Melton approached the guards looking pathetic due to being completely wet and tired from walking all day.

The guards were bored with their job so they decided to mess around a little with Melton.

"How was it coming out of the cave after so long?" they started laughing at him and making up jokes on the go.

"Finished chewing grass?" one of them said

"Did you get lost from your tribe?" the first one said

"Ok, Ok! Did we finish with the jokes? I just arrived and am looking for a place to stay. Is there a place I can stay in?" Melton asked trying to sound serious but polite at the same time since it was the choice of guards whether he enters or not.

"Yup! There are a few free sables near Knight's order." the first guard said

The second guard bashed him in the head and told him to stop messing around.

The other guard calmed down a bit from laughter and apologized. After that, the second guard turned his head towards Melton and started explaining.

"Since you seem like you have nothing on yourself, maybe they will let you take shelter in church as they usually help the poor. I am not really a religious guy myself so I do not know the details, but you can try your luck there. Not like you have much choice anyways."

"Got it. So... Where exactly is that church?" Melton asked trying to be polite but the way he was looking did not help him look nice. He was a complete mess.

"Just follow me and relax," The guard said as they passed the gate. On the other side of the gate was the city of Thorpes. It was a medium-sized city and there wasn't a lot of traffic since it was getting quite dark. The guard was guiding Melton while he was looking at the buildings and streets. It indeed was the fantasy town and the scenery was quite beautiful despite it being dark and a lot of people already being in their homes. The houses were mostly built from wood that was seen from the outside, and the roads were built from stone and were made so carriages were able to go around town without shaking too much. At first glance, there were no beggars or poor people on the streets which was quite surprising for Melton since he knew medieval times were not too kind to the lower classes. The guard led Melton to a white building that was larger that the houses or even the inns and bars. There the guard introduced him to the priest that was working for the church. He was a middle-aged man who had gray hair with some white strands. He was wearing completely white robes and had a calm and collected smile. It seemed like he was a humble and nice person who became a priest for the sake of helping other people.

The guard started talking to the priest

"Greetings, priest," the guard said in a formal way you would expect a knight to talk to his superior.

The priest smiled kindly and said "Oh, Fritz. What a surprise to see you at the church. It also seems like you brought quite an interesting fellow with you. Is he perhaps the reason you came all the way here?"

"Yes sir. We found him when he wanted to enter the city. I think he would need your help"

"Oh my, it seems he does. Poor soul. He is all wet with barely anything to wear. He doesn't even have shoes on. He was probably walking for kilometers without any rest." the priest said, looking worried for Melton's wellbeing. "Let's first bring you something to wear, and then we may talk about what happened over dinner".

The priest gave Melton a towel to dry himself up and then proceeded to look for some clothes. He went into some kind of storage room that was used to store old clothes the townsfolk donated to the church. They were normal plain clothes but Melton had no problem with them as long as he was not naked and freezing so he gladly put them on. The pants were a bit too short for Melton but he was overall looking quite good in his new clothes then proceeded to follow the priest into the dining room. It was quite a large room filled with long tables and depictions of deities.

"You can sit here young man, and feel free to relax. I will prepare something to eat. It won't really be a culinary masterpiece, but the hot meals are always best after a tiresome day, right?" said the priest, never dropping his gentle smile.

"There is no need to worry, Father. I am not very sure how I look to others but right now I could eat anything without complaining. A hot meal would be as a blessing to me right now, and I am more than thankful for it." Melton said, trying to assure the priest

The priest left to prepare some food, and while he was absent, Melton started thinking about everything that happened to him.

"So I got sent to some fantasy world, huh? My life is becoming quite a shitshow. First I had to meet that gambling woman who demands I save this world even though I did not want to. Then they did not even send me to a city but instead to the middle of a forest with nothing but a "good luck!". After having to walk through those stupid rocky woods for so long I was even forced into combat with some ugly green monster, but the moment I found civilization I was ridiculed by guards and had to be offered charity by a church. Quite a wild ride huh?" he was saying to himself while thinking about what he should do in the future. After thinking for a while, he remembered what the Higher being with the hands said and felt like he was going to have a bothersome time in the future.

"I forgot what the being with those hands said. This world is going to shit and I am supposed to be the one to save it. So it's either forcing yourself to save the world or living in a destroyed one if you manage to. And they did not even give me anything to defend myself with. NOT EVEN SOMETHING TO COVER MY ASS WITH! I BEGAN MY ADVENTURE AS A NAKED CRIPPLE! At least I found a decent person to help me out. Should I worship him instead?" Melton was angrily ranting before he heard the priest approaching, and he shut himself up before the priest could hear him.

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The priest came into the dining hall with a tray. On it, are a steaming bowl, a spoon, and a wooden cup filled with water. In the bowl was some kind of porridge with some kind of dairy product mixed in. The priest put the food and water down and he put the tray on the side of the table and sat down with him and started conversing.

"The food you are looking at is a signature dish of this region. It's a mixture of old bread, sour cream, and cheese with a high fat concentration. It is considered a food of poor people but since its a bit harder to come across various foods like you can in the Capital, we prefer eating the food that is easy and cheap to make along with a lot of dairy products since a lot of people around the city keep cows and goats. The mountain-hill region has very little wildlife so taking care of farm animals is quite popular here." the priest was happily explaining.

Melton tried being polite so he said "I don't want to be rude, but as I said I am really glad and more than happy for what I was brought upon."

"You are quite a humble young fellow. It is a virtue, to be humble, and I respect that. Though the humble ones often do not know how to speak for themselves and get stomped down on. But you don't need to hold back. Just dig in."

"Alright," Melton said, a bit excited, before taking his spoon and having a taste of the food the priest prepared for him. The moment his tongue touched the porridge his whole body felt an incredible sensation. It was as if his entire body was getting slowly healed from the food evenly on every inch of his body. The taste was superb. In his previous life, he went to dozens of restaurants and tried pretty much everything from seafood to steaks but he never felt such satisfaction eating the food and he was sure it was not just because of his exhaustion. It was like he had some kind of a special connection with the food.

"It seems like you like it quite a lot, young one," said the priest.

"I don't want to sound like I exaggerate, but I never tasted anything like this in my entire life," Melton said, still surprised by how good the porridge was. The moment he finished his sentence he started gobbling up the porridge.

"Oh my. You will make this old man blush with those kinds of compliments. It's a portion of simple food for poor folk who live in rural areas." the priest said while giggling a bit.

After Melton finished eating his fill the priest guided him to sleeping chambers. Since the population of the region was quite small and most of the people managed to find themselves homes the chambers were considered multiple rooms with one or two beds, while the ones children were in had bunk beds. The priest guided him deeper into chambers where the single bedrooms were.

"The chambers were designed so the rooms with more beds are closer to the exit. Do you know why was it done this way?" Priest asked

"I'm not sure," Melton said

"You see, in case someone is injured or has special needs, they are put in a room with two beds with their caretaker so it's easier for them to get to the dining room or the exit. It also helps when there is an emergency so we can tend to them much quicker. Quite a smart thing to do, is it not?" the priest proudly explained

"Indeed. It is a considerate thing to do. " Melton said. He was quite surprised they designed it so cleverly. It made him feel like the church truly was a kind and good place.

They continued to walk until they reached a room with a single bed. The priest said that he can rest here until the morning and then he can show him the heart of the church and even give him a tour of the city.

The moment the priest left, Melton closed the doors. He felt all the exhaustion that piled up so far fall on him at once. The room had a single bed, a window, and a small nightstand. Since Melton had nothing on himself, he just lay on the bed and fell asleep in an instant.

The night passed quickly for Melton and the morning Sun rose again. The Church was very close to the center of the town, so the sounds of carriages and people slowly woke Melton up. After waking up he headed down straight to the dining hall to see four men, three women, and about a dozen kids lined up at the table. Adults were on the right side of the table while kids were on the left. The adults looked gentle and composed while some kids were picking on each other. The man who was the closest on the left side kindly told Melton that he can feel free to sit down. He did so and joined them in waiting for breakfast. About 20 minutes after he sat down, the priest and a young man in similar robes as the priest, along with a few regularly dressed men and women came in with porridge and water. They poured the porridge from a giant cauldron into their bowls and prepared wooden cups before filling them with water. The moment everything was set, everyone, including the kids, stopped talking and offered a prayer. After doing so the silence was broken again and they started eating. When Melton excitedly started eating the porridge he felt the same joy he felt last night. After they all finished with the meal and put down all of their plates, the priest approached Melton.

"Mind if I show you around the praying room? It has a statue of a Higher being we worship."

Melton was quite curious to learn more about the things that sent him to this world so he decided to follow the priest.

While on their way priest started explaining more about the being they worship. "It is a beautiful being resembling a woman with two pairs of golden wings. She is called Xatrix the Higher being of beauty. From time to time we offer our prayers to her as a sign of thankfulness for the beautiful lives we live. She is not considered a greater Higher being like the ones worshiped at the Capital are though."

Melton immediately connected two dots and realized what deity he was talking about. He felt a bit disappointed such a good person was a servant of such an incompetent deity, but there was nothing he could do about that, so he just ignored it. After walking for a bit, they reached the worshiping hall that had a statue of Xatrix placed along the opposite wall. The priest came closer to offer prayer while Melton was standing next to him. Suddenly the statue started glowing. Melton was quite surprised and the priest started trembling while praying. After the statue stopped glowing, so did the priest stop praying and he turned towards Melton completely shocked, and uttered.

"I... I heard her!"

"Really? What did she say to you?" asked Melton. He was not surprised, but he was a bit concerned for the priest.

"She said I need to help you reach the Capital. After reaching the church of Bytos, you will find out more about your powers and purpose. There is a carriage that leaves in 2 hours so we better hurry and prepare." the priest said as he grabbed Melton's hand and they left the church. They went to the city market and started their shopping. They bought a leather water sack and a cloth bag. Then they proceeded to buy bread, cheese, and dry meat for Melton's trip. He also gave him some money since it would take him at least a week or two to reach the Capital and he would have two or three cities to go through. After they finished with preparations he sent Melton away on a trip and wished him the best of luck.

" I am truly grateful for your hospitality, Father. I will never forget the kindness I received, but before I go on this trip, may I know of your name?" Melton asked with a smile. He did not like that he had to follow the orders of some incompetent deity but he endured it for the sake of a man who did so much for him.

"No, young man. It was my pleasure to not only meet such a nice fellow but also hear the word of Xatrix firsthand. My name is not such an important thing here but you can call me Father Corneleonis, though most people just know me as Leo."

"Then farewell, Leo," Melton said while waving his hand while the carriage was heading downhill. It may have been quite a short stay but he enjoyed the kind few he met. He knew the Capital was most likely a lot larger and there were all kinds of people, but for the sake of his happiness, he was ready to face them.