Being a goddess isn't easy, something I'm constantly reminded of everyday. Today to continue in my efforts to be benevolent I was attending a crop inspection in the city of Bathtwana. It was that place I had been involved with the children and the shop owner whom I actually avoided this time around from sheer embarrassment. Being here in my official goddess capacity always made me feel nervous around people I had casually interacted with before.

Today was a pretty nice autumn day with a easterly wind and plenty of sunlight. Not too hot and not too cold. Bathtwana was a major breadbasket of the kingdom and the vast plains around it supplied plentiful farmland for growing crops. Thus the goddess was inclined to come and see the fields just before harvest and give her blessings or whatever. So here stood the goddess on the platform overseeing the plains where samples of each crop were gathered.

Timothy was along for the ride as well, though it was for moral support more than anything. Honestly having someone around I can just take with me places did put me more at ease because I didn't feel alone in this anymore. Of course it would've been Miya but she had to be with me in another way these days, namely inside my head. For their parts however both of them were still happy to accompany me and give me their input.

Luckily my mana was overflowing more and more these days due to the increasing number of people in the kingdom becoming my worshipers. It was getting to the point I could do pretty much anything I wanted and it was even kinda starting to scare me. Because of this continual increase of divine power it was actually a pretty simple thing to bless the crops of this large stretch of land. Health and vibrant growth could be imbued into the crops with the application of plant magic.

However while I was busy blessing a field I got a very strange prayer. Of course the prayer feed was always there in the back of my mind for me to see at all times, but my attention wasn't perfectly divisible and I still relied on Sub-chan to give me heads up on things. This was one of those occasions. "If you want to know how to avoid death as a goddess come visit me." That was the prayer and it was coming from villagers in Doovlin.

Of course that wasn't the only thing they were praying as mysteriously they were also just asking for me to show up and help them. A quick scan of the map floating in my vision confirmed they were in the inn at the village and there was some strange soul reading in there with them. This required my immediate attention. Thankfully from the looks of it there wasn't any immediate danger.

With a quick spin on my heels I walked over to the officials of the ceremony. They were still inspecting some of the produce as I finished blessing the fields. Having me around had made them nervous but at this point most people were just kinda scared of me and generally didn't collapse into puddles of pathetic groveling at the sight of me. The jury is still out on whether this was a good or bad thing.

"Hey guys!" I said sharply. "Somethings come up. I'm finished with the fields anyway so I'm gunna go. Good?"

None of them made any attempts to stop me and one of the taller men just nodded.

"Y-Yes goddess. Thank you for everything."

Hearing and seeing me prepare to leave brought Timothy hurrying over where he stopped behind me.

"Goddess! You're going somewhere?"

I turned around halfway so I wasn't quite facing him and waved my left hand in the air.

"Yeah something important."

He stepped up closer to me with a look of desperation on his face.

"Please take me with you!"

It was pretty common for me to leave him places while I went off to take care of things. Not that he was ever in any danger in the places I left him but it was leaving him out to dry. He still got lonely and scared being left in unfamiliar places, even though he knew his goddess wouldn't abandon him. Honestly I get it and I was working on not doing it as much. It did make me feel a little bad.

I sighed and beckoned him closer.

"Yeah yeah. Come on little guy."

Timothy happily jumped the last few steps towards me with great relief on his face.

"Oh thank you!"

With a soft smile I reached out and gripped his clothing, taking a fistful right on the stomach area.

"Don't mention it."

Opening portals had become second nature to me at this point so I was able to do it without entering the goddess zone at all. Within less than a second the magic circles appeared in the air and started transferring me and my human tag along to the inn JJ's Drinkery in the village of Doovlin.

Immediately upon arrival I began scanning the environment with all my senses including my magical ones. There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary I could notice as we arrived with the exception of that strange small soul. It was sitting on the countertop and when I looked with my eyes I saw a tiny person standing there. A tiny person not more than a few inches tall with pretty wings coming out of her back. A fairy?

Jackson was standing behind the bar counter and pointed at me with great relief in his voice.

"Look there she is! She did come!"

Elphonse and one of the former prostitutes Deliah were also here, the former of which was sitting on a barstool also looking very relived.

"Oh thank the stars!" he mumbled. "I mean thank the goddess..."

Who he was thanking wasn't on my priority list right now, my focus obviously being on the literal fairy standing on the counter. One who was immediately extremely nervous upon seeing me appear in the room. She stumbled backwards and looked like she was about to flee in a panic. There was some shimmer of mana around her as well.

Deliah looked surprised and looked at where the fairy was standing.

"W-Where did the fairy go?"

Everyone else started looking around on the counter in confusion while the fairy just stood there extremely sheepishly. She probably just turned invisible using magic. Of course as a goddess my eyes saw her anyway which even she might not know.

Timothy had since stepped behind me and looked quite nervous as well. He couldn't go far though as I still had a fistful of his clothing.

"A fairy?" he said gulping. "I've heard stories about them! They'll do horrible things to you!"

With a sigh I released my grip on him and rolled my eyes. Did they forget a literal goddess was standing right here with them? I suppose they had. That was my fault too as I guess I do act a little too human around them. The more fascinating development was the existence of fairies here in this world. Honestly I was pretty excited and was doing my best not to show it. That wouldn't be very goddess-like of me.

I decided to announce myself officially to the room as they were pretty distracted by the fairy.

"Yes I've heard your prayers everyone. Here I am. I came in answer of your pleas."

They all seemed to snap out of it and suddenly became very apologetic towards me. Even Elphonse who was sitting standing to bow to me.

"S-Sorry goddess!" Jackson said. "This fairy appeared and made demands of us. She wanted to meet you... I'm not sure where she's gone..."

While they looked around I started walking over to the bar counter.

"She's right here."

The fairy was clearly very afraid now and jumped backwards on the counter. She looked like she was about to take off and fly away so I stopped moving closer which seemed to stop her.

Timothy walked up behind me and looked over my shoulder at the counter.

"I don't see anything goddess. I'm sure I did just a moment ago."

I let out a small sigh and shook my head. At the same time I lifted one of the stools over with telekinesis and sat on it, lifting myself up so my belly was even with the countertop.

"She's invisible." I then addressed the fairy directly. "Well you wanted me. Here I am! Its too late to run or hide now little feyfolk. Best just come over here and talk to me. I assume that prayer you had them say was bunk?"

With my gaze on her the fairy knew there was no escape for her and she seemed to accept her fate. She turned visible again and fluttered into the air above the bar counter, her face and body language terrified as she began to plead with me.

"P-Please have m-mercy goddess! It was just a harmless prank! I-I just wanted to-"

As she begged for her life I gave a glance to the people standing around me. The fairy was glancing over at them as well and clearly was nervous of them as well. It seemed like she was getting overcrowded as and felt penned in, now with a goddess looming over her as well.

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I lifted my hand in front of my chest with my palm up and let out a short breath.

"I'm not gunna hurt you. Come on over here alright?"

Seeing the invitation of my open palm the fairy flew over above it and landed with tentative steps. She probably thought my hand would snap shut and crush her or something, so when it didn't happen she put her hands on her chest in relief.

Elphonse was sitting near me and spoke up.

"She said her name was Sal-Salferia I think. She was pretty interested in meeting you goddess."

Since no one had hurt her yet the outright terror had seemed to have passed over the fairy, though she still was quite nervous. It would be best if I took her outside to talk to her.

I was extremely interested in speaking to her myself after all. Anything I could learn about this world was important and since fey existed who better to learn about them from than a fairy?

"We'll be going outside" I said flatly. "I've got this from here."

The adults all nodded and Jackson was spoke for all of them.

"Yes goddess. Thank you again."

After announcing my intentions I settled the stool to the floor and stood up from it. I was being very careful not to move around my hand too much so this Salferia didn't wobble around. She was dressed in a cute little adventurer's outfit and was no bigger than my palm of an adult's hand.

As I walked past Timothy I reached out and grabbed his right hand, pulling it down and opening it up like mine was. I then lifted the hand with the fairy on it up and next to his.

"Here hold her." I instructed. "She's pretty scared of me."

Then speaking to her. "This is Timothy. He's a good boy and won't hurt you alright?"

Salferia gave one last look behind her at my face and then looked up at Timothy towering over her. She seemed to notice how nervous he was from both his expression and his trembling hand. The look on her face turned devious like a predator eyeing its prey which was somewhat concerning.

"H-Hey there little one" Timothy said shakily as she stepped into his hand. "I won't hurt you. P-Please feel at ease."

With the fairy safely in the hands of someone she was less afraid of I started walking out of the inn, gesturing with my head for Timothy to follow. He started walking right behind me while keeping his attention focused on the tiny person standing in his hand.

Salferia flipped her hair to the side and smiled disarmingly, her attitude seemingly to completely change with Timothy than it had been just moments before with the goddess. She sensed weakness and she wasn't wrong. This reminded me of the stories I had heard in my old world about the fey folk. If they applied at all to the fey of this world then they were outright dangerous to humans. Tricksters playing sometimes dangerous pranks at best to outright malicious demons you avoided at all costs at worst.

"Hello Timothy" she said cheerily. "My you're a cute one! At least for a stupid human anyway."

Timothy was clearly unaware of the danger having been caught completely off guard by her cute charms. That was how fairies got you in the stories. He was also generally just a super nice person which was a type of weakness in the wider world of brutality.

He smiled back and used his other hand to stabilize the one the fairy was standing in.

"H-Hey there um... Salferia right? You're less scary than I thought a fairy would be. S-Sorry if that was rude..."

She just smiled back and put her hands on her hips in a cute pose.

"Oh its fine dumb idiot boy!" She then slid her hips to one side. "How could I be scary?"

As we walked out the door and around the side of the inn I tucked my hands into the bottom of my vest with a frown on my face. Without looking at the two of them I could tell how flustered Timothy was getting despite her insults and wanted to nip any potential issues at the bud.

"If you use magic then I'll use magic. Just a warning for you Salferia."

This brought Salferia somewhat back to the reality of the situation and she suddenly got very defensive and timid again. Clearly hoping her tricks would work on me like they did on Timothy. She had him in the palm of her hand figuratively despite literally being in the palm of his hand.

"Oh um..." she started. "Please don't worry goddess! I'm just talking to this human." She then looked up at Timothy. "Why are you traveling with the goddess anyway?"

"Goddess Jenna" I interrupted quickly.

Timothy waited for me to finish and then looked down at Salferia. He was clearly still flustered and embarrassed.

"Well I'm her high priest actually! It's not an easy job but having the favor of Goddess Jenna is amazing!"

This made the fairy stop and look up at him with an entirely new expression. She was now deeply curious it seemed about him.

"Why?" she asked bluntly. "What's so special about you?"

We finally reached a nice private area of the village, right behind the inn and between it and another building. I then stopped and Timothy stopped as well.

"Because he's my special human" I said just as bluntly. "You will not harm a hair on his head." I said threateningly.

Salferia turned towards me and stepped back in fear but then a little smirk appeared on her face as I saw the gears in her head turning.

I sighed. "Or a hair on any other part of his body! No harm shall come to him at all." I then leaned in to be more menacing. "I'll protect this human jealously."

She got scared again and stumbled backwards and tripped, falling on her butt on Timothy's wrists. This was clearly one of those "you know that I know that you know" situations and she seemed to understand that pretty clearly. Whenever you get specific with a fairy they'll twist it and run with it. "Don't harm a hair on his head" meant she would be fine harming his body as long as it wasn't hair. That's how these damn fairies thought and she now knew I wouldn't have any of it.

Timothy gasped as she fell over and waited for her stand back up again.

"Goddess don't scare her! She wouldn't hurt me I know it!"

I rolled my eyes and stepped back, putting one of my hands on my hips.

"Sure she wouldn't. At least she knows she can't now. You have a goddess protecting you."

This made Salferia a bit outraged, though if it was fake or real I couldn't tell. The innocent act was one of her strong suits clearly.

"D-Don't accuse me of such terrible things Goddess Jenna! In fact I'll protect Timothy as well to help you out!"

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"You mean protect him as in turn him into a ladybug and keep him in your pocket protect him?"

This made her stop and lift her hand to her chin. She seemed to think about it for a moment before replying.

"That's actually a pretty good idea..."

I threw my hands in the air in exasperation.

"No! See this is why you can't be around him!"

She immediately lifted her hands in a defensive posture and waved them around.

"Wait goddess! I promise I'll be a good girl around your special toy ok! Please let me hang around him!"

Timothy still seemed pretty oblivious to the nature of our conversation even though her charms were starting to wear off. He lifted his hands up closer to my face and started taking the fairy's side.

"Please let her travel with me goddess! Then when you have to leave me behind I wont be alone anymore! She can use magic so I will be even more safe." He looked down at her and blushed. "Besides shes so cute and innocent!"

I kept my eyes narrowed at the little lady and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Why do you want to hang around him? Why did you want to talk to me at all in the first place? You still haven't told me what you're doing here."

This made Salferia change posture again, putting her hands on her hips and puffing up her chest proudly.

"I'm the chronicler of my troupe! My whole life is stories! When I heard there was an actual goddess around in the world again I had to come up here and see if it was true!"

"Come up?" I asked tapping my fingers. "From where?"

She giggled. "From below of course silly!"

She seemed to assume I knew what she meant by that so I decided to leave that for now.

"So all you wanted to do was come and confirm if goddesses were around again? I'm the only one as far as I know. What's the importance of that information to the fair folk?"

Salferia looked behind her and sat down on the lump of flesh at the base of Timothy's thumb. She then put her chin in her hands and leaned into her knees.

"Well if the goddesses are around again then mana is going to grow in power. Then the fairy kingdom can gain territory in the world again. You wouldn't mind that right Goddess Jenna? It's only fair after all. It's not like the humans wont still worship you."

This was all very world changing information. If there was a kingdom of fairies that had lost territory in the past and now wants it back then that was an obvious source of conflict. Also they were magical creatures with a distinct advantage over humans, even if their playful nature kept them from seeking world domination. It also confirmed my hypothosis that goddesses and mana were more deeply connected than it seemed. Not that I'd be asking her for more explination on that, at least not directly.

I dropped my arms to my belly and sighed.

"Well that could be a problem. See I'm not a fan of the 'pranks' that fairies play on humans. I'd rather keep interactions between humans and fey to a minumum if possible to prevent conflict."

This seemed to put Salferia in a pouty mood again and she sighed back at me.

"It's not like our pranks are bad."

"Well give me an example" I replied.

She seemed to think for a moment before giggling and sitting up straight.

"Well on the way here I ran across a human man who had killed a cat. I turned him into a mouse and let him get eaten by another cat!"

Timothy gulped visibly nervous and looked over at me. Meanwhile the fairy in his hand seemed to be quite proud of herself as she giggled away.

I just gave Timothy a look that said "I'll handle this" and looked back at the fairy in his hand.

"You see? That's exactly what I mean when I say I don't like the so called pranks you fairies play on humans. Anything that causes suffering or loss of life is bad in my eyes. I think you'll find most goddesses agree with me as well."

Salferia crossed her arms over her chest and went back to being pouty.

"You goddesses and you're love of humans just because they give you power! Its dumb!"

"Dumb or not its the way the game is played" I replied curtly. "If you want to travel with my Timtim and be around my humans you'll behave yourself and not use magic on any human unless its to save a life. And in defense of Timothy I'll only allow magic that stops a threat not kill, or lead to killing. Understand?"

"Well how am I supposed to know what to do with all these rules?" she asked demandingly.

I shrugged and flicked my chin up at Timothy.

"If you have any questions just ask him. He'll be more than happy to help you be a good girl around humans. He is very nice after all. Follow these rules and you can travel with him."

This seemed to satisfy the capricious fairy. She fluttered up into the air and in front of Timothy's face.

"I promise to listen to him Goddess Jenna! Thank you!"

She smiled happily and turned around, tapping the tip of Timothy's nose with her hand.

"Did you hear that dumdum? I get to travel around with you cute little human!"

Timothy blushed deep red and crossed his eyes trying to look at her.

"Y-Yeah! Its nice to be friends with you Salferia!"

I chimed in. "His name is Timothy remember. Keep the insults to a minimum."

Salferia turned around and nodded to me.

"Yes Goddess Jenna!"

She then turned back around and flew over to land on Timothy's left shoulder. He seemed very happy to have her as his traveling companion and that made me happy. Honestly it was still pretty nerve wracking having something as dangerous as a fairy hanging around him. I'll have to pay closer attention to him when I'm not directly around, though I think the fear of my wrath will keep her in line. This development seemed to be a good thing for everyone honestly.

I smiled genuinely and put my hands on my hips.

"Alright you two. Its time for me to drop Timothy back at his home. I'm sure you'll be just fine with him Salferia. We'll have to take a portal though. Don't worry its not dangerous or scary."

Timothy nodded and lifted up his hand so his new friend could touch his finger.

"Yeah its quick and actually pretty fun! Its how goddess and I get around most of the time."

Salferia looked up at him and then over to me.

"Oh? You mean you don't walk everywhere at your true size?" She then giggled. "Won't you get fat taking shortcuts all the time?"

I rolled my eyes and ignored the two of them as Timothy joined in with a quick giggle. Then I turned around and backed up to Timothy, lifting my hand to grab and open a portal to his apartment building.

They really did seem like they would end up a good pair, though the extent of their trouble-making was yet to be seen. That's a problem for another day however. For now I'd just see how this relationship developed and try to sneak more information out of our new fairy friend.