"This is the Pleiades meeting room, Baraja-sama. And with that, I bid you farewell." as the maid named Decrement bowed and took her leave, Neia began to walk towards the large oak door with golden inlays. While she had passed all sorts of wondrous sights on her way here, it still shocked her to see such beautiful works of art everywhere she went.
She slowly approached the entrance and gave a light knock. After a few seconds had passed, she wondered if anyone had even heard her, but as she went to knock once again, the door opened, revealing a tall woman with black hair that was put into a bun, and glasses on her almost pure white face. Her outfit seemed to be a type of maid outfit with armored pieces on the hips and shoulder.
While Neia was initially confused as to why she recognized this person, it soon came to her that she was one of the maid demons that had accompanied Jaldabaoth when he first appeared to her. She instinctively went on guard, but soon remembered that they were all under the command of Ainz-sama, therefore she should treat her with a level of respect.
"Greeting, you must be Shizu's friend Neia I take it? I am Yuri Alpha, the eldest of the Pleiades, please come in."
"Thank you, then I will do so" as she followed behind Yuri, she noticed the room they were in was quite small compared to the previous ones. The only things it contained were a couch near the side of the room and the table set in the center, where the rest of the maids seemed to be eating.
"Neia." a quiet, monotone voice soon rang through her ears, and she knew who it was already without even looking. "Shizu-sempai! Its good to see you again after all this time!" she quickly hugged the former maid demon, which was soon reciprocated by the other party.
"Mm, its good to see you too. Here. Drinks." she then grabbed a bottle from that pocket space of hers, much like she had done when they first met, and set it in front of a chair by the table. The table was already practically overflowing with food as is, and the addition of the drink probably did nothing to the already staggering amount of sweets, but she felt like the table would collapse at any moment.
As she sat down besides Shizu, she couldn't help but gaze at the dorms of the others who were also present. Just like Shizu, there beauty was almost sculpted, reaching a height that no human could realistically attain.
"Let me introduce you. This is Yuri-nee. She is the older sister of us all.
"Though I've already introduced myself, it nice to meet you Miss Baraja."
"ah, just Neia is fine Alpha-san."
Neia found it odd that they referred to each other as sisters, given the varying difference in appearance, and seemingly race in some cases, it must have been a sign of care as opposed to actual Family.
"if that is the case, then I would be honored for you to call me Yuri."
With both parties seemingly coming to a understanding with a quick nod of the head, Shizu continued the introductions. "That's Lupisregina. She is second eldest."
The person in question had fair brown skin with red hair that was tied on both sides. Unlike some of the others, her outfit was seemingly bereft of any armaments, though knowing the level of power they all possessed, being a rating of 150, it most likely was not weak.
"heya! I hear you helped Shizu-chan during the invasion of Jaldabaoth su~ Sorry about all the people that died, but you can't avoid it I guess~ Pleasure to meet you su~"
Seeing as all the previous encounters with the maids had been relatively tame with calm personality's, the contrast of the extremely outgoing personality of lupisregina was quite a shock.
Though she was somewhat annoyed with the carefree nature that she spoke about her people, she didn't let it show. "Ah- the pleasures all mine Lupisregina-san. Its nice to meet you as well.
"Lupu, you shouldn't act that way in front of guest. Is not very befitting of a battle maid."
"Its fine Yuri-nee, besides she knows I'm just joking right~?" though her smile was a friendly on, it seemed to be hiding something more behind it that Neia couldn't place.
As she was suddenly put on the spot by her, all she could do was croak out a "Y-yes."
"haah..." as Yuri sighed in defeat, Shizu continued on with her spiel. "over there is Narberal. Both her and Solution share the title of 3rd oldest." While both Shizu and Yuri had armored pieces on them, Narberal's outfit seemed to be fashioned for Combat. Most of the material seemed to be metal, with it covering most of her actually outfit. While Neia imagined that it would be difficult to move in, she must have been used to it if she always wore this.
"Greetings Bag... Neia, it is nice to meet you. As you have just heard, I am Narberal Gamma, And this is Solution Epsilon." The black haired beauty motioned to the one sitting next to her, which was a woman with blonde curled hair whose outfit seemed to leave nothing to the imagination. Regardless it still looked to be a very expensive article of clothing. "Ara- so its my turn now? Greetings Neia, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. According to Shizu you two seemed to have a lot of fun during the Fight against Jaldabaoth?"
"while I don't know if I would call it fun, we did work well together during that time. And its a pleasure to meet the both of you as well."
With only one member being unaccounted for, Shizu gave the final introduction, and this here is Entoma, our little sister."
Her appearance was the oddest out of the sisters. Her outfit closely resembled a strange form of clothing in the south known as a kimono. Her hair was a dark red, put into two chignons. The strangest part about her however was her face. It never seemed to move. While the others beauty appeared to be sculpted, hers appeared to be that in the literal sense, as it reminded her of a doll.
This must be the insect maid Blue rose spoke of. While the outfit covered any visible skin, by process of elimination, it had to be her.
A sudden Crack sound snapped Neia out of her thoughts however. It would appear the cause was the head of the maid snapping from Neia to Shizu in a instant. "I think you mean that your the youngest right?"
"No, you."
Entoma responded with making high pitched chirping sounds in a attempt to be threatening while raising her arms, but the contrast between her adorable look and her display of dominance made her seem more cute than anything else.
Shizu than took a fighting stance as if prepared to engage in a round of fisticuffs.
This isn't good! Are they about to start a fight here!? She began to panic at the position she was in. Being in between two beings of jaw dropping power about to clash with each other was the last place she wanted to be.
Just as she was preparing to move, a loud clapping sound echoed through the room, which drew the attention of all parties to the source, being Yuri.
"You two, while I know your just playing, our guest here may not understand that. Could you perhaps continue this little spat another time?"
"Oops, sorry Neia."
"I-its fine, really. Just a little caught off guard is all." while she was trying to hide her fear from that little exchange, it had reminded her that everyone in this room would be a opponent that Blue rose would be hard pressed to beat. The fear of being caught in a brawl between two was quite palpable.
"Sorry~!" Entoma gave a cheerful reply as she bit into the meal in front of her. Neia couldn't tell what food it was, but it seemed oddly familiar. "Entoma, what are you eating there?"
"Human"
She thought she was joking at first, but soon realized why it was so familiar to her. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be the arm of a person that had been cooked in some way. A immediate wave of revulsion came over her, as would anyone seeing there own species being devoured before them.
"Its okay though, they had opposed Ainz-sama, so I was allowed to feast on them. I'm not supposed to feed on innocents."
That's not the issue here... "And are all of you okay with that?"
"I have no opinions on what happens to inferior lifeforms(Gallinipper) outside the great tomb. Those who have worth like you are exempt from that however."
"Humans taste quite good honestly. So I see no issue with it.
"If they had choose to oppose Ainz-sama, than that's what they deserved-su~!
"I do wish she wouldn't eat so rudely, but if its belonged to the opposition of Nazarick, then I have no complaints."
Seeing that they were all of the same opinion, Neia worriedly looked to Shizu to get a grasp on her opinion, and saw her face was as neutral as always. But with her keen sight, she could notice a very minor grimace on her, which showed she was not very adverse to the act, though whether she felt anything for the one being eaten remained to be seen.
"If you don't want me to eat this, than I have some other food here if you wish!" after saying so, she began to reach into the front of her outfit in what was presumably a pocket.
"Denied." This have been said by Shizu with a surprising amount of force. It would seem that this alternative was even worse, so she decided that it would be best not to ask what they were.
"Yeah En-chan, I don't want to watch you eat cockroaches while were talking here, kyouhukou's family are so creepy yanno~?"
"While I don't necessarily hate them as you do, it would be best for us all for you to not do that En-chan."
"Aww, Nar-chan, Lupu, why are you being so mean? I was just trying to help our guest."
"Please, I don't mind, continue."
Neia had immediately understood Shizu's forceful tone from before and gave that curt answer with a similar amount of panic. She had honestly wished it wasn't brought up at all, as imagining the act was almost enough to send her over the edge. Seeing it would definitely not end well. So all she could do was bear through it. She would have to adopt the mindset that since they were against Ainz, they were worthy of this punishment.
"Well, now that introductions are out of the way, would we like to continue our discussion?"
"Okie, you were discussing how things were progressing with your orphanage weren't we Yuri-nee?"
"Well I'd hardly call it mine as the Supreme one built it, I was just given the privilege of managing it, but as I was saying it seems to be going just as Ainz-sama hoped. I and Pestonya take care of the children while Nigredo Deals with the infants. While nothing has happened yet in terms of talents, we will soon begin to implement measures to find out which ones have noteworthy skill and have them begin to serve Ainz-sama."
"That's Ainz-sama for you! His insight runs so deep, I'm sure that its only the tip of the Iceberg too!" While Neia did not know what this plan was that Ainz was working towards, hearing others praise him made her quite happy. As she listened, she reached for one of the snacks on the table as she finished her drink. It looked like a loaf of bread with a thin layer of brown on the top. While she would normally be adverse to try it, the drinks she had been given from Shizu had thrown what she knew about food out the window. She went to take a bite and as expected, it was delicious.
"Indeed, he truly is someone who was worthy to rule the other supreme beings... Its no wonder Touch-Me-sama was overjoyed to return to such a glorious person."
Suddenly, Lupisregina snapped up from her relaxed position as she seemed to remember something. "Oh by the way, I heard from one of the regular maids that Ulbert Alain Odle-sama has returned to Nazarick!"
The response was immediate and noticeable as the group of women Began to fidget around anxiously while saying such things like "Another one!" or "So soon after..." and so on. Neia, who had no idea what to make of it, continued to listen in silence.
"Truly we are lucky to be able to serve beings as generous as them! But you have to wonder, if two supreme beings returned this close to one another, does that mean that they will all return one day?" While Solution was just guessing, the idea brought the mood in the air to skyrocket, as the thought of being by the side of ones creator was something that no Denizen would overlook for even a second.
"I hope that that is the case and we can prove worthy enough to receive such a honor. I truly hope Yamaiko-sama is happy with all I have accomplished. We must strive to repay that gift Ainz-sama has given us by staying with us to the end with the utmost loyalty. Perhaps if we show enough our creators will return to us..."
The Atmosphere suddenly grew heavy. While it wasn't necessarily sad, it wasn't joyous either. Hopeful perhaps?
Feeling rather left out, Neia asked the question that had been on her mind for the entire time. "If I may, who are these supreme beings?" From what she was able to gather, they were related to Ainz in some way, but what way remained to be seen.
Without missing a beat, A stream of information and praise came from Yuri to explain the question. "I'm glad you asked Neia! The supreme ones are the highest existence that we must eternally serve. For it was they who created Nazarick and all of its denizens, including us. And so we must strive to repay that with our utmost loyalty! There are 41 of the supreme beings in all, with Ainz-sama standing as their leader. And while Ainz-sama was the only one to stand with us until the end, we still hope our respective creators will return someday. And recently, Touch-Me-sama and Ulbert-Alain-Odle-sama have returned to us all, and so that fills us with hope that they will return. There is nobody greater than the supreme ones!"
While Yuri had been very prim and proper the entire time she had been with her, this was the most passionate she had ever seen her in the short time they had known one another. So this must be something she believed in with all her heart. Still, one thing didn't make sense in all that.
"What do you mean by created?"
"Just that. We were once nothing, and now we exist. And we shall use that existence to carry out their will."
"But that would make them like gods..."
"Precisely. Ainz-sama and the rest of the supreme being are our gods. It is only right to see them as such, for if those who can give us life are not gods, then who can claim to be?"
What more could Neia say? She had already seen him as a perfect being who was the incarnation of justice, but after hearing from his confidants that he was a truly a living god in the flesh(or bone as it were), all she could do was give thanks that he had chosen her to carry out his will during the war. And that she had chosen to spread his great name to all who wished to hear. It was only fitting for a new god to take the stage when the old ones allowed such atrocities to happen.
"That is also why we do not care of the habits of others in Nazarick. For if the supreme beings decided it should be so, then who are we to argue?"
While this was all very fascinating to Neia, something wasn't adding up.
"While I don't doubt your words, weren't you all demons under the employ of Jaldabaoth? How could you have been created here if that was the case?"
Immediately, the faces of the maids turned to worry and uncertainty. While she had hoped this was not a troublesome topic, she needed to know how this all tied together. She was hoping it was not the worst case scenario, of Jaldabaoth being one of these supreme beings.
After a substantial amount of time had passed, one of the maids – Solution – had suddenly changed her expression to a smile in the blink of a eye before she started her explanation.
"ah – well you see, Ainz-sama had not mentioned this earlier to the holy kingdom because it would throw needless suspicion on himself, but Jaldabaoth actually used his magic to steal us away from Ainz-sama's allegiance. He was planning on rescuing us already, but the holy kingdom coming to his aid was a opportunity for him to find and save us. He had chosen to hide the fact that we were already loyal because it would seem like he was orchestrating the whole thing. Which would have prevented the holy kingdom from being saved and possibly started a war with the sorcerer kingdom."
"Y-yes that's exactly right! Thank you Sol-chan!"
It was like a hammer had hit Neia straight in the face with how obvious everything seemed in hindsight. The reason why he had accepted a meeting with the delegation so soon, the reason why he had come in person, why Shizu had been able to procure so many high class items, as well as have access to the sorcerer kings pocket dimension. It all made so much sense. Because they had been loyal to him all along.
I am the king of the Sorcerer Kingdom, and not the king of the people who reside in this country, thus I can calmly make this decision. I would choose to save a thousand people's lives over a single life. But if this boy alone were a citizen of my nation, I would prioritize saving him instead.
The sorcerer kings words echoed in her head, and she almost was on the verge of tears. How merciful of a man was he? Fighting the most powerful demon the world had ever seen for the sake of his people. He was truly someone who was a king of kings, and if there words were to be believed, a god of gods.
"H-he truly is the greatest being in existence."
"Whatever are you stating the obvious for? Now anyways, if The other supreme beings do return who would come back first?"
"Obviously it would be HeroHero-sama, as I believe I have made great strides as a battle-maid, as well as a great help to Ainz-sama in Re-Estize."
"I think you mean Genjiro-sama."
"No, HeroHero-sama."
As Neia watch the two sisters bicker with each other, she could not help but feel grateful to Ainz for allowing her to meet Shizu, and become a subordinate. Earning the trust and respect of a god was a immense honor. And not only had she been saved by Ainz, but by Touch-Me as well.
There is nobody greater than the supreme ones huh? I think they may be right. Well I'll just have to follow their example and be as loyal as I possibly can!
She continued to listen to there conversations, eager to learn about the other Supreme beings that she would now serve.