Neia Baraja

Neia Baraja (ネイア・バラハ) is a Squire serving in the Holy Kingdom Liberation Army. She is the daughter of Pavel Baraja, one of the members of the Nine Colors. She is also considered to be a hero who helped liberate Kalinsha from the Demi-Human Alliance's control.

Appearance
Neia is a woman with short blonde hair and beady black eyes slanted upwards, giving the impression that she was constantly glaring at others. On the other hand, the dark circles around her eyes made people think that she was the kind of person who hung around with criminals in seedy back alleys. She also carried a sword at her waist, emblazoned with the crest of the Holy Kingdom's knight order. Additionally, she adorns a blackish cape around her attire.

Later, she would discard the dark cape in favor of the Buser's green armor bestowed upon her by Ainz. Since then, she dons a reddish colored cape over her old one. At the same time, she is also wearing a unique visor that obscures her eyes. The rest she is equipped with were gauntlets, necklace, and circlet that the Sorcerer King lend her.

Personality
Since interpersonal relationship is not Neia's strong suit, it has only instead lead her into developing a personality that favors doing everything by herself.

According to her father, she was looked upon by him as being a gentle, fragile girl, who is certainly not the type that thinks of fighting power as everything.

After her interactions with the Sorcerer King, she has become more pragmatic in her view of the world, accepting the reality of making necessary sacrifices for the greater good.

Background
Due to her fierce-looking eyes, which she inherited from her father, Neia tends to leave a bad first impression on others. This is the reason why Neia's childhood friends kept a distance from her. For that, she's bad at building good interpersonal relationships and always complained to her father about it. When her mother heard she say that, Neia took quite a beating.

Somewhere during her childhood, her father has stated that she was even been scared to tears by caterpillars back then. Amidst that lifetime, she made a carved wooden doll at the age of six as a special gift to her father.

While growing up, Neia decided her dream goal in life is to aim at becoming a paladin within the Holy Kingdom like her mother. She was rarely ever home with her parents because of that. The reason for why Neia has chosen this path, to begin with, was because she happens to admire how her mother looked as a paladin. Hence, she may be attending to follow in the footsteps of her mother. However, no matter how much she practiced over time, Neia thought of herself to have no talent with a sword at all and considers her skills with ranged weapons as a waste.

After becoming a squire, however, she realized her vision is becoming much broader and useful when carrying out missions. Thus, it eventually led Neia into thinking how useful her previously hated eyes are to the Paladin Order.

The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom Arc
and The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom II Arc Neia Baraja journeyed together with the Holy Kingdom's ambassadorial delegation to the Royal Capital of the Re-Estize Kingdom. Though her presence was deemed to be a nuisance by the veteran paladins, Neia's sole purpose in this journey was to ensure they made it to that nation safely. As Neia walked through the streets, she happens to notice the citizens of the capital were somewhat depressed, thinking this was due to the fact that they've suffered an invasion not too long ago. Though she dismisses the idea upon remembering how the Northern Kingdom's citizens are currently suffering worse. After being sent on a mission to contact the nobles of the Re-Estize Kingdom, she reported back to Remedios Custodio that the nobles would not be able to receive due to the lack of time. Neia's superior, Remedios however, doesn't believe her at all and sees it as a failure done on her part.

Later on, she was present alongside the rest of the delegates during the meeting with members of Blue Roses. Upon encountering the adamantite adventurer group at first glance, she was admiring their composure especially Lakyus who seemed more refined than her own leader. After the meeting was over and no help could be established from any party in the Re-Estize Kingdom, she and the rest of her group departed for the Sorcerer Kingdom to seek out aid from Momon instead.

Due to her sharp senses, she leads the party at the front to watch out for any dangers. Right around when the envoys reach the Sorcerer Kingdom's border, they first encountered a strange mist that was approaching them fast. As they're preparing for danger, she was stumped to see it was actually a flying ghost ship that was right in front of them all this time. She is even more dumbfounded when realizing that the flying ghost ship was carrying the Sorcerer Kingdom's banner. As a result, she ends up wondering what sort of nation is the Sorcerer Kingdom supposed to be if it has such strange forces such as that flying ghost ship under its command.

When they reached the Sorcerer Kingdom's capital E-Rantel, Neia was put at the back of the group as she had already done her duty of guiding the troops. Upon their arrival at the city's main gate, she was marveling at the two stately-looking gigantic statues flanking the gate that was in front of her as well as in awe of the appearance of frost giants tending to them.

Upon entering the city, Neia was astonished by the various races that inhabited the city. During their walk towards the Shining Golden Pavilion, her party came across a trio of dwarves. After questioning them, she was surprised that the dwarves were technical advisers that came from the Dwarf Kingdom itself and that they were using the undead to pave roads.

Neia was present when her party gained an audience with the Sorcerer King and Albedo. She watched the exchange between the two parties and was disheartened that the Sorcerer King could only provide help within four years time. But due to her unwavering insistence, Ainz was delighted and further cut down the time to two years.

After the negotiations had concluded, Remedios started to scold the young squire for interfering, however, she fought back in defense as her effort had shortened the time even further than they were capable of. Once the two finally stopped arguing, Neia went outside to cool off her head. At that moment, she heard an invisible voice coming from behind her and it directed her towards a back alley, revealing to be none other than the Sorcerer King himself. Ainz came to talk to her as he has another proposal for visiting the delegation. Ainz wants to carry out his plan in secret, requesting the young squire to help him get into the building, to which she accepted without hesitation. Neia and the rest of the Paladin Order listened to his proposals and after deliberations, the group have decided to accept it. Along the way, she was chosen to act as his personal guard as well as to keep an eye on him.

During the journey back to their hidden base, Neia and the Sorcerer King spent the time with informal conservation. She came to better understand what kind of person he is, beginning to have a degree of respect and admiration for the Sorcerer King. While so, Ainz, in turn, gave her his Ultimate Shooting Star Super bow in order to convince Neia to use it for her and his own protection.

Neia witnessed the difference in intelligence and charisma between the Sorcerer King and Remedios, which causes Neia to be more respectful of the undead than her own superior. She later draws a similar conclusion when comparing him to Calca or Caspond. When Ainz commented as how the Liberation Army had remained undetected due to falling within the demi-humans plans to monitor the location of the human resistance she relayed his wisdom to Remedios. After the Sorcerer King retired, the priests in the camp noticed Neia wielding the bow given by Ainz. She was asked to turn it over to the priest, as they believed it contained sinister magic, but she refused telling she would report its confiscation to the Sorcerer King. Remedios relented and Neia watched her 'lead' the meeting on the Liberation Army's next move to relocate and attack the enemy camps to replenish their supplies.

Later, she and Gustavo meet with the Sorcerer King and inform him of the Army's plans. The squire is disappointed at the lack of proper respect given to the sovereign due to his undead state. She resolves to change that believing he is a good person. Listening to their plans, Ainz comments that it is a sound strategy, however he doesn't believe that there will be much food at the camps, as the demi-humans would probably have given their captives less in order to keep them weak and reduce their resistance. Despite the gamble Gustavo is insistent on saving the innocents.

After Gustavo leaves, Neia apologizes that his suggestions are not being taken seriously. He then decides to ask her about the area in general.

During the journey to liberate the nearby camp, Neia became fascinated by the Sorcerer King's wisdom. She wanted to relay Ainz's wisdom to the leaders, in order achieve success. Ainz urged her not to as the Liberation Army needed to realize the truth for themselves before seeing his alternatives. The Liberation Army attacked a nearby village controlled by the Bafolk. Neia and Ainz stayed at the back of the army surveying the battle. When a Bafolk used a child as a hostage to force the Army to withdraw. Remedios ordered her paladins to back away. Neia was stunned at Remedios's single-mindedness in her belief of saving a single life at the expense of countless others. Ainz seeing it futile to give into threats intervened and killed the child as an act of mercy and to allow the Army to resume its liberation of the camp. Neia watched the child die, though she was not angry at the Sorcerer King but grateful as she knew that he could not show weakness, for the demi-humans would exploit it in the future and did what needed to be done.

On their next destination the city of Loyts. Another situation occurred in which a demi-human used a child, even younger than the previous, as a hostage holding the human soldiers at bay. She once again witnessed Remedios cling to her flawed ideals and inability to understand sacrifice. Ainz offered his services to provide a means, though Neia was hesitant to allow him as he had claimed earlier he was still conserving his mana.

Abilities and Powers
Neia is considered to be adept at using a bow as her field of expertise. Her bow skills are said to be very well suited to the bandit's lifestyle. She was also acknowledged by her father in regards to being a ranger like him. According to Gustav, she is the only one among the Holy Kingdom's soldiers who can notice things with a clear perception due to her keen senses. While Neia was a long way from her father, she harbored some pride in the fact that her senses were sharper than those who had only been trained as paladins.

She lost almost all her original levels or classes after being resurrected by Ainz. At the same time, she gained new class levels from surviving the Holy Kingdom's war with the Demi-Human Alliance. Unbeknownst to Neia, she is able to use a special technique which can allow her to influence the thoughts of people or otherwise, brainwash them. When Neia uses this power on traumatized people, her words are said to save them from utter despair. Unlike normal paladins, she can imbue her ranged weapons with divine powers rather than her melee weapons.

Job Classes

 * Paladin (2)
 * Sacred Archer (3)
 * Evangelist (2)
 * Founder (4)

Former Job Classes

 * Servant
 * Archer

Main Equipment

 * Unnamed Sword: A sidearm decorated with the crest of the Knight Order of the Holy Kingdom, a sort of which looks like the ones issued to trainee soldiers. She has the habit of caressing this sword to calm her down when feeling uneasy as this was her partner through long years of training and practice.
 * Ultimate Shooting Star Super: A weapon borrowed from Ainz. He said that it's made with the dwarves' ancient art of runecrafting, but is, in fact, a YGGDRASIL weapon with rune decorations that held no power at all.
 * Star Pendant: Given by Ainz, this item grants Neia an immunity to fear.
 * Turtle Shell: Buser's magical armor, previously looted by Ainz and given to Neia. Accommodates to the size of the user and protects against projectiles.
 * Circlet of Iron Will: Strengthens the mind against charm, fear, as well as other mental attacks.
 * Gauntlets of Archery: Strengthens her shooting skills by granting increased swiftness and precision, among others.
 * Necklace of Heavy Recover: It enables Neia to cast the 3rd-tier spell, Heavy Recover.
 * Visor Mirror Shade: Allowed the user to use the skill Snake Shot, which makes arrows turn mid-air and hunt targets like a wild beast once every three minutes.

Pavel Baraja
In the past, Neia used to love her father very much when she goes so far as carving wooden doll just for him. According to her father, she would have hugged him immediately. At some point in time, however, she no longer hugged him after he returned home. This is because she has grown independent of relying on her father and decided to do things her own way from now on.

After the death of her father and the fall of the Northern Holy Kingdom, Neia uses the knowledge that she learned from him to guide the delegation of the Liberation Army safely to the Re-Estize Kingdom. During the travel, Neia remembered her father with affection and nearly broke in tears when thinking about him.

She mentioned to Ainz that in some part of her heart, she holds some resentment towards her father. This was due to the fact that Neia's sinister eyes was inherited from her father and it being the cause for so many of her problems. It was likely the reason why she decided not to follow the same path as her father but her mother instead.

Ainz Ooal Gown
Upon meeting Ainz for the first time, Neia wasn't afraid of him being an undead, yet was awed by his appearance and aura. She senses that the Sorcerer King is not simply a mere undead like the rest of his kind and could be an actual supreme being. In addition, she also finds his logic and the decisions he carries out to be reasonable. Every time he speaks his thoughts out openly, it would leave an indelible impression on Neia's heart. She had not only forgotten that Ainz was an undead, but had later come to harbor feelings of genuine respect for him as the Sorcerer King. Neia seems willing to defend him if the need to arises even against people from her own country.

As the two traveled to the resistance camp, Ainz and Neia conversed with each other in his carriage where she was amazed at the undead's character, describing him to be a King who is as kind as he is wise. When answering Ainz's question concerning her parents, she told him about their fate which made the Sorcerer King apologetic in regards to her circumstance. Seeing his reaction, she even kneels before him in the carriage and faithfully swears her loyalty and life to protect him from the conflict with her country is settled. At times, however, she ponders the thought of Ainz being a human magic caster in a skeletal mask due to the way he acts. After she is revived by Ainz, Neia comes to realize that his way of using his strength for those under his rule make him the embodiment of justice.

CZ2128 Delta
CZ2128 Delta is only known to Neia as one of Jaldabaoth's demon maids who was bounded by Ainz Ooal Gown. For that reason, she was at first initially wary of her presence and is unable to trust her. Additionally, Neia is envious of Shizu's nonchalant attitude of calling Ainz the way he is without referring to him by a honorific title. After spending time conversing with the maid, she soon open up to CZ2128 Delta and ask for her cooperation on the job. Hence, Neia is able to get along well with the maid as they shared the same loyalty and respect for their master. A month later as she gathers more volunteers to search for Ainz, Neia becomes friendly to CZ to the point where she hugs her in private and finds comfort in the former demon maid's words and presence.

Remedios Custodio
Remedios is Neia's superior. However, Neia resents her for various reasons. This primarily has to do with how Remedios uses her as an outlet for her anger and grief over the deaths of her friends, even though she lost family too. Neia also thinks of Remedios as unwise because of how she lets her emotions cloud her judgment and is angered by the fact of that she was allowed to skip being a squire simply because of her talent.

This resentment has grown to distrust upon hearing about Remedios' plan for having both Ainz and Jaldabaoth kill each other during their eventual showdown. She felt unease after hearing how her superior is willing to take advantage of Ainz's goodwill by not only getting him to fight the demon but to do all the heavy lifting for them.

Despite all of this, Neia came to sympathize with Remedios upon learning that her naivety was a result of her trying to carry on the beliefs of the deceased Holy Queen, who was a close friend to her. However, she also recognized these beliefs are hypocritical and reality doesn't work that way.

Calca Bessarez
Being a squire of the Paladin Order, she is bound to serve the Holy Queen as well as her country. However, Neia had met the Holy Queen only once in her lifetime and she never struck her the impression as being a true monarch. This was only until listening to the Sorcerer King speaking out his thoughts the second time in their meeting that she started believing he may be a true monarch incarnate. In a way, it could be implied that her loyalty to the Holy Queen is not as strong as Remedios or the majority of the other members of the Paladin Order.

Gustav Montagnés
Gustav normally treats Neia a little better than the other paladins and at times, defends her when her skills are brought into question. Neia becomes angered when Gustav tries to ask Ainz's wisdom about how to fight back against Jaldabaoth's forces but doesn't even offer the Sorcerer King the courtesy of a map.

Jaldabaoth
Neia hates Jaldabaoth for what he did to her country and people, but is mostly angry at him for killing both her mother and father and has vowed to avenge them. After Jaldabaoth declared the news of Ainz's death, she was the first person to refute his claim, doubting everything the demon says were true. It came to the point wherein which she went as far as suspecting Remedios for trusting the demon's words too easily. On the other hand, she would not hesitate to use the opportunity to attack Jaldabaoth while he is heavily injured after his battle with the Sorcerer King.

Trivia

 * When her father has presented the doll she made for him, he originally thought it to be a monster rather than of him.
 * Neia's dream as a child was to visit other countries, and held a vague sense of admiration for Baharuth Empire as it was supposedly much more superior than the Holy Kingdom as mentioned by her father.
 * Neia Baraja is the only character in Overlord, so far, that has two Character Sheets.
 * According to the Author's Notes, Neia was originally conceived to be a male character, but decided to switch genders due to having to many side male characters interacting with Ainz already in the story.

Quotes

 * (To Gustav about Remedios): "...Even if she takes her anger out on others and gives them a hard time, then?"
 * (To Gustav): "Understood. If it is for the sake of the Holy Kingdom, I will endure it with a smile."
 * (To Ainz): "My skills aren't good enough for me to proudly call myself an archer, Your Majesty. I am simply better at archery than swordsmanship, and the truth is that people have scolded me and told me I ought to focus more on training up my sword skills."
 * (To Herself about Ainz): "No! I can't let His Majesty spoil me like this! If I don't lower myself a little more—"
 * (To Herself about Ainz): "I can't believe it. The Sorcerer King is wise and sagacious, and surely he must know the meaning of bowing. Even so, he still bowed to me like an ordinary person-- No. Don't get full of yourself. I can't possibly be that valuable. This simply shows how magnanimous the Sorcerer King is; he even treats a commoner politely. --Ah! He mustn't!"
 * (To Ainz): "Your servant is of humble origins, but I swear that until Your Majesty's work is complete, I will loyally and faithfully serve you."
 * (To Herself): "That's what I sensed from His Majesty, something which the Holy Kingdom now lacks...a sense of purity. That's why I feel like this..."
 * (To Herself about Ainz): "He's actually happy that I can understand him...what a gentle and kind person he is."
 * (To the Paladins during the siege): "What you should be doing is devoting all your strength to save the lives which can be saved!"
 * (To Ainz): "I'm a little tired, but more importantly, my heart has cleared up. I am absolutely certain that Your Highness is justice!"


 * (To Ainz): "No. Justice without power is meaningless, but power like what Jaldabaoth possesses is not justice either. Therefore, being strong, and using that strength to aid others is truly justice; in other words, Your Majesty is the incarnation of justice!"
 * (To Herself): "Weakness is a sin, so one must become strong, or humbly accept justice similar to that of His Majesty."
 * (To Remedios about Jaldabaoth killing Ainz): "Calm? You actually believe that demon's words? Captain, did you sell your soul to him!?"
 * (To Shizu): "...Alright. I believe you. But please, don't look down on me any more. I would gladly walk through oceans of fire and climb mountains of blades for His Majesty."
 * (To a crowd of people): "However! There are exceptions to all things! Just as there might be a warm day in winter, just as a bud might bloom from a withered branch, just as a brilliant shooting star can streak across the darkest night. So too is His Majesty -- an undead being who aids the living. You must have heard the stories from the people he rescued. It is also possible that some of you were rescued by him. Then based on what you know to be true, you have the proof that I am not lying!"
 * (To Shizu): "…Quite cute… Speaking of which, you must be really bored because you can’t go outside, CZ-senpai. Shall the two of us go somewhere together next time?"