

Tinamoc nodded as Neia barked out her orders, and with practiced ease the wagons began to circle up and the mercenary guards and Black Justice began to take up their formations.

The air was tense and the caravan as silent as the grave, the only sound to speak of was the sound of wind over grass and through bushes.

Neia kept her eyes scanning the area as she paced the formation, though she felt no need to say anything, occasionally she reached down and touched the shoulder of a merchant or servant laying down in concealment, offering them a reassuring look to calm their nerves. The calm was always unsettling to those new to risk, but for her and her band of veterans, the calm was a familiar companion.

She had just completed a circuit when the scouts returned with Skana at their head, she dismounted with practiced ease and saluted Neia before immediately speaking out her report. Even had she said nothing, Neia was certain the news was bad, given the grim expression the scouts all shared.

"It's bad. Everybody is dead." She said.

"Everybody?" Neia asked with surprise.

"Everybody." Skana said with a flat voice.

"What happened?" Neia asked.

Skana sighed heavily and knelt to the dirt, and she began to draw the layout of the village.

"The village didn't have a wall to speak of, just a fence, good enough to keep small animals in, but nothing that a good swing of a mace couldn't bring down, and all it really did was ensure that in their panic, people would be trapped and easy prey. The attackers were organized, they broke in at two points, first over here," she pointed to one side, "and then over here," she pointed to another area of the fence she'd drawn, "based on where the casualties were greatest, and the fact that one group had a lot of stabs in the back, so they were hit twice. After that, it looks like they hit the houses, dragged people out of them, and then killed them in the center." Her voice was clinical, and it reminded Neia of priests who were evaluating the injured and sick to determine what spell to use.

"Anything left?" She asked Skana softly.

"The animals were slaughtered rather than taken, and it seems that they took food and other basic supplies, but it wasn't thoroughly ransacked like a usual bandit raid, so I don't think that was the motive here." Skana said.

"Demihuman attack maybe?" Neia asked.

"No." Skana replied. "All the footprints were human sized and shaped, plus demihumans would have left more claw marks, bite marks, and blunt trauma, and they'd have eaten some of the people at least. Plus, I found something else." Neia looked at her expectantly as Skana reached into her pack and drew out a crudely made banner with the Black Justice emblem on it... but it was different, in the center, painted white, blasphemously over top of their own, was the sigil of the house Bessarez.

Neia swore. She kept swearing.

Skana and her scouts waited for the tirade of profanity to pass, and when it did, Neia took a deep breath and said one word. "Remedios."

They felt a chill pass over them.

"It had to be her." Neia said. "I just... I can't believe this. I have to see it for myself. Did you scout the area, any sign of hostiles?" She asked.

"Yes I did." She replied. "They're all gone, had to have been around a hundred of them." Skana said.

"Alright, we're going to have our work cut out for us, but for now we'll move in on the site and see what else we can work out. Scout the area surrounding us by around two bow shots, then rejoin us when we've established ourselves at the village remnants." Neia said, and then turned around and called out orders to reform and move on, and with the same practiced ease of many journeys, the wagons rolled on, one following the other out of the circle, while Neia briefed Tinamoc at the front.

"Damn." Tinamoc said simply. "So you think it was Remedios, do you?"

"I'm nearly certain of it. Of all those devoted to Queen Calca, nobody else was as dedicated as she was. Moreover, I've seen how much she's unraveled, she's nearly mad, and she already tried to kill me and all my people in our sleep. I don't know what drove her to go so far, but she's acting like we and those who agree with us are... well... like we're demihumans or heteromorphs. She was always brutal towards those groups, she wouldn't have hesitated even to kill a baby orc, just because it was an orc. After she escaped the capital during the fire along with her supporters, nobody knows where she went. Now she's here, and I'll be honest, I don't think it is a coincidence that she struck a village in our path."

"So what will you do?" Tinamoc said in a serious tone of voice.

"I'll send word back to the capital, back to Prart for the council to deal with, and we'll move on... but I'll also need to warn the other villages. Black Justice supporters have been growing in number, if Remedios is out there targeting all of us, a whole lot of people are going to die, and if she strikes this caravan, we'll be hard pressed to stop her." Neia said softly.

"You can't win?" Tinamoc asked, his face draining of color.

"I doubt very much I could defeat her in hand to hand combat... I'm a skilled archer, I can do things with a bow that nobody else in the Paladin Order ever could, I'm a better tracker, I have better equipment, and if I may dare say so I have better people... I might... MIGHT be able to take her down from a distance. But up close, her skill with a sword far surpasses me. As a group we could take her down, but she's not alone."

Neia turned the matter over in her head as they rode in silence for a time, and then she said, "I don't know how many people support us, I don't think anybody knows, but I know Remedios Custodio, if she's somehow gotten it into her head that followers of Ainz and Black Justice are not to be counted as human... she'll never stop until we make her stop. We've got to secure our people, wherever they are... but I'll need help for that." She said softly.

When they arrived at the village, Neia halted the column and rode into the village with a number of her warriors. A horrible scene awaited them, the smoke had long since begun to subside, and the bodies had turned pale, many of them still curled up clutching their wounds, while others had died running, some had terrified expressions on their faces, others had no faces left from where a hammer or mace had brought them down.

Some there were clutches of people together, either near an escape route that had been blocked off, or amidst others where they'd made a stand and died fighting, most of those had many wounds, whoever killed them had not shown any quarter, whether they were man or woman, young or old, and they had fought with whatever they had, kitchen knives, hammers, even pitchforks, for all the good it had done them. Near the center of the village was a pole to which the banner of Black Justice must have hung, there was one figure dressed in a facsimile of the Black Justice uniform, his body slumped against it, his head severed, and stuck through to the pole with a short sword. Neia immediately recognized him. "Tiksin..." She sighed.

Tinamoc approached. "He looks familiar."

Neia nodded, "He should, awhile back he was the one who joined us briefly before going to the capital, he was the one I got off on the murder charge, he must have gone to the capital, and then found his way here and converted some or most or even all of this village to our beliefs. Now he died for it." She clenched her fist in frustration, and after a lingering glance at the dead man, she walked away and began to aimlessly sort through the ruins.

Neia had seen death, she had dealt death, but as she lifted a charred plank and tipped it over and let it fall with a thud, to see that a child... a young girl clutching a straw doll, here dirty blonde hair still bright and her eyes turned dull as glass, devoid of life after she had been trampled, Neia still found her stomach roiling. Even being case hardened as she was, the most innocent victims of conflict, still got to her, seeing Tiksin was bad, seeing this was worse.

Others were no better, some had been killed by the smoke or were buried under the debris when their burning homes collapsed on them, Neia closed her eyes and the village fell into view in her mind, people moving around, living their lives, starting their day... paladins attacked, the village had no coordinated response, some hasty struggling ensued, the practiced paladins opened a breach elsewhere and hit the defenders in the back or caught those fleeing as they ran, "Fire... there is always fire in these things..." Neia thought to herself as she dropped a charred piece of wood she'd been holding without thinking. She let the vision fade from her mind, opened her eyes, and dropped the wood with a dull thunk.

"Are you alright, Pope Neia?" Skana asked softly.

"I'm fine, just fine." She said in reply to Skana. "These kinds of things are never pretty," she gestured to where the now exposed body of the girl lay, "She'll never grow up, never have a first kiss, a first crush, a first tumble in the hay, a first child, a first harvest, a first gray hair... so much is lost when a child dies. It reminds me that, in her way, Queen Calca had noble beliefs, even if they couldn't be achieved. She forgot the importance of power to justice, and so, there lies the fruit of weakness, an eternal loss, not just of one life, but of all the lives that could have ever sprung from her." Neia said, tears welled up in her fierce eyes, and Skana reached her hand out, and clutched at Neia's, their battle hardened hands, squeezed one another tight, and they shared a look at the eternal loss, one small life among many, but it touched them nonetheless.

Neia rubbed the wellspring of emotion from her eyes with the back of her free hand, "Let’s get back to work, these people need a proper burial before we move on, I'll tell Tinamoc we're going to stay overnight to take care of this, but in the meantime I will need help to get warnings to the other villages."

Skana gave her hand one final squeeze, and let go, their hands fell back to their sides, and Neia passed along her instructions, it was hardly necessary, both servants and soldiers and even merchants had begun to get out shovels, and Tinamoc had already made the judgement to stay for himself, so after expressing her gratitude, Neia sent a message, not to Ainz, but rather to Sebas, an answer was swift in coming.

"My lord I need your assistance." She said.

"What is it?" Sebas replied.

"My lord, Remedios Custodio has taken to targeting the followers of Black Justice, the followers of the god of Justice, Ainz Ooal Gown. I have just come to a village they have destroyed, everyone has been killed, and the man I presume was our representative here, has been beheaded and his head stuck to a pole. with a sword through the mouth." Neia said, and silence followed.

"I see, such an insult against our lord will not be allowed to stand, but I'm sure you're not contacting me just to inform me of this, what do you want?" Sebas replied.

"I need mounts that will never tire, we must warn the other villages, all the villages where Black Justice has spread to, if we can warn them, they can protect themselves or they can withdraw to the cities, our people will be safe." Neia replied.

"I will speak to my lord immediately." Sebas answered.

A few minutes later, the portal opened in the middle of the ruined village, and the stuff of nightmares stepped through, first one, then another, then another, hell horses, undead beasts with four legs, solid ice blue eyes, and tendrils of fire sprouting from gaps in the ragged flesh over parts of their body, their bleached bones contrasting against what black flesh still clung to them, they emitted an oppressive aura of the sort only the undead could do, they were beasts of legend, seen by not one adventurer in ten thousand, and even fewer lived to speak of what they saw... yet here was a herd of them, standing docile and waiting to be mounted like loyal war horses.

Standing as they were in the midst of the dead, the growing stench of corpses, smoke from houses, and the sound of the occasional collapse, it might have been a hellscape of the afterlife, punishment for failure, punishment for weakness, who could say for what, but it felt like punishment for something. It sent chills down the backs of those present.

"Skana, get going, this might have been the first attack, but it won't be the last if we don't do something about this." Neia said, "Take a cart behind each horse, the undead are strong, the undead do not sleep, you'll be able to get the weak and infirm out faster, get people to move towards Prart out of the line of march."

"What is the line of march, Pope Neia?" Skana asked with surprise.

"Us." Neia responded.

"I don't believe for a moment that this," she gestured to bodies that lay strewn about the ground like puppets without strings, "was just coincidentally along our route. Remedios was part of the council, she was head of the Paladin Order, she almost certainly knew the typical route of large caravans like this one since securing the trade routes was a vital part of their duty. She did this so that we'd find it, and that means she'll start targeting others along the way, anywhere in our sphere of influence, she's starting a holy war." Neia said with an almost vicious sadness in her voice.

"We'll go immediately!" Skana said, and with a lingering glance at Neia, cold eyes met deadly eyes, and a moment's warmth was shared between them, and Skana rushed to obey, and her scouts with her, swiftly attaching carts to saddles, and riding out as fast as the winds of a hurricane.

Neia looked around, people were already digging graves for the dead, and Neia stood in a silent vigil, watching it happen as one by one, bodies were lowered into the ground over the next several hours. It was a warm day, but all Neia felt was cold.

...In the Capital city council chamber...

"She's done WHAT?" King Caspond said with shock.

"She's started burning villages." Count Handor said flatly, almost bored with the whole matter. "They're only peasants, but it looks bad, not least because of who she was. It will surely undermine his majesty's reign if nothing is done to halt it."

The council chamber was nearly silent after Handor finished speaking.

Caspond looked over at Gustav, "Do you believe this report?"

Gustav's face was white as a ghost, his body trembled with emotion, more than it had even when approaching the hour of battle. "I don't want this to be true," he spoke in a soft voice, looking not at the King, but at the table, "but I know Neia Baraja, she wouldn't jump to a baseless conclusion, and she wouldn't lie, not about this. Also... Remedios has changed, she's not who she was, the last time I spoke with her was the day of her attack, she was half mad, but I never imagined she'd do that, and if she could do that, she could do this... so I say we treat this report as if it were true."

Caspond pondered the matter and gestured to the new head priest of Alah Alaf, "What do you say?"

The man, Jager Hagai, had a conflicted expression, and it showed as his face ran through a series of emotions. "I do not know this new 'Pope Neia' except by reputation, but I would say anyone who follows an undead is capable of killing innocent people for ritual reasons, magic, power, or even simple pleasure. On the other hand, the undead king she served fought for the living, and she took part in many valiant actions for the people under his guidance. Remedios has indeed changed, but could she have changed so much? I don't know, but I say we should undertake two measures. To ensure this isn't the work of Neia Baraja herself, we send a representative of the crown to meet and move with her escort, whose safety she will be personally accountable for. At the same time, Commander Gustav, you were going to go out and hunt demihumans and bandits in the next what... week or so... I say instead you should make it your mission to hunt down and capture Remedios Custodio, or take her down if she cannot be captured. His majesty can improve matters by sending soldiers to protect the villages on the roads to the South, and providing some resources to help them start over. If, as this message reads, there are going to be more attacks, we must help the villages start over as soon as possible."

The proposal was met with approving nods, including that of the King.

"Agreed, get started immediately. Jager, you will take charge of the relief efforts, Gustav, you will push up your departure time, we will send further supplies to you as soon as we can, but I want you and your men out that gate by dawn tomorrow. Find Remedios Custodio, and bring her in or bring her down, I do not care which." Caspond said sharply and stood up, and both men stood and bowed in turn, and went out the door as fast as their legs could carry them, followed quickly by the rest of the council.

...In the Capital city's Black Justice Headquarters...

"How many priests have gone out today?" Robel asked Gilcrest with a broad smile as he sat behind Neia Barja's desk.

"We had twenty more leave, the correspondence between the Pope and the Sorcerer King that we've been getting back recently has been bound together, I don't know how long it will be when it is finished, especially with the letters added between new believers asking the various questions about what is appropriate behavior for various conditions... but as it is there is enough to disseminate to the masses." Gilcrest's grin was no less broad as he gave his answer. "The training they're provided in such a rapid pace has produced amazing results, nothing changes a person like going to Nazarick." With that statement, he unknowingly coined an expression that would go down through the ages as the phrase 'going to Nazarick' came to be used to describe a person setting out to change their lives.

"But," he continued, "with each one that we've sent out, we've also sent out armed guards armed with equipment that the personal guards of King Caspond would envy, the constant training is serving us well, and what’s more, as our priests are capable of healing now, and are doing it for free, we're stealing away the audiences of the other temples."

Robel shuffled a few papers and pulled out another one, "And finances?" He asked.

"Low, but we're doing alright, the undead labor has offset the cost of building the temple, we've had no new attacks on our people, I guess all our worst enemies are now either arrested, fled, or turned into skeletons and they're now building our temple. We're offsetting the financial losses by following the Pope's idea to rent out excess undead labor as servants and laborers around the city, I'm glad she sent that idea back to us. Once we've established dominance in villages, enough to build temples there too, then we'll start asking for those of our people who pass away, to dedicate their bodies to serving after death." Gilcrest said.

Robel gave an approving expression, "The pope was quite clear however that nobody be coerced into it, they may volunteer their bodies, they may sell themselves after death to the benefit of their heirs, and those being executed for crimes, but nobody other than the condemned should ever be forced. Anyone caught trying to force that end on someone in some way, including family members who try to sell their own dead who did not expressly grant permission in life for this to be done, should be severely punished."

"What did you have in mind?" Gilcrest asked.

"Three months hard labor for the first offence, one year for the second, and to become undead labor themselves at the third offense." Robel suggested calmly.

"Not unreasonable, but will the King approve?" Gilcrest followed up.

"I think so, the priests will certainly like most of the penalties, it'll look like we're exercising some self control, it'll ease some concerns in some quarters, and we need people at ease, and if they back the measure, the King will." Robel replied.

"You don't think they'll try to impose a total ban?" Gilcrest asked with surprise.

"They might, but they're in a bad way right now, we're rebuilding things, meanwhile the Paladin Order is disgraced, a head priest has been hanged as an assassin, foreign elements directly threatened this city, and the disgraced head of the Paladin Order had the city burned and fled to save her own skin. No matter what they actually want to do... this is something they'll have to accept." Robel replied clinically.

"And what about all the missing documents and the prisoners?" Robel asked.

"From what the King has revealed, the documents were stolen by an insider in the council, and he has his own investigation going, one we're not to interfere with, however he has allowed us to have custody of them pending the response from the Slane Theocracy, whether they're returned alive or dead, or at all... well I am not too worried, they're secure for now and they're not going anywhere. We did have one suicide, but we took care to make sure that didn't happen again." Gilcrest replied.

"Oh, what did you do?" Robel asked curiously.

"We gathered the other prisoners together, then turned their dead comrade into an undead skeleton in front of them, and we put it to work for us, thanks to some of the additional materials provided by the Sorcerer King, it was easy, and it was very effective, I told them that if they took their own lives, we'd make them into our servants, and that their only chance of getting either out of this with their lives, or dying and having a peaceful end afterwards, was to stay alive and stay put until the diplomatic solution was reached and the decision about their fates was made." Gilcrest said with a wolfish smile. "Oh, and as an added bonus, I did what you said and followed up about the Red Bird restaurant that they were using as a cover, and it turned out that it was being sublet several times over, tracking it back to its original owner however, we found the property itself belonged to a member of the nobility with close ties to Count Handor, a name you've heard before, Lord Baltrom. Isn't that a surprise?" Gilcrest said conversationally, in a tone that said it wasn't even slightly surprising.

Robel searched his memory silently for a moment, "The one whose man was caught stealing supplies?"

"The same." Gilcrest answered.

Robel sighed, "Not much can be done about it, it’s obvious to us, but it is plausible to deny any involvement. Let’s keep this to ourselves for now."

"Agreed." Gilcrest said.

"That's all I need for now, you can get back to seeing to the temple, I've got some more correspondence from the Pope to organize." Robel said, and after a brief salute, they parted ways.

...In the Slane Theocracy...

The cardinals sat around the table in their private chamber, while the statues of the six gods looked down on them, they cursed like drunken, horny, angry sailors who could not find a prostitute.

Berenice, the Cardinal of Fire, did not match the element for which she was named, she normally had a warm and motherly smile spreading across chipmunk cheeks and set the others at ease, but she was swearing like the rest of them as she read the correspondence fromt he Re-Estize Kingdom.

When the collective swearing had finally died down, her expression was like that of a mother who had just found her child badly injured. There was fear and deep concern warring for dominance on her face as she spoke.

"This is bad." Was what she managed to utter as she lay down the document.

Ginedine, the Cardinal of Water, had his wrinkled tan face puckered up in displeasure, as if he'd bitten into rotten meat. "Very bad." He said, as if to correct Berenice. "Our entire intelligence operation for the entirety of the Roble Holy Kingdom was based out of there, and those were some of our best operatives, all taken down in one operation. No mere human did this." He said with a dark expression easily coming over him.

Dominic, the Cardinal of Wind, looked furious. "There is nothing MERE about humans, do not blaspheme the chosen race of the divine so!" He snapped. "But yes, this is very bad, and I agree no human mind was behind this, it was too coldly executed, to perfect, even if we did manage to have the worst of the documents removed, that only tips the hands of the most important people that they have some high ranking traitors among them."

Yvon, the sinister looking Cardinal of light, tapped his fingers slowly together as he leaned forward and said, "Calm yourself Dominic, you know what he meant. Somehow the Sorcerer King is behind this, but I think indirectly because remember what their message said... That if we're cooperative they won't tell the Sorcerer King that you were responsible for the threat to people he bothered to save..." He paused to let that sink in, "That means his followers did this, not him personally, but they chose those words very carefully, do you remember them from before?" He asked. Silence ruled again.

Thousand Mile Astrologer spoke up, "I do. I didn't see all of what he did to the Sunlight Scripture, but I saw that much, that was the phrase the Sorcerer King used before killing them all."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop from spring to winter.
Maximillian, the Cardinal of Darkness spoke up, "We should ransom them, privately, there's no point in denial when they already know beyond a doubt who they came from, and where else could they be from anyway? The Sorcerer King has no need to use human operators and he'd have had them better guarded, the Re-Estize Kingdom can't fund such large operations as strapped as they are, and the Elf Kingdom is notably short on human agents, that leaves more or less just us, even with nothing else to go on, they'd have figured it out in time." He said flatly as he adjusted his large round glasses, he reached for a book of law floating near him, and read from the passage on international law, "Citizens of a nation which are captured while in service to their nation's interests while abroad, if captured, may be ransomed, even if their actions include criminal behavior including murder and all other criminal activities, and may be executed without repercussions if no one is willing to pay the price for their lives." He let go of the book, letting it float back with the others.

There was a general air of defeat, it was going to be expensive, but at least they'd keep the talent. The vote was passed unanimously, and they drafted a message to be sent through the Re-Estize Kingdom envoy.

"Alright, next item." Ginedine said as she pulled another document off the stack beside her.

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon
Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Chapter 13: There Was Always Fire

...Outside Prart...

As Neia got on her horse next to Tinamoc, she felt a glow of satisfaction, victory was like great sex, leaving satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment from a job well done, in that it left everybody who mattered, satisfied and happy... it was impossible not to smile in such circumstances, and this was no different, with Prart's reconstruction now back on track and the Black Justice temple established, there was a fresh sense of hope that filled the city, replacing the miasma of corruption that had filled the air like smoke in a chimney when she her caravan had arrived not that long ago.

“Hell of a job." Tinamoc said to her as they spurred their horses to a comfortable canter at the head of the column.

"Same to you." Neia said with a genuine smile on her face, "Your expertise with trade and coin made all the difference in sorting out the corrupt, and with a few of your older partners deciding to settle there, work with the temple and with the council... well there is a triumvirate of progress set to fix all that went wrong. I hope I get a chance to visit this city again in a few years and see what they've done with the place."

"It'll be a site worth seeing I'm sure." Tinamoc said, "But now that we're heading south, well... how much do you know about it? Ever been there?" He asked.

"No." She answered, "I know they weren't hit as hard by Jaldabaoth, and that the temples are very strong there, I know their coasts are well defended and that they produce many finished goods, and their population is more concentrated than the North, at least that is what I gathered from the briefings I sat in on during the war." Neia said, reciting what she could remember in a fashion more hesitant than her usual commanding tone.

"That's about right." Tinamoc responded.

"It'll take us a while to get to the border even traveling by the most direct route. We'll be pausing at roughly one day per village to take on and drop off laborers and travelers, and of course to trade, but when we reach the border... well, it is almost like a completely different country. The South has never had to have the same fear of the Abelion hills that the North has, and though they've had some trouble with demihumans over the years, it hasn't been nearly on the same scale. As a result, they don't have the same strength of hostility against the demihumans that the North does, but they also don't have the same reverence for the Sorcerer King either." Tinamoc said casually.

Neia listened intently, soaking up the information.

"The Southern nobility has strong ties to the Slane Theocracy through sea trade, and as a result the priests have strong influence, from what I heard, there were many who argued that the Northern Kingdom should have been abandoned entirely as punishment for consorting with the undead to save themselves, Jaldabaoth was considered to be divine punishment for impiety, and consorting with the undead was just 'proof' of that failing." He said, prompting Neia's jaw to tense tightly.

"As we come closer and closer to the dividing wall at the narrow land bridge, expect your message of the glory of the Sorcerer King to have fewer and fewer friendly ears, and if word of it has already reached the border guards, expect them to give us trouble getting through, the King's writ will force the issue and we will get through... but expect to be harassed about your faith. Just remember your mission, guard this caravan, spreading the message of Black Justice is secondary to furthering trade ties." He reminded her in a serious tone of voice.

Neia nodded silently, trying to imagine herself not spreading the word of Ainz... and finding that her imagination just wasn't good enough to picture that. Nonetheless she said, "I understand. I'll... be as discreet as I can be."

The next few days were joyfully peaceful, as word of the successes and ferocity of Black Justice spread from place to place, and as a result both bandits and demihumans in hiding gave a wide berth to the path of the caravan, which was particularly noteworthy because of the apparent richness of the prize if someone were to plunder it successfully.

Two events in particular had given Neia incredible joy. The first was that she began to receive the long distance correspondence of Ainz Ooal Gown which critiqued her assessment of his Justice and served as the foundation for her compilation of his sacred text... and in the second... word came from the capital of widespread conversions, the first priests had begun to move out into the villages and towns Neia had passed through. Of similar significance was the success she had in evangelizing to travelers who joined the caravan for safety. The nightly training of Black Justice made a powerful impression on the people, as did the powerful speaking of Neia Baraja herself.

They were peaceful and profitable days, with the first few towns she went to already having converts present as a result of people moving outward from Prart and even from the capital, and all was well till the day she saw the column of smoke in the distance.

Skana was the first to see it as she had ridden ahead, but by the time she made it back to the caravan to warn them all, the smoke had grown into a column large enough to be seen from the caravan's line of travel.

Neia's eyes were hidden by her visor, but behind her visor, gone was the happy contentment that had filled the recent days, and returned was the veteran commander, the acolyte of the Sorcerer King's justice.

Tinamoc sensed the change in her, but even had he not, a column of smoke on a clear day that was visible from miles away... was rarely a good thing, still, he held out hope.

"Could they be burning the stubble out of the field?" He asked Neia.

"Unlikely." Neia said, "Not at this time of year, that should take place in the fall after harvest."

"Shit." Tinamoc said.

"Yes." Neia replied.

As Skana rode up, she found orders already waiting for her.

"Take the other scouts, check the town, take no unnecessary risks, look for survivors, but avoid engagement if at all possible." Neia said swiftly.

Skana had barely finished hearing the orders when she called up the rest of her scouting unit. She swiftly changed her mount for a fresh one, and then they spurred their horses on, leaning low to ensure that they could move as swiftly as possible, as they moved out, Neia looked over to Tinamoc, "We don't know what we're getting into here, so I'll have the wagons circle into defensive posture, you and the rest of the merchants take safety positions, whatever caused that fire may be entirely benign, or it may be hostile forces that would love to target a merchant caravan."

Tinamoc nodded as Neia barked out her orders, and with practiced ease the wagons began to circle up and the mercenary guards and Black Justice began to take up their formations.

The air was tense and the caravan as silent as the grave, the only sound to speak of was the sound of wind over grass and through bushes.

Neia kept her eyes scanning the area as she paced the formation, though she felt no need to say anything, occasionally she reached down and touched the shoulder of a merchant or servant laying down in concealment, offering them a reassuring look to calm their nerves. The calm was always unsettling to those new to risk, but for her and her band of veterans, the calm was a familiar companion.

She had just completed a circuit when the scouts returned with Skana at their head, she dismounted with practiced ease and saluted Neia before immediately speaking out her report. Even had she said nothing, Neia was certain the news was bad, given the grim expression the scouts all shared.

"It's bad. Everybody is dead." She said.

"Everybody?" Neia asked with surprise.

"Everybody." Skana said with a flat voice.

"What happened?" Neia asked.

Skana sighed heavily and knelt to the dirt, and she began to draw the layout of the village.

"The village didn't have a wall to speak of, just a fence, good enough to keep small animals in, but nothing that a good swing of a mace couldn't bring down, and all it really did was ensure that in their panic, people would be trapped and easy prey. The attackers were organized, they broke in at two points, first over here," she pointed to one side, "and then over here," she pointed to another area of the fence she'd drawn, "based on where the casualties were greatest, and the fact that one group had a lot of stabs in the back, so they were hit twice. After that, it looks like they hit the houses, dragged people out of them, and then killed them in the center." Her voice was clinical, and it reminded Neia of priests who were evaluating the injured and sick to determine what spell to use.

"Anything left?" She asked Skana softly.

"The animals were slaughtered rather than taken, and it seems that they took food and other basic supplies, but it wasn't thoroughly ransacked like a usual bandit raid, so I don't think that was the motive here." Skana said.

"Demihuman attack maybe?" Neia asked.

"No." Skana replied. "All the footprints were human sized and shaped, plus demihumans would have left more claw marks, bite marks, and blunt trauma, and they'd have eaten some of the people at least. Plus, I found something else." Neia looked at her expectantly as Skana reached into her pack and drew out a crudely made banner with the Black Justice emblem on it... but it was different, in the center, painted white, blasphemously over top of their own, was the sigil of the house Bessarez.

Neia swore. She kept swearing.

Skana and her scouts waited for the tirade of profanity to pass, and when it did, Neia took a deep breath and said one word. "Remedios."

They felt a chill pass over them.

"It had to be her." Neia said. "I just... I can't believe this. I have to see it for myself. Did you scout the area, any sign of hostiles?" She asked.

"Yes I did." She replied. "They're all gone, had to have been around a hundred of them." Skana said.

"Alright, we're going to have our work cut out for us, but for now we'll move in on the site and see what else we can work out. Scout the area surrounding us by around two bow shots, then rejoin us when we've established ourselves at the village remnants." Neia said, and then turned around and called out orders to reform and move on, and with the same practiced ease of many journeys, the wagons rolled on, one following the other out of the circle, while Neia briefed Tinamoc at the front.

"Damn." Tinamoc said simply. "So you think it was Remedios, do you?"

"I'm nearly certain of it. Of all those devoted to Queen Calca, nobody else was as dedicated as she was. Moreover, I've seen how much she's unraveled, she's nearly mad, and she already tried to kill me and all my people in our sleep. I don't know what drove her to go so far, but she's acting like we and those who agree with us are... well... like we're demihumans or heteromorphs. She was always brutal towards those groups, she wouldn't have hesitated even to kill a baby orc, just because it was an orc. After she escaped the capital during the fire along with her supporters, nobody knows where she went. Now she's here, and I'll be honest, I don't think it is a coincidence that she struck a village in our path."

"So what will you do?" Tinamoc said in a serious tone of voice.

"I'll send word back to the capital, back to Prart for the council to deal with, and we'll move on... but I'll also need to warn the other villages. Black Justice supporters have been growing in number, if Remedios is out there targeting all of us, a whole lot of people are going to die, and if she strikes this caravan, we'll be hard pressed to stop her." Neia said softly.

"You can't win?" Tinamoc asked, his face draining of color.

"I doubt very much I could defeat her in hand to hand combat... I'm a skilled archer, I can do things with a bow that nobody else in the Paladin Order ever could, I'm a better tracker, I have better equipment, and if I may dare say so I have better people... I might... MIGHT be able to take her down from a distance. But up close, her skill with a sword far surpasses me. As a group we could take her down, but she's not alone."

Neia turned the matter over in her head as they rode in silence for a time, and then she said, "I don't know how many people support us, I don't think anybody knows, but I know Remedios Custodio, if she's somehow gotten it into her head that followers of Ainz and Black Justice are not to be counted as human... she'll never stop until we make her stop. We've got to secure our people, wherever they are... but I'll need help for that." She said softly.

When they arrived at the village, Neia halted the column and rode into the village with a number of her warriors. A horrible scene awaited them, the smoke had long since begun to subside, and the bodies had turned pale, many of them still curled up clutching their wounds, while others had died running, some had terrified expressions on their faces, others had no faces left from where a hammer or mace had brought them down.

Some there were clutches of people together, either near an escape route that had been blocked off, or amidst others where they'd made a stand and died fighting, most of those had many wounds, whoever killed them had not shown any quarter, whether they were man or woman, young or old, and they had fought with whatever they had, kitchen knives, hammers, even pitchforks, for all the good it had done them. Near the center of the village was a pole to which the banner of Black Justice must have hung, there was one figure dressed in a facsimile of the Black Justice uniform, his body slumped against it, his head severed, and stuck through to the pole with a short sword. Neia immediately recognized him. "Tiksin..." She sighed.

Tinamoc approached. "He looks familiar."

Neia nodded, "He should, awhile back he was the one who joined us briefly before going to the capital, he was the one I got off on the murder charge, he must have gone to the capital, and then found his way here and converted some or most or even all of this village to our beliefs. Now he died for it." She clenched her fist in frustration, and after a lingering glance at the dead man, she walked away and began to aimlessly sort through the ruins.

Neia had seen death, she had dealt death, but as she lifted a charred plank and tipped it over and let it fall with a thud, to see that a child... a young girl clutching a straw doll, here dirty blonde hair still bright and her eyes turned dull as glass, devoid of life after she had been trampled, Neia still found her stomach roiling. Even being case hardened as she was, the most innocent victims of conflict, still got to her, seeing Tiksin was bad, seeing this was worse.

Others were no better, some had been killed by the smoke or were buried under the debris when their burning homes collapsed on them, Neia closed her eyes and the village fell into view in her mind, people moving around, living their lives, starting their day... paladins attacked, the village had no coordinated response, some hasty struggling ensued, the practiced paladins opened a breach elsewhere and hit the defenders in the back or caught those fleeing as they ran, "Fire... there is always fire in these things..." Neia thought to herself as she dropped a charred piece of wood she'd been holding without thinking. She let the vision fade from her mind, opened her eyes, and dropped the wood with a dull thunk.

"Are you alright, Pope Neia?" Skana asked softly.

"I'm fine, just fine." She said in reply to Skana. "These kinds of things are never pretty," she gestured to where the now exposed body of the girl lay, "She'll never grow up, never have a first kiss, a first crush, a first tumble in the hay, a first child, a first harvest, a first gray hair... so much is lost when a child dies. It reminds me that, in her way, Queen Calca had noble beliefs, even if they couldn't be achieved. She forgot the importance of power to justice, and so, there lies the fruit of weakness, an eternal loss, not just of one life, but of all the lives that could have ever sprung from her." Neia said, tears welled up in her fierce eyes, and Skana reached her hand out, and clutched at Neia's, their battle hardened hands, squeezed one another tight, and they shared a look at the eternal loss, one small life among many, but it touched them nonetheless.

Neia rubbed the wellspring of emotion from her eyes with the back of her free hand, "Let’s get back to work, these people need a proper burial before we move on, I'll tell Tinamoc we're going to stay overnight to take care of this, but in the meantime I will need help to get warnings to the other villages."

Skana gave her hand one final squeeze, and let go, their hands fell back to their sides, and Neia passed along her instructions, it was hardly necessary, both servants and soldiers and even merchants had begun to get out shovels, and Tinamoc had already made the judgement to stay for himself, so after expressing her gratitude, Neia sent a message, not to Ainz, but rather to Sebas, an answer was swift in coming.

"My lord I need your assistance." She said.

"What is it?" Sebas replied.

"My lord, Remedios Custodio has taken to targeting the followers of Black Justice, the followers of the god of Justice, Ainz Ooal Gown. I have just come to a village they have destroyed, everyone has been killed, and the man I presume was our representative here, has been beheaded and his head stuck to a pole. with a sword through the mouth." Neia said, and silence followed.

"I see, such an insult against our lord will not be allowed to stand, but I'm sure you're not contacting me just to inform me of this, what do you want?" Sebas replied.

"I need mounts that will never tire, we must warn the other villages, all the villages where Black Justice has spread to, if we can warn them, they can protect themselves or they can withdraw to the cities, our people will be safe." Neia replied.

"I will speak to my lord immediately." Sebas answered.

A few minutes later, the portal opened in the middle of the ruined village, and the stuff of nightmares stepped through, first one, then another, then another, hell horses, undead beasts with four legs, solid ice blue eyes, and tendrils of fire sprouting from gaps in the ragged flesh over parts of their body, their bleached bones contrasting against what black flesh still clung to them, they emitted an oppressive aura of the sort only the undead could do, they were beasts of legend, seen by not one adventurer in ten thousand, and even fewer lived to speak of what they saw... yet here was a herd of them, standing docile and waiting to be mounted like loyal war horses.

Standing as they were in the midst of the dead, the growing stench of corpses, smoke from houses, and the sound of the occasional collapse, it might have been a hellscape of the afterlife, punishment for failure, punishment for weakness, who could say for what, but it felt like punishment for something. It sent chills down the backs of those present.

"Skana, get going, this might have been the first attack, but it won't be the last if we don't do something about this." Neia said, "Take a cart behind each horse, the undead are strong, the undead do not sleep, you'll be able to get the weak and infirm out faster, get people to move towards Prart out of the line of march."

"What is the line of march, Pope Neia?" Skana asked with surprise.

"Us." Neia responded.

"I don't believe for a moment that this," she gestured to bodies that lay strewn about the ground like puppets without strings, "was just coincidentally along our route. Remedios was part of the council, she was head of the Paladin Order, she almost certainly knew the typical route of large caravans like this one since securing the trade routes was a vital part of their duty. She did this so that we'd find it, and that means she'll start targeting others along the way, anywhere in our sphere of influence, she's starting a holy war." Neia said with an almost vicious sadness in her voice.

"We'll go immediately!" Skana said, and with a lingering glance at Neia, cold eyes met deadly eyes, and a moment's warmth was shared between them, and Skana rushed to obey, and her scouts with her, swiftly attaching carts to saddles, and riding out as fast as the winds of a hurricane.

Neia looked around, people were already digging graves for the dead, and Neia stood in a silent vigil, watching it happen as one by one, bodies were lowered into the ground over the next several hours. It was a warm day, but all Neia felt was cold.

...In the Capital city council chamber...

"She's done WHAT?" King Caspond said with shock.

"She's started burning villages." Count Handor said flatly, almost bored with the whole matter. "They're only peasants, but it looks bad, not least because of who she was. It will surely undermine his majesty's reign if nothing is done to halt it."

The council chamber was nearly silent after Handor finished speaking.

Caspond looked over at Gustav, "Do you believe this report?"

Gustav's face was white as a ghost, his body trembled with emotion, more than it had even when approaching the hour of battle. "I don't want this to be true," he spoke in a soft voice, looking not at the King, but at the table, "but I know Neia Baraja, she wouldn't jump to a baseless conclusion, and she wouldn't lie, not about this. Also... Remedios has changed, she's not who she was, the last time I spoke with her was the day of her attack, she was half mad, but I never imagined she'd do that, and if she could do that, she could do this... so I say we treat this report as if it were true."

Caspond pondered the matter and gestured to the new head priest of Alah Alaf, "What do you say?"

The man, Jager Hagai, had a conflicted expression, and it showed as his face ran through a series of emotions. "I do not know this new 'Pope Neia' except by reputation, but I would say anyone who follows an undead is capable of killing innocent people for ritual reasons, magic, power, or even simple pleasure. On the other hand, the undead king she served fought for the living, and she took part in many valiant actions for the people under his guidance. Remedios has indeed changed, but could she have changed so much? I don't know, but I say we should undertake two measures. To ensure this isn't the work of Neia Baraja herself, we send a representative of the crown to meet and move with her escort, whose safety she will be personally accountable for. At the same time, Commander Gustav, you were going to go out and hunt demihumans and bandits in the next what... week or so... I say instead you should make it your mission to hunt down and capture Remedios Custodio, or take her down if she cannot be captured. His majesty can improve matters by sending soldiers to protect the villages on the roads to the South, and providing some resources to help them start over. If, as this message reads, there are going to be more attacks, we must help the villages start over as soon as possible."

The proposal was met with approving nods, including that of the King.

"Agreed, get started immediately. Jager, you will take charge of the relief efforts, Gustav, you will push up your departure time, we will send further supplies to you as soon as we can, but I want you and your men out that gate by dawn tomorrow. Find Remedios Custodio, and bring her in or bring her down, I do not care which." Caspond said sharply and stood up, and both men stood and bowed in turn, and went out the door as fast as their legs could carry them, followed quickly by the rest of the council.

...In the Capital city's Black Justice Headquarters...

"How many priests have gone out today?" Robel asked Gilcrest with a broad smile as he sat behind Neia Barja's desk.

"We had twenty more leave, the correspondence between the Pope and the Sorcerer King that we've been getting back recently has been bound together, I don't know how long it will be when it is finished, especially with the letters added between new believers asking the various questions about what is appropriate behavior for various conditions... but as it is there is enough to disseminate to the masses." Gilcrest's grin was no less broad as he gave his answer. "The training they're provided in such a rapid pace has produced amazing results, nothing changes a person like going to Nazarick." With that statement, he unknowingly coined an expression that would go down through the ages as the phrase 'going to Nazarick' came to be used to describe a person setting out to change their lives.

"But," he continued, "with each one that we've sent out, we've also sent out armed guards armed with equipment that the personal guards of King Caspond would envy, the constant training is serving us well, and what’s more, as our priests are capable of healing now, and are doing it for free, we're stealing away the audiences of the other temples."

Robel shuffled a few papers and pulled out another one, "And finances?" He asked.

"Low, but we're doing alright, the undead labor has offset the cost of building the temple, we've had no new attacks on our people, I guess all our worst enemies are now either arrested, fled, or turned into skeletons and they're now building our temple. We're offsetting the financial losses by following the Pope's idea to rent out excess undead labor as servants and laborers around the city, I'm glad she sent that idea back to us. Once we've established dominance in villages, enough to build temples there too, then we'll start asking for those of our people who pass away, to dedicate their bodies to serving after death." Gilcrest said.

Robel gave an approving expression, "The pope was quite clear however that nobody be coerced into it, they may volunteer their bodies, they may sell themselves after death to the benefit of their heirs, and those being executed for crimes, but nobody other than the condemned should ever be forced. Anyone caught trying to force that end on someone in some way, including family members who try to sell their own dead who did not expressly grant permission in life for this to be done, should be severely punished."

"What did you have in mind?" Gilcrest asked.

"Three months hard labor for the first offence, one year for the second, and to become undead labor themselves at the third offense." Robel suggested calmly.

"Not unreasonable, but will the King approve?" Gilcrest followed up.

"I think so, the priests will certainly like most of the penalties, it'll look like we're exercising some self control, it'll ease some concerns in some quarters, and we need people at ease, and if they back the measure, the King will." Robel replied.

"You don't think they'll try to impose a total ban?" Gilcrest asked with surprise.

"They might, but they're in a bad way right now, we're rebuilding things, meanwhile the Paladin Order is disgraced, a head priest has been hanged as an assassin, foreign elements directly threatened this city, and the disgraced head of the Paladin Order had the city burned and fled to save her own skin. No matter what they actually want to do... this is something they'll have to accept." Robel replied clinically.

"And what about all the missing documents and the prisoners?" Robel asked.

"From what the King has revealed, the documents were stolen by an insider in the council, and he has his own investigation going, one we're not to interfere with, however he has allowed us to have custody of them pending the response from the Slane Theocracy, whether they're returned alive or dead, or at all... well I am not too worried, they're secure for now and they're not going anywhere. We did have one suicide, but we took care to make sure that didn't happen again." Gilcrest replied.

"Oh, what did you do?" Robel asked curiously.

"We gathered the other prisoners together, then turned their dead comrade into an undead skeleton in front of them, and we put it to work for us, thanks to some of the additional materials provided by the Sorcerer King, it was easy, and it was very effective, I told them that if they took their own lives, we'd make them into our servants, and that their only chance of getting either out of this with their lives, or dying and having a peaceful end afterwards, was to stay alive and stay put until the diplomatic solution was reached and the decision about their fates was made." Gilcrest said with a wolfish smile. "Oh, and as an added bonus, I did what you said and followed up about the Red Bird restaurant that they were using as a cover, and it turned out that it was being sublet several times over, tracking it back to its original owner however, we found the property itself belonged to a member of the nobility with close ties to Count Handor, a name you've heard before, Lord Baltrom. Isn't that a surprise?" Gilcrest said conversationally, in a tone that said it wasn't even slightly surprising.

Robel searched his memory silently for a moment, "The one whose man was caught stealing supplies?"

"The same." Gilcrest answered.

Robel sighed, "Not much can be done about it, it’s obvious to us, but it is plausible to deny any involvement. Let’s keep this to ourselves for now."

"Agreed." Gilcrest said.

"That's all I need for now, you can get back to seeing to the temple, I've got some more correspondence from the Pope to organize." Robel said, and after a brief salute, they parted ways.

...In the Slane Theocracy...

The cardinals sat around the table in their private chamber, while the statues of the six gods looked down on them, they cursed like drunken, horny, angry sailors who could not find a prostitute.

Berenice, the Cardinal of Fire, did not match the element for which she was named, she normally had a warm and motherly smile spreading across chipmunk cheeks and set the others at ease, but she was swearing like the rest of them as she read the correspondence fromt he Re-Estize Kingdom.

When the collective swearing had finally died down, her expression was like that of a mother who had just found her child badly injured. There was fear and deep concern warring for dominance on her face as she spoke.

"This is bad." Was what she managed to utter as she lay down the document.

Ginedine, the Cardinal of Water, had his wrinkled tan face puckered up in displeasure, as if he'd bitten into rotten meat. "Very bad." He said, as if to correct Berenice. "Our entire intelligence operation for the entirety of the Roble Holy Kingdom was based out of there, and those were some of our best operatives, all taken down in one operation. No mere human did this." He said with a dark expression easily coming over him.

Dominic, the Cardinal of Wind, looked furious. "There is nothing MERE about humans, do not blaspheme the chosen race of the divine so!" He snapped. "But yes, this is very bad, and I agree no human mind was behind this, it was too coldly executed, to perfect, even if we did manage to have the worst of the documents removed, that only tips the hands of the most important people that they have some high ranking traitors among them."

Yvon, the sinister looking Cardinal of light, tapped his fingers slowly together as he leaned forward and said, "Calm yourself Dominic, you know what he meant. Somehow the Sorcerer King is behind this, but I think indirectly because remember what their message said... That if we're cooperative they won't tell the Sorcerer King that you were responsible for the threat to people he bothered to save..." He paused to let that sink in, "That means his followers did this, not him personally, but they chose those words very carefully, do you remember them from before?" He asked. Silence ruled again.

Thousand Mile Astrologer spoke up, "I do. I didn't see all of what he did to the Sunlight Scripture, but I saw that much, that was the phrase the Sorcerer King used before killing them all."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop from spring to winter.

Maximillian, the Cardinal of Darkness spoke up, "We should ransom them, privately, there's no point in denial when they already know beyond a doubt who they came from, and where else could they be from anyway? The Sorcerer King has no need to use human operators and he'd have had them better guarded, the Re-Estize Kingdom can't fund such large operations as strapped as they are, and the Elf Kingdom is notably short on human agents, that leaves more or less just us, even with nothing else to go on, they'd have figured it out in time." He said flatly as he adjusted his large round glasses, he reached for a book of law floating near him, and read from the passage on international law, "Citizens of a nation which are captured while in service to their nation's interests while abroad, if captured, may be ransomed, even if their actions include criminal behavior including murder and all other criminal activities, and may be executed without repercussions if no one is willing to pay the price for their lives." He let go of the book, letting it float back with the others.

There was a general air of defeat, it was going to be expensive, but at least they'd keep the talent. The vote was passed unanimously, and they drafted a message to be sent through the Re-Estize Kingdom envoy.

"Alright, next item." Ginedine said as she pulled another document off the stack beside her.