Neia Baraja

:"The Sorcerer King is justice and weakness is a sin."
::- Neia's ideology of the Sorcerer King representing her group of followers.
Neia Baraja (ネイア・バラハ) is a citizen of the Roble Holy Kingdom. While starting out as a mere squire in the Holy Kingdom Liberation Army, after meeting Ainz Ooal Gown, she became vital in liberating her country. Afterward, she became the leader of a cult that follows the Sorcerer King's ideals that "strength is justice."
== Appearance ==
Neia is a young teenage girl with short blonde hair and beady black eyes slanted upwards, giving the impression that she is constantly glaring at others. On the other hand, the dark circles around these eyes make the people around her think that she is the kind of person who hangs around with criminals in seedy back alleys. She is also shown to be carrying a sword at her waist, emblazoned with the crest of the Holy Kingdom's knight order. Additionally, she is adorned in a blackish-looking cape, which is used to cover around the upper parts of her getup.
At some point in the war, she would discard the dark cape in favor of wearing the Buser's green armor bestowed upon her by Ainz. Since then, she dons a reddish colored cape over her old one. In addition to that, she wears a unique visor that completely obscures her intimidating eyes from scaring those who observe or approach her. Besides the new attire, her equipment consists of gauntlets, a necklace, and a circlet that the Sorcerer King lent her. She possesses a quiver for holding the arrows on her upper back body and carrys a bow to fire at foes from it.
== Personality ==
Since interpersonal relationships aren't her strong suit, it has caused Neia to develop a personality that favors doing everything by herself.Overlord Volume 12 Character Sheet: Neia Baraja According to her father, he saw her as a gentle, fragile girl who is not the type of person that thinks of fighting power as everything. She is even reflective and self-aware of how others around her view her intimidating face, feeling thankful and appreciative for the Sorcerer King going out of his way to give the former a mask to cover it up for everyone's sake.
During and after the Holy Kingdom's war with the Demi-Human Alliance, her own belief and philosophy surrounding her home nation and countrymen began to change ever since she met and allied with the Sorcerer King. Having now understand what kind of person the Sorcerer King is positively, it encouragingly spurred and motivated her to take actions for him and the Holy Kingdom confidently and fearlessly. When put into several positions of power militarily and politically, she became even more vocal, patriotic, and charismatic about her new ideology that centers around justice and sin. Due to her interactions with the Sorcerer King and getting to better know him as a person, she has become more pragmatic with her view of the world. She accepts the grim reality of making necessary sacrifices for the greater good and wants to reinforce the Sorcerer King's views based on it. She is honest and careful with her words, not the least bit afraid of withholding information from Ainz.
As far as diplomacy goes, she acts under the role of being two factions' messenger and spokesperson to one another. In other words, she would convey her thoughts along with the Holy Kingdom Liberation Army's intentions and Sorcerer Kingdom's opinions for either sides to be informed of. At the same time, she becomes positively charismatic and engaging by the time she rises up in the rank of a leadership role among her followers. When leading both the Archery Unit and the Sorcerer King's Rescue Team, she has an eloquent way with words towards the people who supported her ideology. She was relentless in trying to save Ainz and acquired his aid, urging her supporters to do the same as well beside her. She deeply values and treasures the precious items Ainz had given her on her missions to save him and bring law and order back to the Holy Kingdom.
Additionally, she has shown at times to be sternly scornful around people like Remedios and the priests who speaks ill of the Sorcerer King. When listening to their conversations about the Sorcerer King silently, she frustratingly hated the thought of them badmouthing him behind his back. Moreover, she is considerately thoughtful, courteous, and attentive around Ainz, realizing the ways in how the Sorcerer King is trying to look out for both his nation and the Holy Kingdom's interests in mind fairly. She is also shown to act envious and longing towards Shizu's relationship with Ainz, wishing to be as close to the Sorcerer King like the latter. Nonetheless, Neia is a dutiful person who follows her superior's orders as they are given.
According to the author Maruyama, Neia Baraja was the kind of girl whose mental state is quite unstable. Throughout the course of the Sorcerer Kingdom's assault agains the Holy Kingdom, it made her an easy target for manipulation, as Ainz is capable of turning her into an obedient pawn almost unintentionally. Even in her normal state of mind, she still looks off-putting to some people due to the way she glares at them all the time. This crazed aspect of Neia was the reason behind why her superiors don’t think very highly of her.Overlord Volume 12 Author Thoughts
== Background ==
Due to the fierce-looking eyes she inherited from her father, Neia Baraja tends to leave a bad first impression on anyone she meets. This is the reason why Neia's childhood friends kept a distance from her. For that reason, she happened to be bad at building good interpersonal relationships with people and always complained to her father over the matter. When her mother overheard her saying that, Neia took quite a beating from her.
At some point during her childhood, her father stated that she was always scared of caterpillars. At the age of six, she carved a wooden doll as a special gift to her father.Overlord Volume 12 Chapter 1: The Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth
While growing up, Neia decided that her goal in life was to become a paladin within the Holy Kingdom. She was rarely ever at home and instead took to training instead. She admired her mother as a Paladin and was dead set on becoming one herself to follow in the footsteps of her mother. However, no matter how much effort and time she spent practicing, Neia saw herself not improving. Before her first encounter with the Sorcerer King, Neia felt that she possessed no innate talent whatsoever with anything, even less so with a sword, and found her ranged abilities to be an utter waste of time to work on improving until now.
After taking on the position of a squire, Neia realized that she had become much more useful to her companions when conducting her missions and the orders that she followed by accordingly. Eventually, with courtesy of the people she talks to and listens to during meetings, it led Neia to accept her previously hated eyes as a way to direct how she feels towards the Paladin Order whenever they speak badly about the Sorcerer King.
== Chronology ==
=== 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 seen as a nuisance by the veteran paladins, Neia's sole purpose in this journey was to ensure that they made it to the kingdom safely. As Neia walked through the streets, she happened to notice the citizens of the capital were visibly depressed, thinking this was due to the fact that they suffered an invasion not too long ago. However, she dismissed the idea after remembering that 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, stating that the nobles would not be able to receive them due to lack of time. However, Remedios didn't believe her at all and saw 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 admired 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.
She leads the party and uses her sharp senses while stationed at the front to watch out for any danger. Right around when the envoys reach the Sorcerer Kingdom's border, they encounter a strange mist that approaches fast. As they are preparing for danger, she quickly jolts towards the sky after her senses were on fire. It turns out to be a flying ghost ship that was right in front of them all this time, leaving her dumbfounded. She is left speechless after realizing the flying ghost ship is carrying the Sorcerer Kingdom's banner. As a result, she ends up wondering what sort of nation the Sorcerer Kingdom is supposed to be if it has such strange forces like the flying ghost ship under its command.
When they reach the Sorcerer Kingdom's capital, E-Rantel, Neia is ordered to the back of the group as she was only serving as a guide beforehand. Upon their arrival at the city's main gate, she is left marveling at the two stately-looking gigantic statues flanking the gate and is left in awe at the appearance of frost giants tending to them.
Upon entering, Neia is astonished by the various races that inhabit the city. During their walk towards the Shining Golden Pavilion, her party comes across a trio of dwarves. After questioning them, she is surprised to find that the dwarves are technical advisers who came from the Dwarf Kingdom itself and that they are using the undead to pave roads.
Neia is later present when her party gains an audience with the Sorcerer King and Albedo. She watches the exchange between the two parties and is disheartened that the Sorcerer King can only provide help within three years time. Due to her unwavering insistence, Ainz is delighted and cuts the time to two years.
After the negotiations conclude, Remedios scolds the young squire for interfering. However, Neia fights back in her own defense as her effort had shortened the time even further than they were capable of. Once the two finally stop arguing, Neia goes outside to cool off her head. At that moment, she hears an invisible voice coming from behind her, directing her towards a back alley. The voice is revealed as none other than the Sorcerer King himself. Ainz wants 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, which she accepts without hesitation. Neia and the rest of the Paladin Order listen to his proposals and, after deliberations, they decide to accept it. Along the way, she is chosen by her superiors to act as his personal guard and to keep an eye on him.Overlord Volume 12 Chapter 2: Seeking Salvation
During the journey back to their hidden base, Neia and the Sorcerer King spend some time having informal conservation. She comes to better understand what kind of person he is, beginning to have a degree of respect and admiration for the Sorcerer King. Ainz, in turn, gives her his Ultimate Shooting Star Super bow in order to convince Neia to use it for his and her own protection.
Neia witnesses 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 comments as to how the Liberation Army had remained undetected due to falling within the demi-humans plans to monitor the location of the human resistance, she relays his wisdom to Remedios. After the Sorcerer King retires, the priests in the camp notice Neia wielding the bow given to her by Ainz. She is asked to turn it over to the priest, as they believe it contains sinister magic, but she refuses, saying she will report its confiscation to the Sorcerer King. Remedios relents and Neia watches 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 Gustav 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 herself to change that impression, 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 will probably have given their captives less in order to keep them weak and reduce their resistance. Despite the gamble, Gustav is insistent on saving the prisoners.
After Gustav leaves, Neia apologizes for his suggestions not being taken seriously. He then decides to ask her about the general area.
During the journey to liberate the nearby camp, Neia becomes fascinated by the Sorcerer King's wisdom. She wants to relay Ainz's wisdom to the leaders in order to achieve success. However, Ainz urges her not to, as the Liberation Army needs to realize the truth for themselves before seeing his alternatives. The Liberation Army attacks a nearby village controlled by the Bafolk. Neia and Ainz stay at the back of the army surveying the battle. When a Bafolk uses a child as a hostage to force the Army to withdraw, Remedios orders her paladins to back away. Neia is 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, intervenes and kills the child as an act of mercy and allows the Army to resume its liberation of the camp. Neia watches the child die, though she is not angry at the Sorcerer King, but grateful as she knows that he cannot show weakness, since the demi-humans will exploit it in the future and he did what needed to be done.
Their next destination is the city of Loyts. As they arrive, another situation occurs in which a demi-human uses a child even younger than the previous as a hostage, holding the human soldiers at bay. She once again witnesses Remedios cling to her flawed ideals and inability to understand sacrifice. Ainz offers his services to provide a means, though Neia is hesitant to allow him, as he is still conserving his mana. She watches Ainz use his magical summons, High Wraiths, to subdue the Bafolk and destroy the city gates. Later, upon encountering a berserk Bafolk warrior, she watches in awe of his raw power as he easily crushes its head with his hand. The two continue and meet Buser. The Bafolk Lord mistakes Neia as a magic caster that summons the undead, which Neia denies. However, Ainz jokingly confirms it to be true. After the misconceptions are cleared up, Ainz and Buser engage each other in battle. Neia watches in clear wonder at the Sorcerer King's skills, seeing neither side gain an advantage. When Buser tries using his Martial Arts to destroy Ainz's magically crafted weapons, he is shocked to see that he is unable to do so. Realizing that he is clearly out-matched, Buser begs for his life by offering his allegiance to the Sorcerer King. Ainz considers his offer at first surprising the squire. As some of his subjects may take offense to his inclusion, he decides to kill him.
With the death of Buser, Neia and Ainz go further into the city and discover that demons have been conducting medical experiments on the human captives. After informing the priests and Remedios, they discover several orc prisoners being held captive by the Demi-Human Alliance as they refused to bow to Jaldabaoth. Seeing the sorry state of their minds and bodies, Ainz offers the demi-humans sanctuary in his Kingdom, but is outright rejected, since they believe it is a trick. Feeling insulted by their statement, Neia defends Ainz, stating that he is a benevolent being who built a nation where humans and demi-humans live in peace. The orcs are shocked by the girl's passion and are slightly moved in the process. Although they initially decline to relocate to the Sorcerer Kingdom and ask to be sent back to the Abelion Hills, they tell the two that they would consider Ainz's offer in the future.
After Ainz spirits the orcs away, Gustavo introduces them to the rescued Prince Caspond Bessarez. Unfortunately, their celebration is short-lived as 40,000 demi-humans surround the city of Loyts.Overlord Volume 12 Chapter 3: Beginning the Counterattack The army maintains position around the city for three days, during which Neia finds herself stationed at the western gate. Before she is deployed, Ainz bequeaths her several new magical equipments, which she is reluctant to accept, but is convinced by the Sorcerer King to use them in battle. Her equipment attracts the attention of several of her fellow countrymen stationed at the gate. They eagerly listen to her first-hand account of the Sorcerer King and his part in capturing Loyts, spreading a magnanimous image of him.
The western gate comes under siege by the demi-humans. The militiamen, along with Neia, hold the encroaching force with volleys of their arrows. Several ogres pummel the walls with three waves of ballista bolts, causing massive casualties on the defenders' side. Neia, using her bow, manages to nail an ogre in the head, injuring it from continuing to attack. Neia and her group are then forced to retreat from their section of the wall as the ogres direct their fire at them.
Jajan of the Lagon Tribe manages to take the head of the human commander and orders his forces to kill them all. Neia shoots her arrow and manages to kill Jajan. The demi-humans keep their distance, seeing that she is wearing Buser's armor and are under the false impression that they are fighting the one who had defeated the previous owner. One of the demi-humans notices Neia's glaring eyes and realizes that she is the Mad-Eyed Archer, but Neia realizes that it was her father that they referring to and they mistook her as him. The militiamen try to defend Neia from the demi-humans, but are overwhelmed. Being surrounded by demi-humans and scared to death, Neia Baraja is killed in battle.
Neia is resurrected by Ainz using True Resurrection, a ninth tier spell and a healing potion. Seeing Ainz's power at eliminating all the demi-humans, Neia finally understands what justice is and swears fealty to Ainz. Just before Ainz returns to Nazarick, Neia enters his room to express her gratitude towards her savior. When Ainz asks about the bow he had given her, Neia tells him that it works splendidly and that many people saw the amazing power of the bow, but they were killed in the battle. Neia tells Ainz that the people whom he saved also wish to express their gratitude towards him. Receiving their gratitude, Ainz tells Neia to inform them that he's glad to receive their gratitude. Neia then leaves to convey his message to them while Ainz returns back to Nazarick.Overlord Volume 13 Chapter 4: The Siege
The squire busies herself, training news archers as their supervisor. Thanks to the patronage of Ainz Ooal Gown, Neia finds herself being praised for her skills and equipment. Ainz meets up with her again and before they could discuss further, a wall of flame appears, signaling that Jaldabaoth has arrived. The two then fly to Prince Caspond's meeting room to discuss the plans on a counterattack. Before they can finish their talks, Jaldabaoth bursts through the wall along with the demon maids. After Remedios is swatted away by the demon using Calca's corpse, Jaldaboath turns his attention to the Sorcerer King and challenges him to a duel. Ainz accepts, leaving Neia worried as the Sorcerer King has already used up too much of his mana and will be at a disadvantage. Nonetheless, Ainz assures her he will be fine and goes to face the Demon Emperor.
Neia and the rest of the Liberation Army watch the duel from afar. She is taken aback by the incomprehensible battle and believes that Ainz will triumph. However, she sees that Ainz has fallen down in the air along with the Demon Emperor. Only the latter reemerges, injured but very still alive. To Neia's surprise, Jaldabaoth emerges victorious from the match. Speaking in front of the masses, the Demon Emperor acknowledges the Sorcerer King as a worthy opponent to square off against. However, he shortly afterwards makes a mockery of the Overlord for being overconfident in using his power, seeing that the latter thought it would be sufficient enough to save the humans. Jaldabaoth notes it to be his downfall, which got him killed. Still horrified and shocked by this news from Jaldabaoth, Neia denies this to be true as she believes what he said were lies fabricated by the demons to trick the humans, including her. Filled with anger at the demon's mocking tone, she pulls an arrow out of her bow and tries to shoot him, but Jaldabaoth quickly avoids the arrows. Jaldabaoth looks at the arrow and the bow that she used and asks if it was made by the ancient magic of runecraft, saying if that is true, it might even be able to kill him. Neia Baraja refuses to acknowledge the demon's accusation or suspicion as she wants to keep the Sorcerer King's weapon's ability a secret from it. Hence, she keeps shooting arrow after arrow, with Jaldabaoth avoiding each one, while trying to cover up the demon's information about the runecraft. Once the last of her arrows are spent, the Demon Emperor flees the scene in order to recover from his injuries and the loss of strength.
After the Demon retreats, Neia wishes to initiate a rescue operation to find the Sorcerer King. Remedios believes that they should focus on other matters and considers the idea that Ainz is truly dead. Neia accuses her of being seduced by the demon's words and her ineffectiveness in fighting the demon. Just as they are about to clash with each other, Prince Caspond and Gustav intervene.
A few days later, Neia is suffering from severe exhaustion due to stress over Ainz's whereabouts. Her eyes become even more fearsome, forcing her to keep the visor Ainz gave her on to prevent scaring people. She busies herself in training her archery squad and slowly recruits them to form a rescue party. Neia attempts to approach Prince Caspond for permission to send out a search party, but is cut short when his presence is requested by the other soldiers.Overlord Volume 13 Chapter 5: Ainz Dies
After leaving Caspond’s room, the first place Neia goes to is the archery range, where her subordinates are waiting for her return. She informs them of everything that had transpired, had been said, and the conclusions they had reached. After hearing Caspond's conclusion from her, they reassure Neia that they will be keeping their eyes open over the current surroundings while searching for the Sorcerer King in the meantime. Until her request from the Prince is granted or she receives an audience with him, Neia and the rest of her subordinates will be focused on honing their skills through training.
Later on, Neia meets with Prince Caspond, Remedios, and Gustav in a meeting with a representative of the Zern. The Zern wish to seek aid from the humans in order to rescue their prince, as he was being held hostage by Jaldabaoth, thus they were being forced to participate in the war against the Holy Kingdom. In return for their help, they swear to switch sides and aid the Liberation Army against the Demi-Human alliance. Sensing this as a good opportunity, Caspond agrees. The prince decides to assign Neia to carry out this mission with the aid from the captured Demon Maid. Neia is shocked at this revelation and the Demon Maid is brought in chains into the room. It is revealed that just before the Sorcerer King disappeared, he gained control of the demon, CZ2128 Delta, and ordered her to aid the Holy Kingdom with anything they need. Neia is not completely convinced and requests some time to think about before she makes her decision.
Needing to get to know the Demon Maid first, Neia decides to see for herself if the demon is trustworthy to work with. The two meet and, after a bit of a rough start, get to know each other and Neia begins to trust the demon, who introduces herself as Shizu after both parties agree that the Sorcerer King is a magnificent ruler and sharing chocolate shakes.
Shizu and Neia manage to infiltrate the city of Kalinsha by hiding inside barrels being taken to a castle by the Zern. They manage to avoid detection and kill the Vah Un guards guarding the Zern prince. Reaching the Zern Prince Beebeezee, they inform him of the current situation, including the death of his father by Jaldabaoth's minions. The Zern, however, know that if they attempt to escape, they will be hunted down and eliminated, but if they stay, they will still live under subjugation and cruelty. Seeing their dilemma, Neia offers a third option: seek asylum in the Sorcerer Kingdom. The Zerns and the prince are not assured by being protected in a kingdom ruled by an undead, but Neia, with help from Shizu, assures them they would be safe. Seeing their words full of confidence and conviction, the prince decides to take the chance in trusting the words of his saviors. It is also around the same time that the Zern figure out that one of Jaldabaoth's demon commanders is still in the city. Taking the opportunity, the Zern decide to use the chance to cripple Jaldabaoth's command structure by eliminating said demon. Neia and her allies agree to the plan with the prince, who will help carry out the plan.
The whole group engages in battle with Neia, Beebeezee, and Shizu fighting the Circlet Demon while the rest of the Zern fight his minions. After an exchange of several blows of different attack spells and hand to hand combat, Neia is blinded by a Blindness spell, but with the help of Beebeezee on her shoulder, she manages to deal one last strike with her bow to cripple the demon. Shizu then delivers the last blow, which finally kills off the creature. The Demon Commander turns out dead, as are his subordinates, while the group celebrates briefly before rejoining the Army in taking over the city.Overlord Volume 13 Chapter 6: Gunner and Archer
A few weeks after the city has been successfully liberated, news of Neia and Shizu's exploits spread. Using her newfound fame, Neia recruits people into her cause to find the Sorcerer King and glorify his name to all the masses under her banner. Working under her is Bertrand Moro, who acts as her secretary in managing her schedule to fuel membership and morale. Her efforts do not go unnoticed by the higher-ups, but they are unable to do any direct action to her due to her popularity.
A few days later, an army led by members of the Southern Noble Alliance arrives. After the nobles swear their allegiance to the prince, the Liberation Army decides to press the attack against the Demi-Human Alliance. Neia and Shizu are ordered to stay at the rear with the Archery Squad. Though it is said they were put in the rear in order to protect the back-line of the army, it is deduced that they were put there in order to limit their movements and accomplishments to a minimum. They watch as their allies engage a demi-human force.
However, just as the humans are routing the demi-humans, Jaldabaoth arrives with his wounds finally healed. The battle drastically turns and the casualties are climbing with many of their forces dying one by one just by Jaldabaoth walking in the field with his fiery aura. With not many options left, Neia and the rest of the Holy Kingdom army are cut off and resolve to fight until the end. For maybe cause enough of a gap for the royal members and high nobles to escape to the south. However, as soon as the other demi-human army is in sight, they realize they are composed of a different army, with the liberated Orcs and Zerns forming part of the alliance and, in the distance, the sight of the Sorcerer King leading them. Neia and the others scream with joy that the army is on their side and the Sorcerer King has returned.
Neia is weeping in relief that the Sorcerer King is alive and is present with Shizu and the others where they learn of Ainz's whereabouts in the Abelion Hills and how he liberated the area. Like so many others, she witnesses Ainz engage Jaldabaoth in a duel and defeat him, ending his reign of terror.Overlord Volume 13 Chapter 7: Savior of the Nation
After the liberation of the Roble Holy Kingdom, Neia and her followers see the Sorcerer King and Shizu off. Neia conflicted at having to see Ainz, a being she devoted to serving, leave, but understands that the Sorcerer King must return to his own kingdom. Ainz is grateful for her services and offers her to join him, giving her a chance to revive her parents as a reward. Tempted, Neia instead refuses, as it is a reward far too much for her. She instead decides to place her duty in restoring her kingdom back to its former glory. Neia is still grateful for his generosity and bids farewell to her liege and Shizu. Her last request is to be allowed the honor of calling the Sorcerer King, Ainz-sama, which the Sorcerer King accepts. The two part ways, with Neia's followers giving him a formal salute.Overlord Volume 13: Epilogue
=== The Witch of the Falling Kingdom Arc ===
Neia's teachings have been spreading far and wide throughout the Northern Holy Kingdom's territory. So much so that her cause has even reached the leadership of the Re-Estize Kingdom and has even gained the full support from the Northern Holy Kingdom's higher ups. However, her teachings have been heavily rejected by the Southern Holy Kingdom's leadership and people. This only served to cause and escalate civil unrest within a nation where the North and South were already at odds with each other. While discussing with Princess Renner, Prince Zanac of the Re-Estize Kingdom shared and elaborated some suspicions about why the Faceless One, Neia, is hiding her face with a mask.
After the carriage attack had taken place, the Holy Kingdom was one of the five nations that had signed and agreed with the Sorcerer Kingdom's declaration of war with Re-Estize Kingdom. Neia's personal seal was on the document representing the nation. It was assumed by the Re-Estize Kingdom officials that she had either already overtaken the authority of their religious institutions or that she has authority above that of their current religious institutions.Overlord Volume 14 Prologue
=== The Current Situation of Various People. A Prologue Arc ===
In an invite sent to Jircniv Rune Farlord El-Nix from Albedo, it was stated that Neia Barja was due to visit the Sorcerer Kingdom. Thus a welcoming ceremony was prepared for Neia and her entourage.The Current Situation of Various People. A Prologue
=== Mass for the Dead Arc===
Neia appears at the end of a special event where she, having reached the ruins of Kalinsha, is stunned to find the Chaos Beasts that had overrun the city to be absent. Seeing this as a miracle she declares it to be God's Blessing and that God is here.Mass for the Dead Special Event: Nazarick Revitalization Plan -Holy War-
== Abilities and Powers ==
Neia is adept at using a bow and can accurately shoot her foes with arrows. 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 harbors some pride in the fact that her senses are sharper than those who had only been trained as paladins.
She loses almost all her original levels or classes after being resurrected by Ainz. At the same time, she gains 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. This enhances her communication skills as a public speaker in front of the masses.
Unlike normal paladins in the Holy Kingdom Liberation Army, she can bless her physical bow and arrows with divine powers magically instead of with a sword. While her fellow paladins have their divine magic imbued through their melee weapons, she, on the other hand, does her enchantment on ranged weapons over what the latter is capable of doing. This power of holy blessing she can do to her own weapon and attack may be a special attribute originating from the Sacred Archer class, which Neia has acquired during the war.Overlord Volume 13 Character Sheet: Neia Baraja
=== Job Classes ===
* Paladin (2)
* Sacred Archer (3)
* Evangelist (2)
* Founder (4)
==== Former Job Classes ====
* Squire
* Archer
=== Main Equipment ===
* Unnamed Sword: A sidearm decorated with the crest of the Knight Order of the Holy Kingdom and sort of 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 the user's 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: Allows the user to use the skill Snake Shot, which makes arrows turn mid-air and hunt targets down like a wild beast once every three minutes.
== Relationships ==
=== Pabel Baraja ===
In the past, Neia used to love her father very much that she went so far as carving a 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 was because she grew independent, no longer relied on her father for deciding things, and relied on herself from then on.
After the death of her father and the fall of the Northern Holy Kingdom, Neia used 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 affectionately remembered her father and nearly broke into 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 were inherited from her father and they were 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 undead and instead was awed by his appearance and aura. She sensed 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 openly speaks his mind, it would leave an indelible impression on Neia's heart. She has not only forgotten that Ainz was undead, but later came 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. She is even ready to accept help from the Sorcerer King in terms of knowledge for military planning besides having him fight in combat against Jaldabaoth and his forces. She appreciatively holds deep trust towards Ainz's judgement, taking everything he says at face value.
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 to her circumstance. Seeing his reaction, she even knelt before him in the carriage and faithfully swore her loyalty and life to protect him when the conflict in her country is settled. At times, however, she pondered 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 makes him the embodiment of justice. The ways of how Neia happens to view justice and sin radically different from Remedios and those like the latter all stemmed from what she sees in Ainz himself.
=== Albedo ===
After war between the Roble Holy Kingdom and the Demi-Human Alliance was over, Neia admits her own jealousy towards Albedo, realizing she was the reason for why the Sorcerer King has decided to depart from her nation early and not celebrate their victory against the demi-humans. Not only that, but this was due to the fact she was also viewed by the Sorcerer King as one of his important associates in the Sorcerer Kingdom. Particularly, Albedo being allowed to speak to him in a familiar manner, because she is close to him, was something that Neia has desperately sought on doing with the Sorcerer King, yet cannot ask for, which makes herself very envious.
=== CZ2128 Delta ===
CZ2128 Delta is only known to Neia as one of Jaldabaoth's demon maids who was bound by Ainz Ooal Gown. For that reason, she is initially wary of her presence and 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 an honorific title. After spending time conversing with the maid, she soon opens up to CZ2128 Delta and asks for her cooperation on the job. Hence, Neia is able to get along very well with the maid as they share 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.
=== Gustav Montagnés ===
Gustav normally treats Neia a little better than the other paladins and defends her when her skills are brought into question. As the paladin order vice-commander begins to trust Ainz's war counsel, Neia relationship also becomes friendlier.
=== Doppel-Caspond ===
Neia first meets the 'prince' exchange greetings with the Sorcerer and is given the personal thanks from the later for serving Ainz, which humbles her. Though when Caspond inquires on the imprisoned orcs, she is disturbed by his brutal nature of wanting to slaughter them, despite being innocent. She attributed his hatred towards demi-humans to his time as a captive by the Demi-Human Alliance. After Ainz vanishes after fighting Jaldabaoth, she clashes with the prince's strategy in not searching for the Sorcerer King and refusing to admit he was dead.
Doppel-Caspond is generally friendly around her and is willing to use his perceived authority to protect her from the Holy Kingdom's politics, presumably because she was assigned under Ainz's and Demiurge's protection. After the liberation of the Holy Kingdom and it being put under the secret control of Nazarick, Doppel-Caspond is then ordered by Demiurge to assist and support Neia in her endeavors in the future. This having seemingly results in Neia successfully gaining immense political power over the Holy Kingdom due to the support provided by Doppel-Caspond to her new religion dedicated to the Sorcerer King, which began having a massive sway over the war ravaged Northern territory of the Holy Kingdom. Neia remains unaware of the true identity of the 'prince' throughout the entire operation.
=== Calca Bessarez ===
As a member of the Paladin Order, Neia was bound to serve Calca. However, she only met the Holy Queen once in her life, with Calca offering Neia a brief greeting with little interaction. Despite this, Neia refers to Calca as "an excellent queen" to her followers while promoting Ainz and her "weakness is a sin" philosophy following her passing.
=== Remedios Custodio ===
Neia resents her superior, Remedios, for various reasons, primarily the grandmaster using her as an outlet for her frustrations, and views her as an ineffective leader due to her tendency to let her emotions cloud her judgment. Her resentment finally turned into hate upon overhearing her plan to dispose of Ainz due to personal prejudice.
Despite all of this, however, Neia sympathizes with Remedios trying to carry on her perception of the deceased Holy Queen's ideals, though she also recognized said ideals are unrealistic. Ironically, it's revealed Remedios had actually little understanding of her queen's ideals with Calca's willingness to accept Ainz, demi-humans, and sacrifice lives in a crisis closer resembling Neia's values.
=== Jaldabaoth ===
Neia hates Jaldabaoth for what he did to her country and people, but is mostly angry at him for having killed both her mother and father and 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 was true. It came to the point in which she went as far as suspecting Remedios for trusting the demon's words too easily. On the other hand, she would not have hesitated to use the opportunity to attack Jaldabaoth while he is heavily injured after his battle with the Sorcerer King. Despite this, she is mostly kept under the dark about Jaldabaoth's true entity and the demon behind the attack, Demiurge, considers her as nothing other than a political pawn he arranged for Ainz.
== Trivia ==
* When her father was presented the doll she made for him, he originally thought it resembled a monster rather than him.
* Neia's dream as a child was to visit other countries and held a vague sense of admiration for the Baharuth Empire as it was supposedly much more superior than the Holy Kingdom, as mentioned by her father.
* Neia Baraja is the first of two characters in Overlord so far that has received 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 too many side male characters interacting with Ainz already in the story.Overlord Volume 13 Author Thoughts
* In the New World, Neia is the first character to be often provided various items from Ainz other than Enri Emmot, Brita, Fluder Paradyne, Pluton Ainzach, and Forgemaster.
* On September 19, 2024, Overlord/Anime Official released commemorative illustrations of CZ and Neia, by Ito Naoyuki and Tazaki Satoshi as part of a promotion for Overlord: The Holy Kingdom.https://x.com/over_lord_anime/status/1836782432626020511
==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 integrity. 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, you are the incarnation of justice, Your Majesty!!"
* (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): "Thus, His majesty is truly beyond compare! How could there be another king who cares so much for the people?! Yes, I know what you want to say. After all, Her Majesty Calca Bessarez is also an excellent queen, however - has anyone here heard of a king who would go this far for the people of another nation?!"
* (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?"
== References ==
== Gallery ==
<tabber>Anime=
|-|Light Novel=
|-|Misc=
</tabber>
== Navigation==
pl:Neia Baraja
Category:Characters
Category:Female Characters
Category:Humans
Category:Warriors
Category:Archers
Category:Squires
Category:Paladins
Category:Commanders
Category:Founders
Category:Paladin Order
Category:Holy Kingdom Liberation Army
Category:Archery Unit
Category:Sorcerer King's Rescue Team
Category:Roble Holy Kingdom
Category:Nazarick