Raymond Zarg Lauransan

Raymond Zarg Lauransan (レイモン・ザーグ・ローランサン) is the Cardinal of Earth and the overall commander of the Six Scriptures in the New World. He is also a member of the highest authority within the Slane Theocracy.
== Appearance ==
Raymond is a keen-eyed man and the youngest of his present company. He is still in his mid-40s, though his energy made that difficult to believe.
== Personality ==
Raymond is a calm and reasonable individual. Even when faced with overwhelming odds with the appearance of the Sorcerer King and his powerful army, he stills holds great confidence in the
Slane Theocracy, believing that the power of the Godkins would prevail against the new foe.
The realist in him, however, acknowledges that the chances of defeating the Sorcerer King and his army may be nigh impossible to begin with. In addition he is rather humble, as though his peers see his a pillar
of strength, being a former member of the Theocracy's strongest military unit, he believes that he lacks the prime of his youth.
== Background ==
Raymond Zarg Lauransan was a former member of the Black Scripture who had served for 15 years as a hero, defending the Slane Theocracy.
== Chronology ==
=== The Ruler of Conspiracy Arc ===
After cleaning the sacred room and offering thanks to the Six Great Gods, the council sat together on the round table for a meeting organized by Raymond Zarg Lauransan. They began sharing the latest details about the war that Ainz Ooal Gown of the Sorcerer Kingdom participated in.Overlord Volume 10 Intermission
===The Half Elf God-kin Arc===
|Upon learning of the Sorcerer Kingdom's invasion of the Kingdom, Raymond met with his fellow Cardinals and leaders of the Theocracy for an emergency meeting. While satisficed with the many powerful adventurers that they managed to save from the doomed nation, unsure on what to do with the extra manpower. It was Raymond would advised that they could use the adventurers to aid the Dragon Kingdom in their war against the Beastman Country in order to amend their failure in providing aid to the other kingdom. 
When the conversation was drawn on the inevitable conflict with the Sorcerer Kingdom and possible destruction, the Cardinals agreed to prepare a contingency and send some of their people to a refuge. One of the Cardinals suggested that Raymond to be selected to lead and protect the survivors, given his past as a member of the Black Scripture. Raymond though declined stating that he was not as he was before and pointed out that the refugees may not accept him as a leader. Before the argument could continue, the Pontifex Maximus brought order reminding everyone that they should for the moment use their energy and resources in ridding the world of the Elf King.Overlord Volume 15 Prologue
=== Mass for the Dead Arc===
Cardinal Raymond traveled to E-Rantel with Deputy Pontifex Maximus, Enhela Read Gahi to attend the second summit of the Tripartite Alliance.Mass for the Dead Chapter 06: Request of the
Golden Princess During the meeting he and his other representatives discussed on how to strengthen their alliance. In the face of the unprecedented changes in the world, the Cardinal discloses
some sensitive information regarding centennial cycle where a new power has been historically known to appear in the world. However given their limited information he confessed that even the Theocracy were
unsure if the Chaos Beasts were part of the cycle his nation studied. He watched as an observer when Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El-Nix challenged the worthiness of the Re-Estize Kingdom. He allowed
Enhela to act as referee for a mock battle between teh Kingdom and the Empire. The battle though was cut short as the delegates had to address an approaching horde of Chaos Beasts coming from the north. Mass for the Dead Chapter 07: Trilateral Talks 
Raymond later returned to the Theocracy capital with Enhela and was present at a meeting with what were presumably members of the Six Cardinals. He and Raymond, gave their colleagues the news in E-Rantel and the discovery about the Chaos Beasts being lured by strong auras. The Cardinal then warned that the Alliance was being put to the test thanks to the Bloody Emperor leaning his military might on E-Rantel. Despite the danger, the Cardinals agreed to avoid instigating the situation further.Mass for the Dead Chapter 09: Evil Darkness
Cardinal Raymond was present at the camp where the Theocracy forces where stationed in E-Rantel. He was kept informed on all the movements of the other nations and also of his nation's trump card.
Mass for the Dead Chapter 10: Crumbling Overture 
After the protagonist save E-Rantel from the tyranny of Jaldabaoth, Cardinal Raymond was present at the fourth summit meeting with Enhela observing
the Kingdom relinquishing management rights of the fortress city to the Sorcerer Kingdom. The cardinal spoke briefly with Prime Minister Albedo trying to gauge the heteromorph and her nation's intentions.Mass for the Dead Chapter 12: Leader of Mankind 
When the Black Scripture were nearly defeated by a strange entity, he was in the innermost sanctum of the Theocracy in an emergency meeting to address the new enemy and loss of so many warriors. The cardinal wondered silently to himself if the entity the Black Scripture faced was connected to the attack on E-Rantel.Mass for the Dead Chapter 13: End of Date
At the time of when the Chaos Adaptive Equipment was finally mass produced by the Sorcerer Kingdom, the Quadripartite Alliance decided to host a pep rally to celebrate the achievements of the non-human nation. To address this, Raymond headed a meeting of the Supreme Executive Council to determine how they would respond. Especially in regards to the the fact that two dark elves would be acting as representatives for the Sorcerer Kingdom. While many in the council believed it was some kind of psychological tactic against the Theocracy, Raymond admitted that he had overreacted when he first met them, though now believed that it wasn't strictly the case. During the meeting the cardinal had to get his peers focused on their objectives which involved not antagonizing the Sorcerer Kingdom, less the Theocracy would be stigmatized by the other nations.
Another item to the meeting was brought up, almost abruptly when Enhela reported that the 1st Seat, informed him that the Extra Seat wanted to go out to see E-Rantel. As this was the first time the girl expressed any interest in the world. some of the clergymen believed it had to do with the dark elves of the Sorcerer Kingdom. Raymond believed this was surely the case given the twins shared the trait of royalty. 
In order to get another opinion of what the Extra Seat wanted, Infinite Magic was called forth on her judgement. The Black Scripture member admitted that this was the first time she saw the girl determined to desire something and that there really wasn't much they could do. This proved to be a conundrum to Raymond and the Council as they would have to include the Extra Seat into the delegation without revealing her existence, as their doctrine does not allow for the exaltation of non-humans. But since the occasion of a rescue mission requires all of mankind's resources, the cardinals decided to make some exceptions, such as spinning a motto "[Their] country welcomes talented people as friends, regardless of their race, to create an alliance." 
Though there was argument that treat half-elves as their nation's public figures, there would be discontent among the Theocracy's masses. The cardinal counterargued that they had already crossed that point for turmoil, as the Empire and Kingdom were joining hands with a non-human kingdom. If any case this reminds them of the urgency of their situation. 
After the decision was made to include the Extra Seat, Antilene, into the delegation to E-Rantel for the pep rally, Raymond spoke to Enhela in private, letting him handle the girl whilst he took care of the public affairs of the event. Enhela interpreted that Raymond had grown tired of death and blood despite being a former member of the Black Scripture, though the cardinal stated that he put Enhela in charge of Antilene due to his track record of retrieving the girl like last time. 
Later at the pep rally, Raymond made a speech with the other Alliance leaders, asking all to overcome the trials given to them by the gods and connect them with hope for the future. Upon watching the rousing speech made by Aura and Mare, he noted that the Sorcerer Kingdom was not an enemy he wanted to make. At the feast venue, he and Enhela approached the twins, and introduced them to Antilene. 
The half-elf came as a surprise to Mare, who inquired of the Theocracy had changed it human supremacy beliefs, though the cardinal clarified that it did not, but that Antilene was a cherish child nonetheless and desired to be present at the event. He and Enhela, left to attend political affairs, and allowed the elves to get acquainted without interference. 
By the end of the event, a carriage was taking the Theocracy delegation back to the homeland. Raymond was glad to hear that Antilene enjoyed her time with the elves, and hoped that they could continue to be friends with each other. He personally though the trip was productive as he busied speaking with Blue Roses and Soi and hear directly from the adamantite adventurers about the reputation of the Sorcerer Kingdom. From what he heard he thinks they were be able to reduce the friction with other countries in no small measure. 
Most of all he was genuinely happy that the event had positive effect on Antilene's mental health. He marveled that the girl was behaving so humanly since losing her memories. And considered it worth the headache of announcing her to the public. In the end Raymond believed it created an opportunity to develop a relationship with the Sorcerer Kingdom and hoped things would continue to be peaceful.Mass for the Dead Special Event: Achievements for Tomorrow, Variations of the Past
A year after the defeat of Enhela, during an inspection tour of the Baharuth Empire, by representatives of the Quadripartite Alliance, Emperor Jircniv informed his colleagues that he received a letter from Raymond, apologizing his absence in the tour. Part of his reason for being absent was that the acting Pontifex Maximus, Enhela was very busy and that he was helping him and thus could not leave his home country.Mass for the Dead Part 2 Prologue: Pilgrims from Beyond
Raymond would return to E-Rantel for another convention of the Alliance, after majority of its representatives had finished their inspection of the Empire. When it was suggested that the Alliance could conduct an inspection of the reconstruction in Theocracy, Raymond apologized as he and his nation had other plans and thus suggested that a tour of the Re-Estize Kingdom. When his peers expressed disappointment of being unable to see his homeland, the cardinal promised to pass their request to the Pontifex Maximus.
There was a query on the whereabouts of Enhela, to which Raymond claimed that the Deputy High Priest absence was due to being busy in his homeland. Seeing that the only person besides Raymond and Enhela was the Pontifex Maximus, Raymond stated that it was unlikely that the leader of the Theocracy would go abroad as he was too aged. 
This lead to the topic that the Sorcerer King had yet to attend any of the Alliance's conventions, which eh used as a ploy to divert attention from the Theocracy, leading to the representatives of the Kingdom and Empire expressing interest in meeting the mysterious monarch. 
Later on at another meeting, the cardinal and the other representatives received word that the Sorcerer King intended to participate in future events and that their eventually meeting was inevitable.Mass for the Dead Special Event: Father and Son Play the King of the Undead 
Raymond would receive a request from Antilene, on behalf of the Infinite Magic. Said request was to train with her fellow Black Scripture, as the magic caster wanted to train after experiencing her near death experience during the recent Chaos Beast subjugation made her realized how inadequate her power and mind was. He would present this request to the other cardinals to grant Antilene permission to go with Infinite Magic to train in the Azerlisia Mountains.
The cardinals were fine with the excursion, though wanted to have guards to discretely follow them for their safety. Although Raymond was worried that Antilene would be unhappy about the arrangement, but unavoidable and that the silver lining was that they would meet the girl's request as much as possible. The cardinal saw the trip for Antilene and Infinite Magic, thinking maybe it will be an opportunity for the Extra Seat to "grow" in the sense that she can use her powers for the benefit of others. And knowing that it may be difficult to regain Antilene's memories, Raymond believed it would good opportunity for her learn what is necessary to become a God-kin and role as a "strong person."
Antilene with the 11th Seat would meet Aura and Mare in the mountains. To give the 11th Seat an alias, she used the name Rei, taking inspiration from Raymond. After the small adventure with the two dark elves the two women reported what happened to Raymond and the Captain of the Black Scripture. Raymond was astounded learning that the women joined forces with the dark elves in fighting off a new type of Chaos Beast that had ice abilities. Even though it was a chance meeting, Raymond found it surprising as Antilene was the one who was almost solely responsible for all the interactions with the people from the Sorcerer Kingdom she had become acquainted with.
After the women gave their report, Raymond and the 1st Seat spoke with the bodyguards who secretly tailed the women about the interaction. Raymond questioned them if they saw anyone else, aside from the undead who brought the winter equipment for the Black Scripture to borrow. The guards told him that they did not, though Raymond wondered if there was actually surveillance and that they just didn't notice. 
The former Black Scripture member recalled that his nations troops were stationed in E-Rantel, and were not just friendly towards the Sorcerer Kingdom but proactively welcoming of the help they received. He thought they may present an opportunity to explore a part of the "enigmatic" country. Also, depending on how things go from there on out, it might not be a bad idea to approach them and use the Sorcerer Kingdom in a strategy.Mass for the Dead Special Event: Valkyrie Oblige
== Abilities and Powers ==
Raymond held the 3rd Seat of the Black Scripture, a position that speaks of his power in his prime.
== Relationships ==
=== Ginedine Delan Guelfi ===
Ginedine was the first to see that Raymond was hiding something, like what happened to Thousand Leagues Astrologer. He expected him to piece together everything eventually and provided the fate of the Black Scripture member.
=== Elf King ===
Raymond like his fellow countrymen hate and despise the sovereign of the elves for the past grievance he committed in the past against the Theocracy. H
== Trivia ==
* Raymond was the first to assess the information concerning the Sorcerer King and was in turmoil. At the meeting he found himself not alone when they reviewed his findings.
* While Raymond was a member of the Black Scripture which is aligned with the God of Death, he rose to the position as Cardinal of Earth.
* Raymond makes his non-canonical appearance in Mass for the Dead as the only member of the Six Cardinals that make a visual appearance.
* In Overlord New World, Raymond and Berenice, are the two emissaries who secretly visited the Baharuth Empire to speak with Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El-Nix on a possible alliance.Overlord New World Chapter 05Overlord New World Chapter 06
== Quotes ==
* (To Maximilian about 7th Seat's report): "I told you earlier, didn't I? This is just a description of what she claimed to have seen."
* (To Berenice): "If everyone here still believes the word of "Thousand Leagues Astrologer", then it is."
* (To the Cardinals concerning 7th Seat): "The Black Scripture knows of many monsters. While it is true she might not have the full picture of things, she -- Thousand Leagues Astrologer -- was in charge of providing intelligence support to her team. There is no way she could have been mistaken. In addition, we have verified sightings of Death Knights and Soul Eaters in the capital of the Sorcerer Kingdom -- the former city of E-Rantel."
* (To the Cardinals in regards to Ainz's army of undead): "It's impossible. I say this as a former 3rd Seat of the Black Scripture; anyone who expects us to face 500 of them must be an absolute madman. It would have been bad enough even if they were only present in equal numbers. No, if not for this, why would Thousand Leagues Astrologer have locked herself up in despair? However..."
* (To Yvon regarding the full report from 7th Seat): "Not really. Your hearts are strong enough to sprout hair. I was simply afraid that if I opened with this, none of you would believe it."
==References==
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