As the council broke into noise, the mayor got up from his seat and screamed.

“Quiet all of you!” And as he did so, the elders immediately quietened, then his head turned towards me.

“You can go now. You’ll be called if you anything more is needed from you. Like before, you are not allowed to leave the manor until further notice.” He said, keeping the harsh tone he had used with the elders.

“Of course, mayor.” I said, bowing slightly, and readying to leave. But before I could, Priest Elijah spoke up.

“I don’t believe that will be necessary. Actually, it’d better if Jarek stayed here.” As those words left the priest’s mouth, I and everyone else in the room became surprised.

Afterall, I was a simple commoner and a hunter, what benefit could I provide to conversations involving deities?

“What do you mean, Elijah? What use does he have?” Mayor questioned Elijah as he sat down.

“You do remember Lord William chose him to act as a mediator between the village and him, correct child? It’d be a waste, or perhaps even an insult to Lord William’s honour if we were to send someone else to talk with him.

“And I need time to commune with Ojciec Lasu, and ask the lord for guidance on what to do with this new deity.”

“Hmm... you speak true, Elijah. But what are we to do with Lord William while you commune with the lord? How are we to bide for time?”

“Hmm...” Elijah, pondered, and turned his head towards me.

“Jarek, you said that Lord William either wished to take refuge in the village with his people, or be allowed to set up camp near us, do I remember right?”

“Y-yes, priest.”

“Good.” Elijah said, and turned his back towards the mayor.

“We should welcome Lord William and his people into the village, and give them a place to spend the night, mayor. Or perhaps even invite them to the manor.” Priest spoke, and for a moment I could see surprise in the Mayor’s face, and while I couldn’t look behind me, I was sure the elders were surprised as well.

Though in a conversation between the mayor and the priest, they didn’t really have place to speak. No one did. Other than a proper noble, or another priest.

“Are you sure Priest Elijah? You know that you may be advising me to let a dangerous enemy into our village? Into my manor?”

“I am more than aware Mayor. But we can only hope that Lord William is not one of those false idols that cropped up in the great war a century ago. And if he is, us letting him into the village or not will not change anything.”

“Hmm... you are right.” The mayor said, humming. But a moment later, continued speaking.

“Very well then. I will heed your advice, Priest Elijah.” Mayor said, and turned his head towards me.

“Hunter Jarek, by the right given to me by the king and the lord, I appoint you as the temporary mediator between the council and deity William. Do you accept?” The mayor asked. Though, it wasn’t really a request and more of a demand, as he and the priest had decided that I should be the mediator without my will.

“I-I accept, m-mayor.” I said, trying to keep a calm voice but failing to do so.

And as the mayor continued explain further what my temporary role entailed, and what I needed to do, I couldn’t help but think about what I did to offend the wild spirits...

“...I think that is... not really a possibility now, is it?” I asked one of the goblins after he talked to me about his idea.

“But why isn’t it, Lord Eternal? Afterall we are strangers to them, so wouldn’t they want to pre-emptively strike at us if they thought we were trouble?”

“You are correct in thinking that but... their deity being here is not a high possibility. Afterall, we are in a border village.”

“But it still is a possibility, right?”

“...Yes, it is a possibility, but still, not likely.

“It is good that you are trying to predict the most unlikely scenarios, and prepare for them, but still, make sure to keep your guesses within reason. No deity would just be in a border village for no reason whatsoever.” I told the goblin.

“I see...” He said nodding his head.

...God what am I going to do with these morons? How... just how does one think a deity would randomly appear in a random border village?

...Well, I am here, but my appearance is anything but random. So, it doesn’t count.

And I am not even a full deity yet. So, even if my appearance was random, it wouldn’t count.

“Open the gate!” I heard one of the elk people scream in their tongue.

I don’t know what I expected while coming up north, but a part of me just wished that a new language I’d need to learn in the future just didn’t pop up every other month.

For god’s sake, I had to learn goblin and imperial already, as they were the 2 languages I was going to use most often, and I hadn’t learned any language other than English and 3 German words in my entire life on Earth!

This other world and reincarnation stuff... it’s just a scam. I had become hopeful when I heard that Imperial was the most spoken language on the continent, but alas, languages just continue popping up... but this is the life of a deity I suppose... but on the bright side of things, there will be a day in the future when I can just sit on a gilded throne and just doom scroll whatever social media app that will get developed in the next millennium!

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

And yes, I am coping hard right now, but there is no one here to judge me so I’ll just continue to cope!

As I got up from the ground, the goblins did so as well, and a few moments later the wooden gates of the village opened up I could see Jarek come towards me, this time wearing colourful fabrics and even with a few jewelleries like a necklace.

And instead of the guards wearing leather armour with plates of steel/iron on the armour, 2 that were flanking Jarek wore full plate armour, with some of the guards behind them wearing chainmail, though I could still see that vast majority of the guards here still wore their usual armour.

And, for a moment, I was concerned that they were actually going to try and attack us as they must’ve had at least 30-40 guards stationed near the gate.

And that would’ve been a real big problem as... while I knew I’d have to kill someone eventually, I’d like it to be... somewhat poetic, with me staring at the person I just killed, and coming to terms with the fact that I extinguished life of a person as valuable as any other, rather than a mere beast.

And fighting against 30-40 people, trying to save my goblins was going to be hard, as I wouldn’t have the time to process my first kill before having to kill the next one, which would put me in a bad situation in the future when those deaths caught up to me, and I had to confront them.

“L-lord William...” Jarek started, seeming extremely uncomfortable in the clothes he was wearing.

“...Wait, wasn’t he a hunter, why is he wearing such... extravagant clothes?” I wondered while Jarek shuffled in his place.

“...The Mayor wants to welcome you, and your esteemed entourage in his manor. I-if you would follow me...” He said, and I was surprised for a moment as I didn’t expect even for a moment for them to actually give us refuge in their village.

“...But it isn’t something I can readily accept either...” I though, as I stared at the number of guards waiting behind the gates of the village.

“I am grateful for the invitation Jarek, and I would like you to deliver my most humble apologies to your mayor for being unable to partake in his hospitality, but I’d much rather my people set up camp outside of your village. Afterall, your mayor may have accepted my presence, but I’d doubt your fellow villagers would be pleased with someone like I to wander in.” I said, and as the words left my mouth, I saw Jarek’s face... whiten?

What was he so scared of that his face would go pale?

“N-no worries, Lord William! You, and your entourage can rest easy knowing that an esteemed deity like yourself is always welcome within the walls of our village!” He said, trying to change my opinion and... how the fuck did they figure out I was a deity?!

I didn’t do anything now... did I?

...Yeah, I’ve just been sitting down, and experimenting with my mana and soul while conversing with the goblins, waiting for Jarek to come back. There is no way they understood I was a deity from something I did!

“...Wait, they probably have a priest or two in this village, don’t they?” I thought to myself, and I knew for a fact that the divine energies of different gods and deities didn’t go well together, so the priest might’ve just sensed something wrong using his holy mana, and figured out that there was a deity nearby.

Of course, there’s no way he could sense my divinity as... I still didn’t have any, but he may be sensing Rifu-san’s divinity... which would not be the weirdest thing to be honest.

But if they think I am a deity, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to try and attack me, right?

“...Very well. Then allow me to indulge myself in your mayor’s hospitality. But before we go to the Mayor’s manor, would it be possible for me to have a short meeting with your priest?” I asked, believing what I said to be something to be expected, but Jarek’s reaction to my words said otherwise.

“I-I... uhhh...” He just stood there, his brain seemingly shutting up.

“...If it’s not possible at this time, I understand. But I’d like to meet with your priest at tomorrow morning, or tomorrow noon at the latest. If possible, of course.” I said, and Jarek just nodded, and told the goblins to follow me.

As we entered the town, we were escorted by a wall of stell on both our sides, separating us from the villagers who were gawking at us.

“Everyone, do you remember what I told you all on the first day of our journey?” I asked the goblins without turning back.

“Yes, Lord Eternal.” They said in unison.

“Good. Now, say it. Loud enough for me to hear it.”

“We are not holier than thou!” The goblins said once again.

“Good, good. And why did I want you to remember it?” I asked again, and saw a goblin raise his hand.

“You, answer.” I said pointing at her with a branch that came from under the plates of my armour.

“No matter if we become your first priest or not, we will all have positions in your church. But that doesn’t change the fact that we are all people in the end, and thus we need to be humble, listen to what others say, and respond with kindness even to the worst people!”

“Good! Now, forget that being humble part.” I said, and while some of the goblin made confused faces, none questioned me.

Well, except for Gob who raised a hand.

“You can speak Gob.” I told him.

“Lord Eternal, why teach Gob and others something, if Gob and others won’t need it?” He asked, confused.

“It’s not that you won’t need to be humble Gob, you will. You all will, and I am not telling you to completely forget it.

“Just ignore it for now. While we are in this village. In the future, you’ll need to make decisions, and one of them will be to choose when to be humble and when to not.

“Right now, we are here as esteemed guests, and you shall not bow to anyone, or take orders from them as long as we are within this village.

“Just act like you are a shaman for a few hours, without getting too cocky or ordering people around, but don’t let anyone step over you either because I will step in both cases and, while if someone is aggressive towards you, they will get away with light consequences from me, you will not. If I see you being too cocky, you better be sure there will be consequences.” I said, and Gob and other goblins nodded in understanding.

Though, I could see Grok’s face go sour as I said the word “Shaman”, but I couldn’t find any other word that the goblins would understand easily.

Though... none of the goblins shied away from changing their posture and immediately starting to give an air of arrogance.

“...I said not to be cocky. Seem confident and less like what you are right now.” I ordered them, and they immediately changed their posture, though they still gave some air of arrogance, but that was fine... I think.

Soon, we arrived at the manor, and some servants appeared, and Jarek told me that they were here to escort the goblins to their respective rooms.

“Are all the rooms in the same corridor?” I asked Jarek.

“...S-sorry, Lord William, but I don’t know...” He said, and turned to look at the servants, none of whom said anything.

“...Lord William, if I may have your attention.” Asked an elk wearing a... goddamn modern business suit, or something that looked like it for whatever reason, as he approached from behind me.

And while I didn’t need to turn around to see him, I still turned my head around to signify I had his attention.

“Your entourage are all positioned in the same corridor, Lord William, you need not worry about their safety.” The elk man said, bowing slightly.

“...How do these people act so normal with those massive antlers on their heads?” I couldn’t help but wonder. But didn’t bother asking them how they managed to live with them as, even with their antlers, they were quite a bit shorter than me.

“Good.” I said nodding.

“I hope your mayor doesn’t have any problems with me sending my golems to escort my men?” I then added, and as the Elk head-butler or whatever said that it was not a problem, I sent away my men with my golems, and followed Jarek into the court room of the mayor.

And as the large double doors opened to the court room, all heads inside turned towards me, and I could see a stupidly large table in the middle that was being filled to the brim with all sorts of food.

“A feast in my honour, huh?” I muttered, saddened for a moment that I couldn’t really eat anymore, but ignored that feeling and stepped into the room knowing that this was either going to be a very boring, or a very exciting night...