When Alfred came to, he saw Liz with a bandage over her left eye. She looked tired and sweaty and her right eye looked quite red. He also noticed that he was leaning against the carriage for some reason. Liz noticed his head moving around smilled and said.

˝You had us worried there you know. You just fell over and were extremely hot to the touch. It was really hard dragging you all the way to the carriage. Are you alright now?˝ She said with worry on her face.

˝I should be fine. It seems I lost too much cooling liquid and started to overheat, so I went offline to do stop myself from burning up.˝ Alfred said as he noticed they covered his wounded body with leather to stop the leaking of fluids.

˝I thought that was the case, so we did all we could to stop you from loosing more of it. But we didn't even know if you would wake up, I was scared you know. Please don't do that ever again.˝ Liz said as she wiped a tear from her eye.

˝I will try not to get hurt like that again, I promise. Also how is your eye, are you going to be alright?˝ Alfred said as he moved his hand to touch her face. Liz held his hand on her face and said.

˝I'll be just fine, probably gonna get a cool looking scar, but that's it. Hey! Alfred woke up!˝ She yelled towards the rest of the group.

They were all around the campfire, there also seemed to be another burning pile in the distance. It seems they dragged the goblins there to burn their bodies. Paulus was the first to come over, he had bandages over his arms and smilled when he saw Alfred. Behind him were Rora with an arm in a sling and Jill clinging behind her clearly still scared.

˝Haha, magnificent work dealing with goblins, my friend. I knew that what my monocle of appraisal was showing me was not poppycock. Though try not to fall unconcious next time, you gave this old peddler a hard time.˝ Paulus said as he fiddled with his monocle.

˝I don't think getting stabbed is magnificent work, you need to work on your skills more Alfred. And Jill look he's not that scary anymore right?˝ Rora said as Jill looked at the now cleaned Alfred, they wiped him clean to make sure he didn't have any other major injuries.

˝I promise I would never hurt one of my companions. So please do not be frightened by me.˝ Alfred said as he stood up, he also felt some strange feeling of not wanting to be hated by Jill. He felt it was similar to the fear he felt before, but this was somehow different.

˝I'll try not to be. Sorry Alfred, I know you protected us but it was all just so scary.˝ Jill said as she trembled a bit. 

˝It would undoubtedly help us trust you more if you told us more about yourself. So let's go sit by the fire and you can tell us if you want.˝ Rora said as she went to sit near the fire. 

˝Indeed, it does seem introductions are in order.˝  Alfred said as he sat down next to her with Liz followed by Jill and Paulus.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

˝So where do we begin? I guess I should start.˝ Liz said as she sighed.

˝I'm actually not a normal gnome. I'm the Goddess Artisia's second in command. I've not seen that many battles before so don't think I held back in the previous fight. And I'm here on a holy mission to accompany Alfred. So any questions yet?˝ She said as Jill again looked excited and not scared.

˝So if you're not a normal gnome what are you? What's like it like in a divine realm?˝ Jill's eyes sparkled while Rora chuckled, she was glad her friend was back to normal, at least for now.

˝Uh, well I'm still a gnome. Since I've never gotten any experience, I haven't undergone any species evolutions. But I am immune to aging, can still get killed normaly though. Don't really know what would happen to my soul, but not keen on finding out. Ah the divine realm is, uh, white, large, and boring.˝ Liz said while shrugging.

˝That's so cool. What about you Alfred, what are you? You're clearly not a normal golem. You even yelled when you got hurt.˝ Jill asked a bit sad at the last part.

˝I'm actually from another world and something like a sentient golem. Just treat me like a normal person, but I'm still figuring out different feelings so please be patient with me. And I am the champion of Artisia, she sent me on a quest around the world so that's about it.˝ Alfred said, as he champion Jill's and Rora's eyes went wide, while Paulus just nodded for some reason.

˝So do we have to call you Champion Alfred now and kneel before you?˝ Rora asked.

˝No, just like a normal traveling companion. Don't worry about me being a champion too much. Right Liz?˝ Alfred said as Liz nodded.

˝Thank you for sharing your story with us. It seems like we're going to have a fun journey ahead.˝ Paulus said as he again used his monocle. 

˝Though you should do something about your status. Golems shouldn't have statuses so you should find something to hide your status. I do believe you should find one in the capital, I'll introduce you to the shop where I got this monocle. You'll find all you need there.˝ Paulus said.

Liz then clenched her fists and thought to herself ´Artisia! How fucking dumb could you be to forget to hide his status. For fucks sake, now we have to deal with this too.´ 

In her divine realm Artisia shuddered and said ˝That felt like a prayer but man was it angry. I'm sure it was Liz, well what can you do I totally forgot about hidding his status. I was just so happy to have a champion, so I forgot hehe.˝ A nearby subordinate just shook his head.

Back at the campfire Alfred said: ˝Thank you for you help, I'll repay your kindness at some point.˝ 

˝Haha, you killing those green bastards was already good enough. But if you're insisting, I do believe I'll have some work for you in the capital.˝ Paulus said smilling.

˝Agreed, is that fine with you Liz.˝ Alfred said to Liz as she nodded.

˝Yeah, yeah fine by me. What about you two girls, you still fine with traveling with us?˝ Liz said as she saw Rora looking intently at Alfred, while Jill just looked excited.

˝Yeah, it'll be so much fun traveling with two goddess chosen people. Yay! Right Rora?˝Jill said as she jumped in the air.

˝Don't worry I'm not against traveling with you. Alfred I think you'll be joining the training from now on, you really need better skills. Also what's your objective in the capital?˝ Rora said hoping for a good answer.

˝We're gonna become adventurers, and thanks for training us, we really need the help.˝  Alfred said.

˝Then how about I join you when you register? You're gonna need a ranged party member. And I was thinking of training up my skills and making a name for myself before returning to the village. The better my skills the easier it will be to train the kids.˝ Rora said looking at Liz and Alfred.

˝Sure, as long as you don't have any ulterior motives.˝ Liz said staring at her.

˝Nope, none.˝ Rora said honestly. ˝Can I join too? I've got no skills but I can learn. I want to travel more and not be useless in fights?˝ Jill said.

˝Your parents would certanly not approve.˝ Said Paulus.

˝I'll convince them, especially since my aunt used to be an adventurer. She'll join my side of the argument.˝ Jill said proudly.

˝The capital is still a long distance away, but I do believe we'll make a great team.˝ Said Alfred as he looked at the burning pile of goblins. ˝I think you should rest for the night.˝

He continued and thought ´I should check my status and my other notifications now. And pray to Artisia as well.´

˝I think, I'll stay here with you if that's alright.˝ Said Liz as she leaned on his shoulder. Paulus said goodnight and went to the carriage to rest and see if the horses were alright. While Rora and Jill went to their tent, more like Rora dragged Jill away since Jill was still asking questions about partying up.

Rora gave them one last look before going in the tent, she saw Liz sleeping on Alfred's thigh with red cheeks. ´What a weird pair indeed´ She smilled and went to sleep.