“I welcome you with the Goddess’ blessing to the temple, Lady Hestia. I hope your DarkDay has been fulfilling,” after being guided into the High Bishop’s room by one of the grey priests at the entrance, Theodore Sirius greeted me with his usual sleep-deprived eyes. As I curtsied and returned the greeting, he signaled for his attendant as well as the priest who guided me here to leave the room, before revealing a rune hiding behind the curtains. It was a sound leaking prevention rune.

Jeez, everybody has one, huh?

“I do hope you have had a restful sleep, Lady Hestia, despite the disagreement we had yesterday,” he said as we both took a seat at his desk.

“Well, I calmed down, if that is what you were asking. I reminded myself that Artorias isn't exactly my home, so I really shouldn’t involve myself in your politics.”

“Hmm, it seems I cannot argue against that,” he nodded. “Lord Sirius has asked me to invite you to the feast in the case I find you in a more pleasant mood. House Sirius wishes to build our relationship with you, if I may be so direct about our reason.”

“Please, spare me, High Bishop,” I rejected it immediately. “I barely feel comfortable at a tea party. I mean, the idea of having to interact with plotting nobles — who are most likely all strangers to me — and being exposed to an environment where everybody would be curious about my supposed ‘home country’ is so, so, so thrilling, right? Not.”

Some might say my performance at the tea party the Chezaic twins hosted was a success — and, from a noble’s perspective, it was — but I just wasn’t a fan of noble parties. The young noble ladies were really only interested in me ‘cause of the rumors and my race, and I guess they eventually became interested in my magic abilities as well. I was like a foreign exchange student in high school, and I didn’t want to have to repeat that experience with a bunch of adults.

“I see, well, my brother will most likely be very sad, but so be it. Let’s forget about him for now. For what reason have you come to visit me today, Lady Hestia? Your sudden appearance surprised me.”

Knowing he was quite the workaholic and probably wanted to get through the stack of papers on his desk, I apologized for coming without a warning, especially since this action was considered extremely inappropriate. I cut to the chase, saying, “I want to pray in the shrine room.”

“Then please do. As a priestess of the Goddess, that is actually one of your duties. In fact, there are no restrictions for the shrine room, since worshipping the Origin Gods is normal,” he replied; however, once I explained that I needed some time undisturbed inside the room and away from everybody’s eyes, he agreed.

Sure, it might make it more suspicious, but whatever at this point. I needed to speak with Aurena without having to show people my supposed white hair that Saori and Tasianna mentioned I had the last time I spoke to her. Pray to the Light Goddess and your hair suddenly turns white? Weird.

Theodore touched the rune on the wall and caused it to dim, then he rang the bell, summoning his attendant back into the room. He gave the grey priest attendant a wooden slate along with the order to escort me to the shrine room and block anybody from coming in until I left, explaining that the grey-robed is to show anybody who complains the slate.

After leaving the High Bishop’s office, his assistant led me to a familiar room with six shrines, each dedicated to one of the six Origin Gods. The grey priest closed the door behind me, bidding me to call him if I needed anything.

Now alone in the shrine room, I wondered if I should take out the black orb now,or if I should wait until after I spoke with Aurena. In the end, considering something might go wrong, I decided on the latter option, since Aurena should already know why I came today thanks to her ability to see through my eyes and she would know what to do even without me showing her the orb. At least, I think so.

Kneeling down before Aurena’s shrine — an immaculately maintained altar with plenty of offerings — I closed my eyes, kept my hands together in a praying pose, and began holding the image of her white statue sitting on top of the shrine inside my mind. As her angel-like wings began to flutter to me, I opened my eyes, revealing I wasn’t in the temple anymore. I was in Aurena’s realm.

“Welcome, my Champion,” a serene voice tickled my ears from behind me. I knew my physical body wasn’t here, and that this was my soul, but all five senses still felt like they were there. “Oh, your soul seems to have gotten scalier since the last time we met. It stills is a bit too transparent, but I guess that is to be expected with how little time has passed.”

I turned towards the voice, abandoning the pure white cloudy view I just had to be introduced to a small pristine room fit for a noble lady. An enchanting woman with white feathered wings sat there, sipping tea — inviting me to the table by pointing at my seat. I accepted it and sat down.

“Thank you for allowing me to visit you again, Goddess Aurena,” I said.

“Oh come now, you barely ever addressed me as ‘Goddess Aurena’ in private, but you would maintain it while you are here?” she teased me with a smile.

Although I could still feel pressure being emitted from her, I still felt more relaxed than the last time I came here. Maybe it’s ‘cause my soul didn’t almost dissolve accidentally this time. “I can’t help it, I’m sorry. I wasn’t exactly religious back on Earth, so mentioning ‘god’ outside of exclamations wasn’t a thing for me. Addressing you with ‘goddess’ now is similar to me using ‘mister’ or ‘lord.’ It’s good manners. I don’t mean any disrespect.”

“Is that so? Well, it doesn’t matter too much at the end of the day,” she responded before conjuring up some tea for me, bidding me to try it. Surprisingly, the tea was normal, causing Aurena to giggle when she saw my reaction. “Hie hie, were you expecting something like ambrosia or other godly fantasy items Earth literature likes to invent? Admittedly, I prefer the sampling of Peolyncian culinary advances whenever I can, so I conjure up the offerings my followers give me. The tastes created by so many minds, regardless if they are mortals, keeps an eternal life very exciting, you see. Besides, I do not have the skills of our Goddess of Cooking, Aniuqa, so whatever I produce will not be able to fulfill my standards.”

...I guess even gods have weaknesses, huh? I thought as the fragrance of the tea swirled around my nose.

“Ok, before we actually begin with what you came here for, let me congratulate you on your first successful Champion Quest. Yay!” Light Sparkles were sprayed around us like confetti, as Aurena jokingly raised her arms like a mother celebrating her child’s success.

Despite the jolly mood she wanted to create, I was feeling awkward. “...Uhm, but it was for Goddess Zephira. Not you...”

“Oh, forget about that. I would be mad if you accepted a Divine Quest from a god who hasn’t asked me for permission, but Elder Zephira did. I am not above helping another Origin God or Subordinate God if they simply asked me for my help,” Aurena announced, probably alluding to a certain very irresponsible god. “Divine Quests are issued to test our champions and saints, giving them a trial so we can see how they have improved. They are our mortal extensions, after all, and each god has expectations for them, so these Quests are needed for us Gods to assess them. Logically, a God of Smithing would grant different Quests compared to a Goddess of Hunting, no?”

I nodded, prompting Aurena to continue. “We Origin Gods have a duty to keep the world in balance, prevent it from falling apart… which is information that I was not supposed to share with mortals, regardless if they are my champions or reincarnators. I apologize. Anyways, Elder Zephira and I wanted you to prevent the dungeonfication of that ruin, as our System considered it a bad choice. Much like one of your video games — if it makes it easier for you to understand — our System controls the creation of Dungeons and the spawning of monsters in order to create a proper balance. That ruin would have upset the balance, so we intervened through you.”

“While I do know that the Gods aren’t allowed to influence the world directly, why is that so? Is there a reason for this rule? You didn’t elaborate this whenever you told me about it last time” I asked.

“Well, for one thing, Elder Plesia doesn’t want us Origin Gods fighting amongst ourselves. That rule was made when we first came to this world so we wouldn’t come into conflict. Secondly, if two gods did act with conflicting goals, wouldn’t that just cause terrible damage to the surroundings? On the other hand, the damage mortals may do is far weaker and it maintains something Elder Plesia treasures a lot — balance and order. We gods are watchers, guides for our followers. Peolynca is made for Peolyncians, and they have the right to influence it, for good or ill. We cannot help all results lead into fortune, right?”

“...Similar to how an idol shouldn’t prefer one fan over another, I assume? They should love them all equally and treat them with that same idea,” I commented after thinking about what she said.

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“Hmm, yes, that would fit. Mortals would look upon us and presume we will fulfill all their needs if we intervened too much. That would bring progress in Peolynca to a standstill. We cannot have that. Through champions and saints, we give mortals a reason to strive to become better followers, more ardent worshippers. Or simply motivate them to become better persons. This Divine Quest has given you a chance to develop certain skills and also experience more about human noble culture, correct?”

“All I know now is that the fantasies they created on Earth were mostly untrue. Nobles are scary as hell. The medieval era is scary.”

“Hmm, good. That is why we issue Divine Quests. Now, to yours. As I said, I allowed Elder Zephira to issue you one, as the final objective of the Quest didn’t change. Stop the dungeonfication through the removal of that onnikai from the ruin, either through violence or diplomacy. You and your party fulfilled it. I cannot complain. So congratulations are appropriate. Yay!”

Once again, light sparks erupted around us like confetti and Aurena rose her arms like a joking mother.

“Now…,” Her wide smile waned as her eyes focused against something besides me. “...I can see Elder Marsven’s influence on the item you hold. I didn’t know about this.”

I didn’t know how she could see it, as my soul was in the divine realm right now, but I guess she was a Goddess after all. I spoke meekly, as I understood we were speaking about the reason for my visit, “Uhm, does the orb contain a-”

“A demon? Yes. An enemy of us Origin Gods and Peolynca as a whole in a very weakened and vulnerable state,” Aurean interjected, scowling. Her hands were trembling in rage. “Ahhh, I really want to- Well, even if I wanted to, I can’t. Elder Marsven has put his mark on it and I need his help to unseal it.”

“Huh?! Wait, what do you mean you need to ask God Marsven? Can’t you just unseal it and, you know, banish the demon back to where it comes from?”

Aurena showed me a small smile before her expression returned to a frown. “Oh, believe me when I say that I want nothing more than to take that filthy thing out of your storage and crush it in my hands right now; however, a pretty strong seal was used on the orb. As expected of Elder Marsven. To avoid any complications, I need Elder Marsven’s help to unseal it, and then we can get rid of the demon for good.”

“Then why didn’t God Marsven eliminate it back then, instead of sealing it into an orb. I think I allowed you to look through my eyes back in the ruins, so you should have seen the murals, correct?” I wondered, still unsure why Marsven would want to seal a weakened demon into an orb instead of just destroying it. “If I remember correctly, those demons come from another world, right? They aren’t Peolyncians like their progeny, the demonkin. Shouldn’t you be able to just bam-bam it?”

“By ‘bam-bam,’ you mean to destroy it? Then, yes, that is part of the exceptions,” Aurena’s raised an eyebrow at my weird word usage. “Unfortunately, I have no idea why Elder Marsven would do this. I will need to ask him myself later on.”

It wasn’t very satisfying to be kept in the dark like this, but whatever. If I can get rid of the orb now, reducing any risk of this orb rampaging out of control, then I’m happy.

Too bad the world wouldn’t let me.

“Please, deliver this orb to my shrine in Griffonpeak.”

“Huh?! What?! Why?!” I exclaimed. “I-I don’t want to continue carrying something that is a confirmed demon! Belzac, that S-rank monster wolf, couldn’t defeat it without injuring himself. How the hell am I supposed to do it if it suddenly awakens?!”

“Oh, don’t worry. The seal around the orb is very powerful, and even if the demon were to escape, it seems so weak and insignificant that handling it should be easy.”

By ‘easy,’ do you mean easy for a goddess, or easy for Belzac?! Elaborate, please!

“Oh, don’t give me that look,” Aurena waved with a pout, wanting me to stop looking as if I was breaking down from stress. “The reason is simple, Hestia. The shrine for Elder Marsven is pitiful in Firwood. He barely has any influence in your area.”

Gods gained power through their followers, so does that mean the followers also affect the gods’ shrines?

Aurena continued explaining, “The method of communing with me right now is through my shrine in the temple. It acts as a conduit to guide a piece of your soul to my divine realm, tethering it with the rest of your soul inside your body. While I could invite God Marsven into my divine realm, having two Origin Gods in a single area would cause a pressure overload. Our auras would conflict and affect our surroundings, which includes you.”

I immediately thought of my first meeting with Aurena and I shivered.

“The easiest and safest method would be if you had a connection to Elder Marsven’s world, and that requires a properly maintained and prosperous shrine. I might be able to access your [Storage Magic] while in my divine realm, but taking items out and bringing it to another realm wouldn’t be possible. It isn’t physically here, as it is bound to your soul.”

“Then, how about I place it on your shrine. Just beam it up to your realm and you can handle it, right?”

“Hestia, this tea is a copy of my offerings. I do not grab the object from the mortal planes and pull it to my home, I analyze it and use my powers as an administrator to summon a copy of it to enjoy it. Please, just bring it to Griffonpeak and we can deal with it there.”

My answer didn’t come out immediately as I didn’t want to accept the Quest. Just the thought of the orb exploding and revealing a mean demon was already ingrained in my thought. After what happened with our wyvern escort and our Quest at Rashan Village, I would like to think that our chance to encounter dangerous situations was pretty high. For a daredevil, it might be the best luck ever, but I would prefer not to have to deal with a demon while I’m not an A rank yet.

If I were an A rank, I might have the power to do something, just ‘cause I knew each evolution was a humongous power boost. Sadly, my next evolution will only happen in five years time thanks to this stupid age restriction.

“If it makes you feel better, how about I add on an additional seal? I cannot remove Elder Marsven’s seal, but I can add to it.” The moment I nodded, Aurena summoned her administrator window and began working on it. After a while, she closed it and smiled at me. “Alright, I added a magic seal on it. You can appraise it later if you do not trust me.”

“Thank you,” I replied with relief. “Uhm, before I go, may I ask you something, Goddess Aurena?”

She nodded, permitting me to do so. “I wanted to ask this for a while, but you don’t seem to be on bad terms with God Marsven, despite what I heard from God Marsven’s followers and yours.”

It was the understanding that the lizardmen gave me as well as the knowledge of how worship of Marsven was generally frowned upon in Carine Village and Firwood. To an extent, anyways, as there was still a Marsven shrine in the Firwood temple, but I presumed it was there simply for appearance’s sake, since the shrine wasn’t very well maintained.

“Hmm, well, that has been an issue for a very long while now, mostly because none of my followers truly understand what I mean when I say, ‘Elder Marsven and I are on friendly terms.’ Not even my saints understand it properly.” Aurena placed a hand on her cheek, before giving a defeated sigh.

They are on friendly terms? First time that I heard that.

I raised an eyebrow. “Okay, I don’t understand what you mean by that. How can they misunderstand that statement?”

Aurena sighed once again. “They believe I am simply saying that due to the image they have of me. Of the benevolent Goddess who would never condemn her fellow Origin Gods, no matter how much our followers have been in conflict. Although, while this misunderstanding does put me in a better light to my followers — increasing their religious fervor — it also means my more fanatical followers continued hating Elder Marsven’s followers.”

My eyes went wide. “Hold on, what do you mean by that?! If that is the case, then shouldn’t you do better?! I met a group of Marsven followers who literally hated you and were scared of your priests! Goddess Aurena, this is something you should really clear up!”

“Hestia, it isn’t as if I haven’t tried to do so, but my worshippers simply think otherwise. Elder Marsven also hasn’t done a good job with it; actually, I don’t know if he has attempted to clear it up once yet. He’s lazy, you see.” An expression containing both annoyance and defeat contorted her face as she continued. “Sometimes, even we gods have no idea what our followers are thinking. Take for example, Elder Plesia and Elder Danterno. They are siblings, but from what I’ve heard, Elder Danterno’s followers despise Elder Plesia as if she was some kind of pest, while Elder Plesia’s worshippers simply tolerate their opposition but prefer to avoid them as much as possible. The only ‘rival’ religions who aren’t hating each other are Elder Zephira’s and Elder Crustacia’s.”

“Wow,” I exclaimed, not expecting I would hear this much about religious politics. “Uhm, is the sibling part confidential? Okay, wow, I didn’t expect a water goddess would have a fire god brother. I mean, darkness and light are usually eternal enemies in most stories on Earth so seeing you admit you and God Marsven aren’t in a bad relationship is a major surprise!”

“It is strange in a way, I guess, for you, but we simply consider it normal. Elder Plesia has spread this knowledge to all her worshippers — it is public knowledge — but mortals seem to possess a liking in creating their own opinions on certain religious facts. I personally don’t understand how you would think a Goddess of Light and God of Darkness would hate each other, and I am that Goddess.”

I scratched my head as I pondered on her words and then shrugged, agreeing that stereotypes might have influenced my opinion on the subject. “The more you learn, huh? Secondhand information isn’t always as reliable as firsthand experiences. I guess I should keep a more open-mind on this stuff.”

After that discussion, my time in Aurena’s divine realm was over. I was still apprehensive about having to deliver the ball to Griffonpeak, but, since it was our next destination anyway, I guess I just needed to suck it up. As Aurena promised, the description with Aurena’s seal was on the orb.

I left the shrine room and walked back to the High Bishop’s room with his attendant. He seemed grouchier than before, but I guess the stack of unfinished paperwork was the reason. He asked me if my prayer was well received, and I told him “kinda.”

“Oh, before I forget about it, High Bishop. We will be leaving soon for Griffonpeak, so I would like to thank you in advance, in case we don’t meet each other on my last day in Firwood. Thank you very much for all your help,” I gave a short bow, before trying to leave, but was stopped at the last second.

“Oh, please, wait.” He took something from his desk and walked towards me. “I wish to keep my promise to teach you more about the Goddess’ religion; however, between your departure and the spring prayer that will happen soon, it would be impossible to do so in Firwood. I will be in Griffonpeak in late spring to late summer, so if you need my services, please come to House Sirius mansion in Griffonpeak.” He then handed me a token with his house’s emblem on it.

“Thank you very much, High Bishop Theodore. When I have the chance, I will rely on you to show me around that unknown place. Until then, may the Goddess bless your soul and health.”

“May the Goddess light your path forward, Lady Hestia. Thank you very much for all you have done for Firwood.”

Once I left the temple, I sprinted back to Ellaine’s mansion. There was something important that I have neglected for a long time.