One Piece: My Devil

"It's so unsatisfactory," Neia complained.

No matter how unreasonably the leader scolds him, as a servant, he can only lower his head and accept it silently.

Even so, compared to the people who are still fighting for survival in the Holy Kingdom, this kind of thing is nothing. Just lower your head and stay quiet until the typhoon passes.

After making up her mind, Neia walked more steadily and arrived in front of the hotel. He took a deep breath and lifted his hood, then pushed open the grand door of the hotel.

It is indeed a high-end hotel. What appears in front of you after entering is not a lounge, but a small room. This is a small house that seems to be set up so that guests can shake off the mud from their shoes.

But the places I visited just now were all first-class areas with stone paved roads like the hotel. It hadn't rained, so there wasn't any dirt that needed to be shaken off.

So Neia opened the front door early. A warm breeze blew in my face.

Directly in front of you after entering the door is the front desk, the bar is on the right, and the stairs are on the left. Next to it is a reception sofa.

There is no heater in the room. It's obviously like this but there is a temperature difference that shouldn't be there. This must be because of the magic items. When talking about magic casters in the Holy Kingdom, they refer to priests. Although they also make some magic props, there are very few who make them for the convenience of life.

From this point of view, the technology of the Holy Kingdom is more advanced than that of the Holy Kingdom. From this point of view, how powerful is the empire that my father mentioned. Although Neia may never have a chance in this life, she still has a faint longing for the empire. Neia's longing expression was clearly revealed, and Izaya was thinking about which country it was.

Izaya turned his attention away from Neia and was very surprised when he saw the look inside the hotel. Although he stayed in a very luxurious hotel when he went out with Ainz and the others, that was also for the small inn at the beginning. He said that the hotel Neia went to was luxurious. Linya, who had lived a hard life in the wild for a long time, suddenly wanted to try staying in such a hotel.

Neia sighed again, with a complicated expression on her face. Normally, an ordinary village girl would only see her own village at most in her life. And for someone like Nea who has no outstanding talents as a warrior, even if she serves her country all her life, she may not have the opportunity to visit other countries. If you think about it this way, this opportunity to visit another country may be regarded as a small blessing in the midst of disaster. Neia just thought about these things as she climbed up the stairs and walked towards the room where the envoys were on the second floor. Everyone in the hotel seemed to have remembered Neia's appearance, and no one stopped her as if she was an unrelated person.

Because Neia also lives here and does not come to see the group leader. The specific reason is that considering the accommodation cost, only the group leader and deputy group leader should be allowed to live here, and other personnel should stay in cheap hotels. . But if they are so careful, they may make the other party judge that the Holy Kingdom has no future. The deputy leader's words were finally recognized by the leader.

Neia came to the group leaders' room and knocked on the door, and then the door opened a small crack. Inside was the Paladin who had stayed in the room to protect him.

The person being protected is the strongest paladin in the Holy Kingdom and the leader of the envoy. Although being a servant is more meaningful than protection, if that's the case, it would be better to stay by yourself. Wouldn't it be better to make an appointment as a paladin? Of course Nea, who knows what it means to shoot the first bird with a gun, will not say that. talk. Izaya moved outside the window and used advanced invisibility magic. No one noticed him at such a close distance. "It seems that this magic is really useful." The invisibility magic also blocked the sound. Izaya looked at the situation inside the house carefully.

"Neia Baraja, come back and report"

As the door opened, Neia walked into the room. At the front of the corridor is a large room. There is a long table in the center, with the figure of the group leader there. Izaya looked at the woman with an obviously unkind expression. It seemed that he had nowhere to vent his anger. Izaya was a little worried about Neia's situation.

The leader of the regiment, Remedios Casteldio, and the deputy commander of the regiment, Gustabo Montannis, were sitting there. Among the seventeen envoys in total, more than half of the paladins were standing upright along the wall.

The two of them spread the documents on the table and took a peek. Most of several names had been crossed out with horizontal lines.

"Captain. Neia Baraja will report back."

Neia held her head high, straightened her posture, and said her name.

The leader raised his eyes and asked, "How will the other party respond?"

"I'm very sorry. They said no because they didn't have time. They wanted at least two weeks,"

Remedios clicked her tongue.

Neia felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Izaya saw the slight twitching of the muscles on her face. He wondered if it was because he had been looking at Ainz too much. It was very difficult to read the expression on the skeletal face, so it was now easier for Izaya to observe human beings. Is her astonishment directed at Neia or the kingdom that refused?

Although the noble feels that it is both, he cannot ask such a terrible thing. Neia thought.

The deputy leader said, "Really? It's hard for you to run out in the cold. Then go back to your room to recharge your batteries first."

Neia replied, "Yes."

Neia tried her best to hold back the breath of relief she felt after hearing Gustabo's words. Although she wanted to leave here quickly, she was stopped by Remedios before that happened.

"Although I wanted to ask before, have you really negotiated with them and said that you hope to meet as soon as possible?"

Neia felt bad, "Yes, of course I asked the other party so, but unfortunately they said no."

The group leader questioned, "Isn't it because your negotiation methods are bad?"

Neia didn't know how to answer, "Ah, that, that's..."

If there is no such thing, who can say such a thing? And she also knew very well that no matter how she answered this rebuke, she could no longer escape.

The deputy captain said, "Captain. Not only the nobles she visited, but other nobles also refused the meeting in the same way. It seems that there are also nobles among them who want to have a dialogue even though they cannot support the Holy Kingdom."

Remedios glared fiercely at Gustabo who spoke as if to interrupt the conversation. Unspeakable tension gradually increased.

"Neia Baraja,"

"exist"

The target of the attack is still himself. Izaya thought, sure enough, this woman will not let Neia go, and will definitely vent her anger on her as a servant. In any world, class is a very terrifying existence. Although Neia lowered her shoulders silently in her heart, but Of course she didn't show it, but responded cautiously.

Although Gustabo stood between them, Remedios still ignored this move and cast a fierce look at Neia. Izaya looked at it, and his heart trembled. It seemed like the first time Izaya had seen such a ferocious look from a woman,

"While we are still lingering here, many people are being killed by the demihumans led by Jaldabaoth. Moreover, four large cities have fallen, and it is impossible to say how many small cities and villages have fallen. imagine,”

The so-called four cities refer to Hoban, the capital city where the temple exists as the center of faith and the political center of the Holy Kingdom. The harbor city of Limoun. The fortress cities of Karinsha and Boland were first invaded by demihumans. In other words, all the large cities in the north were suppressed by the demihuman army led by Jaldabaoth.

The leader continued to preach, "And they also captured many survivors and sent them to shelters built in villages and cities. Being sent there is as frightening as if your blood has been frozen."

The asylum was surrounded by walls, and since no one could sneak inside, no one had ever witnessed what was actually going on inside. However, it is rumored that the guards are demihumans. According to people who got as close as possible to peek inside, they could hear painful moans and screams. What was more convincing than anything else was that no one thought that as the ruler of demons, Jaldabaoth would treat human beings as captives with mercy.

Izaya nodded. This is a very likely situation. Demiurge, no, everyone in Nazarick will not be merciful to humans. For them, humans are not even comparable to animals. There was no mercy at all. Izaya didn't want to go into details about how he was mentally depressed for several days after seeing Demiurge's experiment. Here he could understand the leader's incomprehensible behavior.

The leader continued, "You know all this, but you bring back such a result. Have you really worked hard for this? If so, logically there will be results, right?"

Nea panicked and apologized, "Yes, I'm very sorry."

But Neia's heart seemed to be different from her expression. The expression behind Neia's lowered head was indeed correct. Remedios's words were correct, but the other emotion that emerged in Neia's heart could not fade away. If that's the case, then what's the matter with the leader of the Holy Knights who can't save the captive people?

Although I really want to push back what is on my mind. But as a servant living in the Holy Kingdom, it was impossible for him to say that.

The group leader said reluctantly, "Since I'm sorry, what are you going to do to get the result?"

Neia was speechless. After all, Neia is just an ordinary Holy Kingdom person. Nobility, power, wealth, nothing. Not even a paladin, just a squire. Neia like that couldn't possibly come up with any proposal that would make the nobles of the kingdom find her attractive. In that case, all that remains is,

"I will work harder,"

Spiritualism. However, it seemed that this answer did not please Remedios.

The group leader continued with dissatisfaction, "I'm asking you how to work hard. Even if you work hard..."

Gustabo interrupted Remedios who was about to say something. "Captain, how about this for now? It's almost time to make preparations.

Everyone from Blue Rose should be arriving soon. If the welcome is late, I’m afraid it will make the other party feel unhappy.”

The leader paused and stopped what he wanted to say, "That's right. Attendant Baraja, please work harder and you will get the result."

Remedios made a motion with her hands to drive her away. In other words, let Neia get out of here.

Neia said, "I'm sorry, Captain Remedios." Even though she was tired, Neia trembled happily in her heart and shouted "Okay" and tried to walk out of the room. However, her reinforcements until just now turned into her most ferocious enemies at this moment.

The deputy captain said, "When the captain and everyone from Cang Qiangwei come to visit, can she be present?"

Because of Gustabo's speech, Neia's eyes instantly darkened. Why, even though I am just a servant, I have to participate in such a topic.

Remedios looked at the adjutant. It was completely different from the gaze he had directed toward Nea just now. The gaze that contained a sense of intimacy was as if someone had changed at some point, and it almost caused confusion.

"Really? If you say so, but, why?"

The deputy captain explained, "Yes. We brought her along as an attendant because she has a rare keen sense. There may be something that only she can detect."

Many paladins and attendants died in the series of battles with Jaldabaoth, but there were also several paladins who survived. Even so, the reason why Neia was chosen as a member of the envoy was precisely for that reason.

Although Paladins can demonstrate outstanding abilities in battle, they are otherwise no different from ordinary citizens. In other words, this trip needs to be accompanied by people with reconnaissance skills such as moving without being noticed by the enemy, detecting enemies at long distances, and passing through encirclement nets.

Normally it would be the adventurers or hunters' turn to appear here, but most of them have fallen, and the remaining ones have fled to the south or other countries. Therefore, Neia was chosen without any experienced candidates.

Izaya is now very grateful that if there had not been such a thing, this person, Neia, would not have appeared in front of him and become a clue to his search for strength. Although he was a bit cruel to those people, well, Izaya continued to look at the situation inside,

Neia herself believed that she had more keen senses than those who had only been trained as Paladins. Neia was very happy that that ability could help the country, but that feeling was gradually worn away along the way. Now I even feel a little bit resentful about being chosen.

The group leader said, "Really? If you think so, then just do it. I agree,"

The deputy leader said, "Thank you very much, leader."

The leader added, "Attendant Baraha, as you heard, you can listen to us in the corner of the room. If anything happens, tell us. Then go back to the room, be groomed and ready, and then come back."

Neia said, "As you command."

Finally liberated, Gustabo followed Neia who had withdrawn with such thoughts, and spoke in a low voice after leaving the room.

"I'm really sorry about the captain."

Neia stopped, turned around, and asked the question she had been harboring until now.

"Did I do something to make the leader angry? Although I have heard about it before, during the battle that caused the fall of the city, she completely changed her personality. What happened?"

The deputy captain paused, "In that battle with Jaldabaoth, many holy knights lost their lives, including the Holy Queen and the captain's sister. Moreover, the scene was very tragic, so, Commander, it’s better to be patient with this,”

Neia nodded, "I understand,"

Nea looked out the window, and Izaya thought for a moment that Nea had seen him. Although Nea's eyes were very fierce, Izaya saw a familiar feeling in her eyes, "Why is this because I have never seen him?" I’ve never met Nea, how can I feel like this? It’s familiar, but there seems to be some kind of empty feeling in my heart, what is it?”

Izaya watched Neya carefully, and even went in invisible and followed Neya, carefully trying to see what he saw in Neya's eyes. Izaya kept staring at Neya's expression in distress, so that later , another team of adamantine from the Kingdom of Blue Rose came to meet with everyone from the Holy Kingdom. Izaya didn't even notice what they said. It basically meant rejection, and then asked them to find the flying demon from the Sorcerous Kingdom. Flying, Izaya stared at Neia and kept thinking. As for their going to the Sorcerous Kingdom, Izaya didn't have any objections. On the contrary, it had many benefits for Izaya. I couldn't tell why, but it just felt like this. , maybe this is intuition, I also remembered a reason that Gale always said, after being out for so many days, I really missed them a little, and I don't know how they are doing, whether they are stronger.

End of this chapter