Life was good now. Surrounded by friends and acknowledged by her god, Neia knew she wouldn't be accepted back home. She would be instantly tossed out of the paladin order if she faced Remedios. Each day, it mattered less and less. She would return home when the cleansing of Roble would commence, and she would make sure her parents weren't swept away in the coming tide of change.
Yet her thoughts drifted to her mother and father far too often. She absentmindedly dragged her finger over the edge of her mug as she imagined scenarios of her talk with her mother.
"Dreaming about that hunk with the longsword?" Kira teased Neia as she stared vaguely toward a gold-ranked adventurer team celebrating a successful hunting mission with a particularly handsome man among them.
"What? No, I wasn't!" A flustered Neia screeched back after being pulled from her musings.
"Hey, he's all yours. Even saints can have worldly fun, am I right? We can kidnap the guy for you." Kira giggled as she elbowed Iona for confirmation.
"Watch it!" The priestess pushed the rogue away, "And don't tease Neia; it's not nice."
"Don't listen to Kira. She's just messing with you. If you want, I can help you out and strike up a conversation with them first." Agasha patted her head while downing half a mug in one go.
"I wasn't looking," Neia protested, instead switching her attention to Lia, who was playing her lute on the small, improvised tavern stage between softly sung verses. The mysterious girl had always been a musician first and an adventurer second and didn't waste an opportunity to perform for a captivated audience. Even those not looking seemed affected by the calming tune, with no one trying to stir up trouble, despite fights usually happening in taverns full of adventurers and mercenaries.
"Right. Our saint is above mortal temptations." Kira laughed. "Welp, more for me."
"Will you give it a rest? We planned to take a job tomorrow morning. Something big and nasty was seen outside the capital, and Neia wanted good practice." Iona glared at Kira.
"We don't have to work only on my behalf. I can request to be taken to Nazarick and train there," Neia replied, her mind still on her home.
She knew she needed to reveal the truth to her team sooner or later, even if Renner had advised against it. The four were her friends, and there shouldn't be secrets between them.
"Fat chance." Agasha shut her down quickly. "This isn't about money. We need to work hard to be decent support for you."
After they were promoted to platinum rank, money came in easily. And that was without touching the massive reward from the crown for assisting in bringing the gods to help. Neia knew it was just one big trial, but would they see it that way? None of them were followers of the true gods. Sure, Kira and Agasha had shown interest, but they were the only ones. Iona stubbornly stuck to her false beliefs, and Lia didn't care much about gods in general, as she worked with the spirits who supported her.
{ Renner, can I ask you something? } She contacted her peer.
{ Of course, what's on your mind? } came an immediate response.
{ Are you sure my team could not take the truth? They are my friends, and I can't hide what I know from them much longer. } Neia asked.
{ Do you need for them to know that bad? }
{ Yes. }
{ Leave it to me, then. I will make them understand and accept the truth. } Renner offered.
{ Thank you. }
{ Guide your team to the room you are renting. }
"Hey, we need to go back to our room. It is important." Neia spoke up.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Kira perked up.
"I need to reveal something important to you all, but I can't do it here." Neia drank the last of her cider and stood up, taking out the coin to pay.
"Sure thing. I'll get Lia," Agasha nodded. Neia was not the type to joke around, so if she said it was important, there was good reason to listen.
In just a few minutes, they had gathered inside their room with the six beds they rented together.
Kira was first to speak up after they sat on the beds. "So what's the big secret? Did Lord Ainz-" She ended her question with a surprised yelp and almost fell backward off her bed when Renner teleported in.
"Good evening, ladies. Neia has decided you need to know the whole truth, so I am here to enlighten you." Renner spoke in her usual dignified manner, completely ignoring Kira's outburst.
"What do you mean 'the whole truth,' your highness? And what was that? How did you just teleport?" Iona questioned, clutching Neia, just as startled as everyone else.
"Renner will do just fine. The truth is that Neia was not the only apostle who got empowered." The former princess turned her attention towards the priestess. "Let's get the main thing out of the way. The great six and all other players who have ever walked this world are not gods; only the current players are. And they made themselves gods intentionally."
"Hey, but that priest, wasn't the whole invasion orchestrated by the god of Light? And apostle? Since when did that happen?" Agasha pointed out the contradiction in Renner's statement.
"I was Lord Ulbert's follower before Neia knew about the true gods. It was a test orchestrated to further their efforts. All mortals can feel the presence of a real god and-"
"No! You can't just tell me my god is fake!" Iona protested, interrupting Renner.
"Really? Do you feel the presence of your god? Let's do a test, shall we?" Renner smirked, "First, concentrate on your so-called god and then on Lord Ainz, and tell me the difference."
"That is preposterous!" Iona continued to protest.
"Just try it. All of you do it," Renner insisted.
Iona did as told and first imagined Alah Alaf, but save for her devotion, there wasn't any particular feeling. She had always believed in the Great Six, but it was a seemingly one-sided devotion and hope that her god heard and answered her prayers.
"The spirits say that Renner is right; only the ones present now are real gods," Lia said, slumping forward.
"I felt something. Not sure what, though." Agasha agreed.
She needed to know the truth, and thus, Iona poured all her attention into picturing the god of Life and Death, Ainz Ooal Gown, in all his terrifying glory. Her breath almost stopped when she felt this intangible longing towards the figure, a need to be seen and protected. "That can't be! It must be because they are present in the world." She attempted to deny what she had felt.
"No one can or will force your beliefs; just know this: I didn't believe in gods either before Lord Ulbert sought me out; he made me see the truth," Renner stated.
"But…"
"You can deny the truth all you want, but tell me, where were your gods when your friends died? Who was there to return them to life?" Renner continued.
Iona remained silent. As much as she wanted to deny the truth, no evidence supported her belief. Alah Alaf likely wasn't a god and was just a member of a powerful race. She had always been a devoted follower of her god but wasn't a blind fanatic. But there was one thing she needed to clarify. "What do you mean by test?"
"The demonic invasion was a divine test. And you have someone in this room who passed the test in spades." Renner motioned at Neia. "But that wasn't the only one. My brother was tested and failed. He accepted the power without thinking. He became the next pawn, and through him, the next big test of the entire nation will begin."
"Can you please not be cryptic? I know you're supposed to be smart and all, but we're just adventurers." Kira groaned.
"My brother took the power to fight the true gods and will slaughter anyone who does not fall in line. He is already too powerful for me to stop at the moment. The truth is, the gods could just come and kill him, but they won't. They want to help us grow stronger to sweep away all the rot, and when the dust settles, those who remain will build a better nation that the gods will protect. It was all planned from the beginning; the people need to change before they can be helped." Renner explained.
"So, the gods will just let thousands die?" Lia inquired, her face hidden under her hat. Though her voice was soft and neutral, Renner caught the slightest hint of scorn in her tone.
"Every man and woman could have risen and united in a revolution to remove the corrupt nobles. Yet they worked with their heads down as the nobility robbed them blind; they foolishly put all their hopes on someone like me. Those who chose to be weak will get what's coming to them." Renner's tone started normal but grew louder and more passionate as her posture tightened.
"The gods will help those who rise and make themselves seen. The six false gods bred weakness in masses, and this weakness will be extinguished. Neia already knew this truth, and she wanted you all to know as well. She needs you all to be strong and to understand that not everyone deserves saving." With her impromptu speech over, Renner took a moment to observe Neia's companions.
There was silence. The revelation was hard to process for everyone. The gods were letting terrible things happen to strengthen humanity, and the cost was innocent lives. Iona tried her best to understand the deeper lesson in those seemingly monstrous actions.
'Help me understand! If you want me to believe, help me understand why!' Iona demanded, her eyes clamped shut. She saw the undead god in her mind's eye. Its unmoving figure just stared back, taunting her.
'Help me understand or go to hell! I will not blindly believe this is necessary!'
"Iona, you alright?" Agasha asked her.
"Not now! I'm trying to commune with the gods!" She snapped back, her anger growing.
"Sure, sure," Agasha raised her hands defensively.
'You want the truth. But are you ready to see it?' The visage in her mind finally spoke. If it was the god or just her imagination, she couldn't tell.
'Yes! Tell me why innocent people should die for your tests. Simple people who had known nothing but hardship!' Her anger was palpable.
'You misunderstand death. It is not the end, just a step forward. Souls are reborn, again and again, until all lessons are learned. Death is just the phase before life returns. For life to be precious, it must be fought for. And for death to be useful, it cannot be the end. If you deem them worth fighting for, rise to the occasion and be the hero you think they need. And in return, I will be there to give you strength.' The response came more as her thoughts than as a direct response from a god.
'God is an idea, nothing more. How did I not see it before?' There, of course, was an entity calling himself Ainz Ooal Gown walking the world, but he was not the whole God, just a manifestation of it. Life and death were fundamental aspects of existence. And she couldn't demand for God to enforce her decision; she needed to be strong enough to do it herself and gain this strength from them. Iona finally understood what Neia meant by 'weakness is sin.'
Those who are weak aren't sinners. Everyone could rise and fight for what is right. Only those who chose their weakness over their convictions were. Her mind made, she turned and hugged Neia tightly, surprising the young saint. "I understand now! Weakness is sin!"
"Oi, boss, mind explaining it to the rest of us?" Agasha demanded.
Iona let go of Neia, jumped to her feet, and hastily retold her experience. She would make her team see the truth better than Neia could. The saint was a paragon of what everyone should strive to be, but she wasn't good at explaining her convictions, and that's where Iona would come in. She would be Neia's voice.
"I still don't like it, but there is some truth in it," Lia commented and started to hum, making the spirits appear as small growing orbs and dance around her.
"Maybe we can finally get better gear. You know, if we are going to fight a mad king," Kira shamelessly suggested.
"I'll see what I can do. You will at least get something, but be ready to move." Renner nodded. Her work was done here. Neia's team was brought up to speed, and now all that remained was to deal with Blue Rose. Once they were ready to move, the plan's next steps could be executed.
The result would be glorious.
Editing by aidan_lo and Nich L
Proofreading by Sluethen, Omnax, mfkz_rocker, fvvck, aidan_lo, IAMTHEPLOKOKIOPO, Ivan Chechnya.
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