Overlord, Vol. 10: The Ruler of Conspiracy

Intermission

Deep in the Slane Theocracy…

There weren’t many people who were permitted to enter this sacred room.

First, the one with the loftiest status in the Theocracy, the high priest superior.

Then the six high priests, each in charge of a denomination—for each of the Six Gods. Incidentally, it was from these high priests, excluding the denomination of the current high priest superior, that the next high priest superior would be chosen.

The high priest of fire—Bérénice Nagua Santini…

The sole woman in this gathering. She was over fifty, and perhaps due to her age, she was rather plump. The motherly smile on her filled-out face calmed all those who saw it.

The high priest of water—Zinedine Delan Guelfi…

An old man like a withered tree branch. His face had wizened to the point that his age was a mystery, but his skin had already grayed. That meant his health was a concern, but he had no rivals when it came to knowledge and wisdom.

The high priest of wind—Dominic Ire Partouche…

He appeared to be a gentle old man, but he was a former member of the Sunlit Scripture, a holy warrior who had massacred many different races. It was said that his rage was like a roaring fire and his murderousness like ice and snow.

The high priest of earth—Raymond Zurg Laurencin…

The youngest member, a man with a sharp gaze. Even so, he was in his forties, but for all his life force, it was hard to tell. A former Black Scripture member, he was a hero who had been fighting to protect the country for over fifteen years.

The high priest of light—Yvon Jasna Delacroix…

With his tapered eyes and slight frame, he looked dangerous, but everyone present knew that wasn’t so. As a faith caster, he ranked first or second in this gathering.

The high priest of darkness—Maximilian Oleo Laguiller…

A man with round glasses who used an improved form of the spell Floating Board to keep several books hovering around him. He originally worked in the judicial administration, so many of the books were about law.

Aside from these people, the three heads of the judicial, legislative, and executive branches were allowed, plus the chief of the research org where they developed new magic and the most superior military officer, the generalissimo.

The group composed of these twelve members was the supreme executive agency.

When they entered the room, they purified it using the cleaning tools they brought with them. Dusters. Dry wipes. Wet wipes. A magic item for sucking up dust.

They cleaned the room with practiced hands and not a single wasted motion.

Though they were the most elite of the Slane Theocracy’s population of fifteen million, they cut no corners, getting their neat robes dusty and sweating as they continued cleaning in order to not let a single speck of dirt remain.

When they were done, the room—which had been clean to begin with—gleamed.

They wiped the sweat from their brows, lined up, and bowed deeply to the six statues watching over the room from its rear.

“We thank the gods that we mere humans live another day.”

After the high priest superior spoke, the others intoned their thanks without missing a beat. “We thank you.”

Bringing their heads back up, they put all the cleaning implements in a corner. Then they cast Clean. The dirt vanished from their clothes and tools. The towels they had used to wipe their sweat smelled freshly laundered.

The first-tier spell erased all dirt and dust in an instant. By casting on the scale of the whole room, it would have been simple to clean it. But none of them was so impious as to do such a thing in this shrine room.

After finally purifying themselves, they sat at a round table—including the highest-ranking person in the Theocracy, the high priest superior.

In this place, the people sitting there were all equal. There was no hierarchy; they cooperated as friends—yes, for the prosperity of the human race.

“Well, I’d like to bring this meeting into session.”

The one leading the meeting today was the high priest of earth, Raymond Zurg Laurencin.

“Our first topic is the country that occupied the Re-Estize Kingdom’s fortress city E-Rantel and established itself in that area about two weeks ago: the Nation of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown.”

There was no matter more pressing than the mysterious country that had appeared so suddenly.

But the people who knew details were few, so the intelligence they had gained was only hearsay.

For starters, they had heard that the King of Darkness was an undead, that he was an immensely powerful caster, that he had wiped out the kingdom’s army, that he controlled a military of undead, and that among those undead was a death knight.

Raymond, the leader of the six scriptures and the leader of the meeting today, was supposed to report on what they had found.

Someone spoke abruptly. “Perhaps we should have intervened instead of watching on in silence.”

“…What are you saying? We agreed that it would be too dangerous to face a caster who could control a death knight head-on. You seemed to be against it, so let’s not rehash it all. Still, I can’t believe they formed a country.”

Everyone nodded.

“What is the empire planning to do? It’s founding the country jointly with the Nation of Darkness as an ally, but is that because it’s suddenly become its backer? Or is it being manipulated?”

“It’s not manipulation. They have Paradyne.”

“Were we wrong to think we could trust the emperor?”

“…The real problem is that we’re not making effective use of one of the few deviants. Couldn’t we launch the plan to bring that one over to our side?”

“Well”—a sudden clap rang out, chilling the heated atmosphere—“Star Reader–Second Sight of the Black Scripture observed the war between the empire and the kingdom. Please forgive the late report; some issues have caused delays.”

Was the issue that strange incident of her locking herself up in her room and refusing to come out?
is what everyone thought.

“First, I’ll pass around this report of what she saw. Nothing we learned later is included here. This is just her words regarding the Nation of Darkness’s army on the field.”

Everyone thought that was rather inconvenient, but they quietly read the papers when their turn came.

When they flipped to the final page, their hands froze. They read and reread the same passage.

Everyone’s expressions reached a stiffened state independently. And their faces paled.

Raymond watched those changes, smiling. It was a smile of solidarity only someone who knew the same pain could wear.

Eventually, Maximilian shouted on everyone’s behalf. He opened his mouth so wide, his glasses tilted, but he didn’t have the presence of mind to fix them. “Lies! I don’t think this… This could never happen!”

“As I mentioned, this is strictly a record of what she said.”

Raymond was so calm that Maximilian was lost for words.

While Maximilian caught his breath, as if he had just come running over at full speed, Bérénice asked her colleague for confirmation.

“Can I ask one more time? Is this really true?”

“If you believe Star Reader–Second Sight, then…”

Everyone looked down at the pages again with a bitter face.

The part they had all stopped at was the description of the King of Darkness’s army.

“Hundreds of death knights—at least two hundred. Hundreds of soul eaters—at least three hundred. This army is…worse than bad! If it went berserk, the kingdom, empire, the city-state alliance, and the Sacred Kingdom would be obliterated!”

“We would be, too. If they surged for an attack, it would take centuries to recover from the damage.”

Death knights…

Estimated difficulty rating: 100-plus. They created squire zombies, and those created regular zombies. The zombies themselves had no fighting ability, but they could contribute to stronger undead spawning in the area.

Soul eaters…

Estimated difficulty rating: 100–150. An undead with a bombardment ability that ate the souls of those it killed. It had an ability that made its powers stronger the more souls it ate. It also gave off an aura that caused fear, meaning anyone who wasn’t a caster who could use tier three or higher would have a rough time facing them.

Even just one of each could destroy a city—or a country if it was unlucky.

“She didn’t mistake them? Or could the King of Darkness have realized we were watching and created illusions of them to confuse us?” Yvon stuck a withered finger in the air and brought up several possible explanations.

Some voices
ooh
ed that it could be that, but Raymond cut them off.

“Black Scripture members have knowledge about all sorts of monsters pounded into them. Certainly, it’s unclear if she remembers it all, but she—Star Reader–Second Sight—oversaw the knowledge side of things. It’s unthinkable that she would make a mistake like that. Additionally, we’ve confirmed the presence of death knights and soul eaters at the capital of the Nation of Darkness, what used to be E-Rantel.”

There came the sound of several exhausted sighs.

Everyone sounded incredibly tired, forced to accept this truth, as their murmured consultations began.

“What should we do? Our job is to protect people, so what is our best course of action? What can we do about five hundred monsters so powerful that a single one could destroy a country?”

“So they have the military might of five hundred small countries…? That’s insane. What a balance-breaking nation.”

“The question is what the King of Darkness will use that might for. If he just has it for defense, then there shouldn’t be any issues for a while.”

“Don’t be stupid. That’s far too much to protect his own country. And in the first place, isn’t he an undead? They hate the living. I have no doubt he’ll attack neighboring countries.”

“There’s no point in thinking about what he might do with the power he has. We should be thinking about how to counter him.”

That was right, so their conversation changed course.

“Then…the most important thing is whether the Black Scripture can handle it or not.”

The Black Scripture was the Slane Theocracy’s most powerful trump card. It was a special unit made up of heroes—similar to a team of adamantite-plate adventurers but definitively different. Adventurers barely managed to obtain gear spoken of in the heroic sagas, left behind by the gods, at the end of a hard search, but members of the Black Scripture all possessed multiple pieces.

And even if they couldn’t beat their opponents, all they had to do was perform a ritual to summon high-level angels to fight for them.

Surely high-level angels wouldn’t lose to death knights and soul eaters. But when they considered the numbers, they were left anxious.

Everyone looked at Raymond.

He cracked a smile. The ones who inadvertently responded to his smile with their own smiles froze stiff upon his next words.

“It can’t. As former third chair of the Black Scripture, allow me to say that going up against five hundred of those things is begging for death. Once we’re evenly numbered, we’ve already reached despair. No, if that wasn’t the case, Star Reader–Second Sight wouldn’t be holed up in her room…”

His smile morphed into a different type.

“Of course, it’s different for demigods.”

The others
ooh
ed.

“I’m sure even if death knights and soul eaters attacked, those two could handle them. Of course, we should have a surefire backup just in case.”

“So those two can do it?”

“That’s encouraging.”

Amid the flood of cheers, Zinedine sighed. When they heard how gloomy and tired he sounded, the rest of them lowered their voices.

“…What are you hiding?”

“Zinedine, what do you mean?”

“The laws don’t prohibit perjury, fabrication, or concealment, but we’re comrades with a common goal, so we should have tacitly agreed that those things are deadly sins. With that in mind, I’ll ask again. What are you hiding?”

“Really, Zinedine. What are you talking about? Why are you asking that?”

“Dominic, there’s something bothering me. Why is Star Reader–Second Sight locked in her room?” When he realized no one could reply, he continued, “Out of pessimism. Or perhaps shock. That undead army was probably terrifying. But would a member of the Black Scripture hole up in their room over that…? It’s because she witnessed a power that not even demigods could defeat. This isn’t the end of the report, is it?”

Everyone looked between Raymond and Zinedine.

“…What were you planning to accomplish by keeping it secret? I trust you. I know you’re not the kind of man who would use the scriptures for your own ends. But what is it you feel you can’t discuss here?”

“Brilliant. So perceptive as always, Zinedine. I was going to see what was possible first, but…well, let’s just talk about it now. It was giving me stomach pains thinking about it on my own, so it’s best if I can share with all of you.” Raymond scanned everyone’s faces. “How much have you all heard about the war between the kingdom and the empire—no, the Nation of Darkness?”

The one who spoke up as representative was the high priest superior. “I heard the King of Darkness cast an immensely powerful spell. It demolished the Re-Estize Army, and the kingdom was defeated. As a result, E-Rantel was turned over in a deal that appeared to have been decided prior to the fight, and the Nation of Darkness was established. That’s as far as I’ve heard.”

“Do you know how many people died?”

The high priest superior shook his head in response to Raymond’s question. “I haven’t heard that much. If I haven’t heard, then probably the rest of you haven’t, either, right?”

“Right. Since that country with a monster leading it took over E-Rantel, none of the priests or merchants go there anymore. The only news we can get is unverifiable hearsay.”

“That’s what we have the scriptures for. For this one, probably not the Flurry Scripture but the Springwater Scripture, right?”

“Oh. So there’s information that only you as the leader of the six scriptures are privy to. All we get are leaks and rumors.”

“…Is that so? Then next I’ll hand out a detailed report of the war Star Reader–Second Sight saw.”

After they read the new document, the room was filled with nothing but silence.

Perhaps Yvon thought things couldn’t keep going on like that? He suddenly asked a question. “I see; I see. You didn’t show us this first thing because you didn’t want our hearts to stop?”

“It was nothing like that. Your hearts are plenty tough, I’m sure. But I did wonder, if I gave you this first, if you would even believe it.”

Yvon grudgingly nodded. “That’s a good point. Had I seen this first, I might have doubted it. I certainly wouldn’t have been sure about it. But once we understand that the King of Darkness’s army from the previous document is the truth, then the rest of this that she saw must also be true.”

“But…I don’t want to believe it. Over half the kingdom’s army died from a single spell? The army mobilized two hundred sixty thousand troops for this fight. Even just half of that would be one hundred thirty thousand! I heard the kingdom’s army was annihilated, but this is…”

“This is just what she saw, right? It’s common enough to overestimate casualties.”

“Still, even if you just take the line about the single wing being obliterated, that’s eighty thousand dead. And then he sacrificed them to summon those hideous monsters…?”

“We can’t deny what she saw. This is divine magic. Tier eleven, don’t you think? Which can only mean one thing…”

“The advent of a god?”

“It does say here that he looked like… Could it be a second coming?”

“That’s impossible. According to the oral tradition, Lord Sulshana, the god of death, was killed by those horrible Eight Kings of Avarice. This has to be someone different. Besides, if it were the second coming of Lord Sulshana, I’m sure we would hear something from his number one follower.”

“Another one has come, then?”

“Probably. It’s been two hundred years, right?”

“The oral tradition indicates about that much. Of course, there’s the chance one could have appeared somewhere on the continent during that time.”

“Since that lousy plan got thrown off, our national power hasn’t improved as much as we wanted it to.”

“Those idiots in the kingdom…”

That one remark made hatred shine in everyone’s eyes.

The kingdom was the country established in the safest location. The Theocracy assisted with that because it hoped that the kingdom would be humanity’s salvation. Thanks to the safe, fertile land, many children would be born, including many outstanding characters who would grow up into heroes who would fight off the onslaught of other races. Comfort and affluence, however, invited corruption, and the kingdom had gone rotten from the inside out.

The biggest headache was that they produced narcotics and spread them all over another capable country, the empire.

By the time that had happened, the Theocracy changed tack.

Their second plan was to have the empire annex the kingdom and train promising individuals.

The reason the Theocracy didn’t annex the kingdom itself was that with the council state next door, public opinion could swing toward destroying it.

The Theocracy’s philosophy was that humans were the race chosen by the gods and that other races were to be wiped out. By having everyone believe that they were surrounded by enemies and they had to work together, they were able to focus national energy tightly and strengthen it. But if they were next to the council state, their doctrine could zoom off in a dangerous direction.

The people gathered in this room knew the other countries’ strengths, their own country’s strength, and their priorities, which was why they were able to think about what the Slane Theocracy’s next moves should be. But it wasn’t hard to imagine the people calling for war against the council state in order to eliminate the races that were the enemies of humans.

That would be the worst.

The council state was strong.

More specifically, an individual from the council state was strong: the Platinum Dragonlord. He was the child of the dragon emperor—and dangerous. Fighting with one of the strongest living dragonlords could end with their country becoming a mound of ashes. But what would people ignorant of that fact think—about simply sitting there alongside a neighbor who should be destroyed?

The people in the room could hold them back with force, but the resulting resentment would surely chip away at their nation’s strength. They couldn’t even deny the possibility of war breaking out.

Which was why the Theocracy couldn’t be adjacent to the council state or rule the kingdom directly. And the kingdom was too big to rule from the shadows.

“Let’s focus on the King of Darkness timeline. For starters, he has to be the one who annihilated the Sunlit Scripture we sent out.”

The atmosphere froze stiff.

“That caster calling himself Ainz Ooal Gown appeared in the village around the same time.”

“Then what was that vampire the Black Scripture encountered?”

“I think there’s a good chance that it was another being in the same position as the King of Darkness, one of them.”

“That could be. In that case, there’s precedent for multiple appearances at once. Perhaps Jaldabaoth is one, too? Then the power he displayed in the kingdom would make sense. And it explains why such a powerful monster would show up so suddenly.”

“Then what about Momon? Supposedly he came after the vampire, but if our earlier guesses are right, then he’s the same sort of being as the King of Darkness. That explains why he’s equally matched with Jaldabaoth. The question is whether he’s friends with the King of Darkness or not…”

“Momon obliterated the vampire and opposed Jaldabaoth. There’s a good chance they’re the same type of beings but enemies. Or maybe they were enemies up to that point? Then they made a deal with the King of Darkness and became friends?”

“It’s not clear whether he’s against the King of Darkness simply because he vanquished the vampire. He could have been under orders to kill it. Maybe he killed it because it was being controlled by the supreme treasure. By why is he hostile to Jaldabaoth…? Could Momon be aligned with the King of Darkness but against Jaldabaoth?”

“…So there’s the version where Jaldabaoth and the vampire are a team and Momon and the King of Darkness are a team. There’s the version where the vampire, Jaldabaoth, Momon, and the King of Darkness are all against one another. There are all kinds of other conceivable combinations. We just don’t have enough information.”

“The worst case would be if they were all allies, but that seems unlikely. Momon is too quiet. Normally, if you had that much power, you would be more daring. Yes, like the Eight Kings of Avarice. Or like our gods.”

“Aha! So the reason they aren’t doing that is because they’re wary of one another? Or they could be worried about others.”

“We should assume that since the King of Darkness has actively established a country, there will be others who will move to gain equal fighting power. If what Momon said was true, Honyopnyoko has a friend. We should be on the lookout for that one in addition to Jaldabaoth.”

“Overall, we’re merely speculating. The only way to know for sure would be to ask Momon or the King of Darkness.”

“That’s too dangerous. Much too dangerous. First, we should draw information out of the empire. We should try to get in touch with the emperor.”

“That would be best. If the emperor isn’t already the King of Darkness’s pet.”

“We can’t avoid a bit of a gamble. If we’re timid, we’ll be too late.”

“But will ‘a bit’ really be all? If we’re not lucky, couldn’t it be used as an excuse to declare war on us? First, we should bring things up casually with the emperor to find out his stance.”

As everyone agreed with those proposals, one of them suddenly asked a question. “…But won’t the masses in E-Rantel revolt against undead rule? They weren’t all killed, were they? Or has he established total rule by fear?”

It was addressed to Raymond, and he gave an unbelievable answer. “According to reports, governance is proceeding peacefully.”

It was only natural that uncharacteristic yelps were emitted here and there. “Huh?!”

“It’s true that once you hit our age, your ears start to go, but mine seemed to have worsened dramatically. I heard you say ‘peacefully,’ Raymond.”

“Yes, yes. I heard the same. Ha-ha. Peacefully with an undead! …Hmph, a peaceful undead.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the sun rose in the north tomorrow.”

“…Setting aside jokes for now, if what Sir Raymond says is true, it’s so difficult to imagine. Are you sure the ones bringing the information aren’t morally bankrupt or being sarcastic?”

“The reports say that death knights are on guard, elder liches run the administration, and soul eaters pull carriages to transport cargo.”

The jaws of everyone besides Raymond dropped.

“Whoa, whoa, wait. What? Say that again?” Maximilian’s glasses were still tilted as he asked his question.

Raymond repeated the news word for word.

This time everyone emitted an uncharacteristic “Huh?!”

Those were all elite undead. Or they should have been. But those knights of the netherworld were patrolling the streets like useless officials, the masters of the labyrinth were managing distribution, and monsters that could ruin walled castle towns were being used as donkeys. That sort of country was just beyond their borders.

“What in the…? What sort of hell…is that?”

In a city where the undead threw their weight around managing municipal affairs, they could only imagine that the humans had been annihilated.

“No, the people of the former city of E-Rantel—the subjects of the Nation of Darkness—are living normal lives. There was a bit of confusion in the beginning, of course, but things are calm now.”

“…Perhaps we underestimated the kingdom.”

“Indeed… What mental fortitude.”

Life-hating undead stalking by right next to me…
The thought gave everyone the chills.

It was like having a starving beast right there. Any normal person would be terrified.

“I imagine it’s because they believe in the great warrior, the hero-level adventurer Momon of Raven Black, that they can tolerate it.”

Raymond began to explain what happened the day the city was opened to the King of Darkness.

Everyone listened with sober expressions.

“It does seem like Momon and the King of Darkness might have been on the same side originally.”

“My. This does seem to be the proof that Momon and the King of Darkness are in cahoots. They did both appear around the same time, right?”

“Hrrrm.” Everyone cradled their heads.

Either was possible, but they didn’t have confirmation one way or another.

“Is there some way we could set Momon and the King of Darkness against each other? Maybe using the citizens of E-Rantel…?”

“It’s dangerous. Much too dangerous. We might end up with both Momon and the King of Darkness standing against us.”

“That’s exactly right. We’re suffering a great many losses at present. Though they’ve been resurrected, the members of the Black Scripture, the destruction of the Sunlit Scripture, the loss of the crown, the deaths of the shrine princess and Lady Kaire… It will probably take decades to recover. I doubt we need to be grilling meat beneath a sleeping dragon’s nose.”

“Right. To begin with, we must avoid a two-front war.”

The hostility in the room ballooned instantaneously.

“Those grimy traitors?”

“Damn elves.”

The Theocracy was in the middle of a war with the elf country in the woodlands to the south. Originally the two countries had a cooperative relationship. But ever since that fell apart, the Theocracy had been using all its energy to wage war against the elves.

At present, they had succeeded in building a forward base near Crescent Lake, where the elven capital was situated. The plan had been to destroy them within a few years, but it wasn’t working out.

“Should we pause the war with the elves for the time being?”

“Don’t be stupid. How much blood do you think we’ve shed thus far? And in the first place, we’ll never be forgiven if we don’t avenge her.”

“That girl…” The old man who spoke winced.

She always ended up getting treated like a child because of her appearance—though she was actually older than everyone present.

“What about her?”

“She’s standing by in a room nearby as usual.”

“Hmm. We have to give her a chance to avenge her mother, too.”

“Indeed. It would be too pitiful if we didn’t. Once her revenge is complete, perhaps she’ll be calmer, too.”

Everyone in the room wore a sad expression.

“…Honestly, I’d like to give the high priests of that time a piece of my mind. I can’t believe they raised the poor girl to have a personality like that.”

“Once you say that, let’s end it by remembering that it was the fault of those savages in the forest. Even the high priests thought it was a bad idea to take her from her mother.”

“…It’s a tricky thing.”

“But if we send her, it’s possible that the dragonlord awakens.”

“I doubt that the power of the gods, Ruinous Beauty, would reach one who uses primeval magic, though it reached the Catastrophe Dragonlord.”

“Shall we use it on the King of Darkness?”

Silence descended on the room. The idea had been on all of their minds, though they didn’t say it.

“…It wouldn’t be a horrible move. But I’m quite concerned, given that we still don’t know how powerful his underlings are.”

“If we could charm without limits, there would be no issue…”

“That’s disrespectful! How could you complain about the great treasure the gods left? The gods who protect humanity and gave their lives for us! Have you gotten so full of yourself?”

The reproaches flew, and the old man who had spoken hung his head. “It was irreverent of me.”

“Watch what you say!”

“Let’s get back to the topic at hand. Am I correct in thinking that we’re all against using Ruinous Beauty on the King of Darkness?”

“It’s too risky.”

“If the Catastrophe Dragonlord appears, we could use it on him and use him as our advance guard…”

There was no point in wishing for things they couldn’t have.

“Well, we probably have no choice. Regarding the elves, let’s send a messenger to that dragonlord and try talking.”

“But we have no idea what kind of demands they’ll make!”

“Well, let’s be flexible and at least listen to what they have to say. For the girl’s peace of mind.”

No one objected. They were all in various postures of contemplation.

“Hee-hee.” Someone chuckled, and the rest of the room’s eyes gathered. “Hee-hee. That’s so kind of you…even though everyone who knows what happened at the time is dead.” It was a nasty thing to say, but the tone was completely different. “We, including her, are a band of friends who protect weak humanity from the other races. I’d like some abuse of authority to be permitted when it’s about saving our friends.”

“If no one dies, I won’t stop you…”

The generalissimo’s response evoked a wry smile.

“Wouldn’t it be better to spread this knowledge more widely than word of mouth between individuals can? Someone with power shouldn’t have any trouble unless they go into hiding afterward. Once word gets around, information will come together quickly.”

The often-proposed plan was said to have originated hundreds of years ago. And it was always rejected in the same way.

“The fewer people who know that our world is a fragile boat hurled into the wide ocean, the better. Or that we might get a bad storm every century or so. How would anyone be able to sleep at night? The strong can’t simply lurk in the shadows forever. They stick out even if they simply go about living their lives.”

“If that’s true, then what will that former high priest do?”

“I don’t know, but there’s a good chance of something… Perhaps some kind of ace move is in the works.”

“Maybe the former ninth seat, Storm-Wind Distance-Runner, knows something…”

“This is no good. It’s happening so near us this time. It’s a pain in the extreme.”

There were several audible sighs.

“What about asking the retired Black Scripture members for help rebuilding our strength—no, tightening up our watch? As reinforcements to send to the Dragon Kingdom. If we sent them, there wouldn’t be many deaths.”

Since the Black Scripture was always leaping into dangerous situations, the chances of dying were high. But as long as there was a corpse, resurrection was possible. The only issue was that being brought back from the dead used up a lot of life force. Returning to pre-death levels of power required time and training. It was natural that those people would choose to retire.

Of course, there were also those who quit when they started feeling their age, but in either case, they were given priority for the jobs they were interested in. Some chose not to work and lived a life of debauchery, but in the majority of cases, the gazes of their multiple wives and the
Why don’t you work, Daddy?
from their children compelled them to get back in the game.

It was necessary to train those people to get their combat senses back, and there were some who could never hope to return to the level they were at in their prime, but they were still definitely more reliable than some random person.

“For now, let’s tell them what’s going on and what we would like. Just don’t expect them all to take up their weapons again.”

“Of course not. It would just be an appeal. And for anyone who actually responds, we’ll have to offer even better compensation than they wish for.”

“They should get paid as much as we do.”

Ironic laughter erupted.

Their salaries were a joke.

In the Theocracy, salaries began to decrease above a certain rank. It was a self-purification measure to ensure that the people at the top weren’t tainted by greed. The result was that most of those who climbed up that high were there to dedicate themselves to their country and the people.

The laughter stopped and the high priest superior spoke. “Very well, everyone. Shall we move on? Raymond, if you please.”