We all arrived at the designated iron mine within two hours or so, this was of course measuring in my own walking speed. If a human was to ride horseback it would probably take at least a day due to all the thick forest and rocky terrain. Not a problem for me who could just plow through it all like it wasn't there. This amazed and terrified Surgio as this was his first time ever witnessing what could only be described as indiscriminate destruction. Hey give me some slack here: I'm trying not to look like a rampaging monster. Heubert was having fun though. Not only was he seeing his goddess in action but he also got to ride on her while traveling on some kind of wild adventure.

"There it is!" Surgio said pointing.

The sun wasn't quite setting but it was late in the evening which dimmed the landscape quite considerably. Thankfully most of the mountains were north of us otherwise it would be dark here already. Up ahead no less than a mile away was a small encampment in front of a huge slope of the mountain. This was inevitably the mine site and the cries of terror could be heard from here even for the people sitting in my palm. They couldn't see the people running like I could though. The miners were fleeing into the woods from bith my thundering footsteps and witnessing my form towering over the trees.

I roll my eyes and sigh before calling out. "Hey hey! I'm not a monster everyone! I'm a nice goddess! You can all stop running now ok? Look I even got the mine's owner here!"

Not worrying too much about it for now I finished walking all the way over to the worksite and stopped right at the edge of the clearing they had setup. The mine entrance itself was pretty huge for a human but probably not any bigger than my own fist, maybe twenty feet tall and forty wide. There was a large area around it cleared of trees and vegetation that served as the worksite. It had large piles of stones, several small buildings, tents, cooking fires, and many wagons for transporting goods. Of course there were also plenty of crates and tools scattered about too. It all seemed standard fare for such an operation.

As for the workers I'd estimate there to be perhaps two dozen men and a couple women, most of which had fled the scene upon my arrival. There were only a few still standing around the work camp staring up at me in awe and terror. I kinda just stared back at them as I wasn't quite sure how to diffuse the situation. Thankfully for me Heubert did it for me when he crawled to the edge of my hand and peered out through my fingers.

"Hello down there!" Heubert said excitedly. "Gosh you all look so small!"

Seeing and hearing the child seemed to perplex the workers and eased much of the tension. Surely the gigantic little girl couldn't be that scary if a little boy was so comfortable in her hand. I could also sense through goddess vision that the rest of the workers had stopped their panic flight by now and were either looking back or slowly returning.

Surgio was next to speak and while he had spent a while on my hand he was still far from used to it. Perhaps he was afraid of heights. Either way his voice coming from above seemed to confuse the workers below even more.

"I-I've brought you here haven't I? Now please just p-put me down!"

One of the more muscular men shouted up. "Is that you Mr. Volo?"

"Yes it is!" Surgio shouted back.

I took my chance to interject before more shouting happened. "Ok everyone. I'm going crouch down to put them on the ground now. Don't worry ok?" I tried to sound as soothing as possible.

With slow and deliberate motions I did as announced and in a few moments both my passengers were on the ground at my feet. White Heubert was quite excited and probably on an adrenaline rush for being someplace so fantastical in his mind his older companion was much less enthused. Surgio was fighting back a panic attack and recovering from what he experienced as a brush with death.

The workers were all returning by now as the threat seemed to not be as scary as initially thought. They were avoiding coming much closer to the two as it also meant coming closer to me. It was not that their questions began.

"Mr. Volo! Is that really you?"

"You boy are you alright?"

"Who are you? What are you?"

In response to all of this I slowly put out my left arm and did a small courtesy. Then I brought my arm back in and stood tall, my glowing hair waving in the wind as I put my hands on my hips.

"I am the goddess of light and knowledge: Jenna. Your thoughts rush to fear but I urge you to remain calm. I'm not like the goddesses you heard about from history. In fact I'm here to help you! Just ask Mr. Volo here."

That should be a goddess-like enough response I hoped.

"Oh but do address me as goddess." I added. "And this is my little friend Heubert." I pointed to the small boy.

The reaction from the workers was sort of mixed. They had finished gathering back up as a small crowd and clearly weren't sure exactly how to respond. Many of them were still fearful of me but the rest of them seemed to accept this news with only regular shock. None of them had ever seen a goddess before and probably hadn't heard more than a couple stories about them. Besides me being a goddess was as good a explanation as any. My behavior didn't make me an immediate threat and so they were quite open to seeing what happened next.

Surgio walked towards them and cleared his throat. "Ahem. Goddess Jenna here had me lead her here in order to clear out the snake problem you've been having. The one that's been preventing production so drastically."

Another of the miners, a well built man in his thirties with short gray hair and a darker complexion spoke up next. "You're damn quotas is why we're in this mess in the first place! If you worried less about the amount of ore and paid for a few guards or adventurer we wouldn't have this serpent!"

So adventurers were a thing in this world. Good to know. Also this seemed to be a classic case of workplace negligence in preference for cooperate profits. The first thing I needed was more information. Without thinking much about it I relaxed my tone and crossed my arms.

"Have there been issues with workplace conditions?" I asked. "Also what's your name sir?"

He looked up at me nervously but answered firmly. "Aeneas."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

He then glanced at Surgio before craning his neck back up to me. He crossed his arms himself, taking on a more defensive and angry posture as he clearly wasn't happy. This so called goddess was some kind of authority figure over his boss and this wasn't a chance he wanted to miss out on.

"Workplace conditions are terrible! We only have enough food because some of us can hunt. Our tools while functional could use replacements. As the serpent situation displays we're lacking in any sort of meaningful protection. The only reason we're not attacked is the ore itself is useless on its own."

Aeneas pointed at Surgio. "This greedy bastard needs to be replaced!"

There was a large outcry of agreement from the group, his boldness and the apparent power dynamics emboldening them. I couldn't really blame them if things were as bad as they claimed.

Before I responded I put my right hand on my hip and lifted my left to my chin. "Who's in charge here? And by here I mean at this worksite."

Another man spoke up and stepped forward. He was in his fifties probably, long beige hair in a ponytail and light skin. His eyes were burning red with an air of authority. He stepped out of the small crowd seemingly unafraid of my imposing stature. He then bowed.

"I am goddess Jenna." His voice was strong.

"You're name?" I asked.

"Idoin Drascal."

The response was immediate and the tone showed respect. I liked this guy.

"You're response to these allegations?" I asked turning my gaze on Surgio.

Surgio sort of sputtered and stalled trying to think up a response he thought I would like.

"Well goddess Jenna... You see... Money isn't unlimited here! I have many mines to fund and a logistics operation besides! No one ever raids this camp or causes problems at the mine so I thought some budget cuts would help with the overall business. You see I'm really helping give these fine men and women better pay this way!"

"We get paid shit!" one of the women shouted. "And I have to wash all these ingrate's small clothes!"

During all of this Heubert was just standing near my left foot and watching the scene unfold. He was clearly enjoying the show and I had sort of forgotten about him as he hadn't moved much. My foot suddenly moved and thoomed down a short distance away which caused him to jump and let out a yelp. I was just adjusting myself after standing in place for so long and it startled him for obvious reasons even though he wasn't in any danger.

"Sorry little Heubert" I said down to him.

I then sighed and crossed my arms and let them hang down in front of my belly. This situation was one of those complex company clusters where profits messed up everyone's priorities. If I played it smart this whole thing could be resolved without any escalations, or worse violence. I cleared my throat.

"Well it sounds like this is all easy to fix. Surgio here can just hire a couple guards and get better on tool replacement. It sounds like the food situation is fine as is. Living off the land is more than reasonable to help cut expenses. As for the giant snake that's why I'm here right now and I'll take care of it as soon as this talk is over."

There were murmurs among the workers and mumbles from Surgio himself. My proposition was reasonable and logical so there wasn't much they could really argue with me about, and its not like they were actually going to argue with me anyway. It was in my mind a fair compromise and it would help secure my precious iron supply ah haha!

I then adjusted my feet again, which Heubert was ready for this time, and slacked my arms to my sides. "Alright then its going to be dark soon. I want everyone to stay far away from the mine entrance and let me do my work. Heubert you're with me."

"Yes goddess!" Heubert said happily.

With that I allowed the adults to talk among themselves as the child was quickly scooped up in my hand after I bent over. After my worshiper was safely collected in my huge palm I stepped around the crowd and in front of the mine opening. Carefully kneeling down I held my hand with the passenger up as my eye peered into the darkness. Even with my darkvision there was no movement. This serpent had to be deep inside.

Closing my eyes I activated the goddess zone and probed my awareness deep into cave. It was sort of like remote viewing through some kind of floating camera. There wasn't much color of course but it did allow me to sort of map out the caverns. Sort of deep down there was some kind of lifeform, and a big one at that. Due to my limited vision it was impossible to really make out but it did appear long.

I then stood up and turned around.

"Did you see it goddess?" Heubert asked.

With a hum to myself I replied. "Mhm."

"How are you gunna get that bastard out?" one of the workers asked. They come quite close to me.

"I'll figure it out." I said. "I'll be back."

What I needed now was to think and I did my best thinking while walking for whatever reason. Didn't know why so don't ask me. To achieve this I turned and left the work site and went for a short walk in the mountain forest, leaving the workers to whatever daily lives they had.

As I walked and the sun began to set I thought about my plan. If it lived down in that cave it would have to come out to feed, probably not often but enough that I could lure it out tonight. Snakes were nocturnal I remembered. What could entice it though? With its large size a deer probably. Maybe one that was cooked so the smell was super strong? Yeah that's it! I would put the deer in front of the mine entrance and when it came out I would grab it! Wouldn't it see me though?

I stopped walking. If only I could turn invisible. Can I?

"What is it goddess?" Heubert asked up at my face.

My hand was under my chin again and I was deep in thought. His voice snapped me out of it and I looked down at him with a smile. "Oh nothing! I'm gunna try something real quick. Don't freak out ok?"

Closing my eyes I thought really hard about what I looked like from above, the front, the back, and all angles really. What would it look like if I was invisible? I imagined my arm as see through and pumped mana through my whole body thinking really hard about not being seen.

Heubert let out a shocked exclamation which caused me to open my eyes. To my great shock and delight I couldn't see myself! I lifted up my hand in front of my face and saw nothing. Looking around my arms and legs still nothing.

"It worked!" I cried happily.

With another thought I returned to being visible instantly.

Heubert clapped. "That was amazing goddess! You vanished into the air! I could still feel your hand though I'm sitting on it."

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. Of course not being seen wouldn't suddenly make me intangible. I could still be felt and therefore heard. Sneaking up on the snake would still require me be quiet. Easy enough if I don't move I suppose. There'd be a cooking deer setup in the clearing which would waft into the mine, then once the snake was out of the hole so to speak I'd just grab it behind the head. Brilliant!

"Ok let's go back." I said to my passenger.

My walk had only been ten to twenty minutes and I didn't go far from the mine so getting back took like one minute maybe two. When I arrived back I walked over to the side of the clearing near the mine entrance and sat down. Heubert was carefully put down on the ground in front of me after I arranged myself sort of sitting on my legs.

The people here were showing their unfamiliarity with me by the fear my mere presence still caused them. Things like my steps and sitting down were probably just as scary to them now as they were to the villagers of Doovlin when I first arrived there. Thankfully these workers weren't scared of me specifically but more so my size and the danger it posed to them. Not holding it against them, can't I suppose.

I clapped my hands and addressed the workers, my voice able to reach all of them across the site without any issue of course. They all stopped to listen and most of them walked over to near where I was.

"Alright everyone here's the plan: I want you to build a large fire in front of the mine about a hundred feet away from the entrance. Then I want you to roast one whole deer on it, two if you can get them. No butchering or fancy stuff, just slap the thing on a stick and put it to cook. This is going to lure the snake out where I'll grab it. Ya'll can just go to bed like normal. Don't worry I'll take care of the rest."

There were no arguments from anyone and I nodded in satisfaction.

"Good! Now I'm gunna rest a bit while night falls. Heubert you stay close to me got it?"

Heubert looked up and raised his hand. "Yes goddess!"

I gave him a smile and nod before scooting myself across the ground closer to the mine entrance. Once I was close enough I turned and lay down on my side, my legs sort of curled up with my arms supporting my head. Of course I wouldn't be actually sleeping but they didn't know that. For now I'd just bide my time waiting for the snake to take the bait. As soon as I sensed it moving I would just stand up over the entrance and turn invisible. I really hope this worked otherwise I'd have to think of a plan B.