The duo only delved for two more hours, taking it easy. They got three more cores from their effort, for a total of four for the delve, not a bad haul according to Olady’s assessment. Raksha ruthlessly and efficiently cut down all the wood wolves that jumped out at them, even using his own barrier once to prove to Olady that it worked fine. He seemed to have a trinket that let him track monsters too, because he always knew where they were located if one was within a hundred paces. He avoided anything other than the wood wolves, saying he didn't want to bother with any of the other types for this delve.

Honestly, from the monster slaying side of things, it was the least exciting delve she had ever been on. Eventually, she started feeling a little bad for the wood wolves that he chopped down with so little regard.

Somehow, during their walk, he had gotten her to talk about her own life. Not that it was, admittedly, a hard thing to do.

“I was part of a diving team for six years,” she was saying, as the man cleared a path in the forest. She had stopped being wary and silent a while back. “There were four of us, I played a support role, even back then. We were based out of Rockyhelm city, to the north of here, you heard of it?”

Raksha nodded, “Yeah, I've actually explored that dungeon there a few times with the imperial army.”

“Good, then you know what I mean when I say what a horrible dungeon that was. Swarm based monsters, every single one of them. The worst were the insects on the 4th floor, some of them as big as your head, with their pincers and appendages. We would just have Rosalie, our main offensive mage, do a flame burst spread and then sprint to the next level, avoiding as many of them as possible. Ugh, I still hear all that clicking and clacking in my nightmares.”

Raksha gave a good chuckle, but didn’t interrupt.

“Anyway, I was the youngest in our group, and we were lucky. In six years none had died or gotten seriously hurt. We played it conservatively to be honest, we never made a huge amount of money, but it was sustainable and safe. A few members came and went, but it was a stable and steady group.”

“But after six years our leader decided to retire. She tried to pass the leadership onto me, but I was wary of it. I mean, I was still in my twenties and I had amassed a decent chunk of change. And there was a nice man that I had been seeing in the city. So I took the chance to retire as well and bought a house and asked him to marry me.”

Olady chuckled to herself, remembering the past. “He turned me down though. Turns out I wasn't the only one he was seeing. That came as a real shock to me, and I was devastated. Being young and emotiona,l I turned around and joined the church, taking a vow of chastity and becoming a priestess.”

Raksha turned and gave her a surprised look. “That’s an extreme reaction.”

“Like I said, it was a foolish choice brought on by my pain and emotions. My family was of the religious sort and supported my decision, even if they had said I was overreacting. But I felt righteously stubborn about it and joined anyway. After a couple years with the church I realized that what I did was dumb, I had taken it all much to seriously. But by that time I was already committed. There was a while there where I regretted my decision and thought about leaving the church and breaking my vows.”

Raksha commented politely, “You obviously didn’t.”

“Nope, I stayed. I didn’t want the stigma of being an ex-clergy on me for the rest of my life. But it was a close call for a few months. Now though, I’m glad I stayed and I'm glad I joined up in the first place, even if for the wrong reasons. Eventually, I learned that the world doesn’t revolve around me and, as part of the church, I’ve been able to help many people over the years. It helped that as a trained mage I had been given a relatively high position in the church early on. Later, a position opened up here in Delnin city and I transferred here and was made head priestess. Now I spend my time trying to help people in their own paths in life, using my wisdom to guide others.”

“Ah,” Raksha said without surprise, “I was wondering how this was going to turn back to me.”

“I’m just saying,” Olady replied, raising her hands, “that the happiest parts of my life were when I was a part of something. I loved being a part of the delving group. But after I broke up with Allicidy, I was alone and miserable for many years, unable to let it go, despite having joined the church. It wasn’t until I accepted my position and was proactive in trying to make connections that I was able to find joy again. My current job? I love it. Sure, it comes with its ups and down, like anything does, but I interact and work with people from all their walks of life, guiding my parish, advising the city council-”

Stolen story; please report.

“Helping out lost young men.” Raksha added dryly.

“Exactly!” Olady replied shamelessly. “What I am saying is, even if you are more than capable of handling yourself alone in this dungeon, you should find some people to join. You’ll make officer grumpy a little happier and make your own life a little easier.”

Raksha stopped and sighed, turning around with a frown. “You make it sound so easy, but it's not. When people see me,” he said, gesturing to himself. “They see a slave whore. Or worse, just a man who doesn’t know his place. I’ve been a part of teams before of course. You know that the slave corps and the army delve in a group of four or five. It's always a challenge to get anybody to take me for more than a baggage carrier, or even just a bed warmer.”

He shifted and leaned back. “And outside of the dungeon it's even worse. All anybody sees is this,” he punctuated, pointing at his scar, “a slave, a criminal. They wonder what I am doing there, why I am bothering them. Am I a runaway slave? Is there a bounty on me? Am I an easy lay? I was part of the imperial army for five years and there I did manage to earn some respect, but each year it was just more of the same.”

“I wanted to escape and start anew here. I won’t be able to do that by latching onto a random team and suffering through their derision. I need to prove myself first and establish what I can do.”

“I can help!” Olady replied quickly trying not to let her pity and sympathy slip through. She knew he wouldn’t appreciate it. “I can use my influence to help you, smooth some of the wrinkles, try to make it easier for you to fit in. There is a team I trust and can introduce you to! My former disciple is part of that group.”

Raksha had a look of surprise flash over his face. “Why would you do that?”

“Because that’s what I do! The church is here to help humanity fulfill its potential, it's literally our divine mandate, it doesn’t matter if you are a woman or man. And, well, I’ve taken a liking to you, what can I say. You are an intriguing young man.”

Then she paused and thought about what she just said and back peddled, “well, not like that. I meant you are interesting, but I didn't mean any of that in a sexual or romantic way. Not that you aren’t attractive of course…”

Raksha just chuckled and shook his head. “Thanks, I guess.”

“I mean it!” Olady added enthusiastically. “You may not be a …. Traditional…. Beauty…. But I’m sure you could find a nice young woman for yourself. Not to be stereotypical, but have you considered finding a woman to marry? I’m sure there would be plenty of girls happy to have you.”

“Even if I am a terrible cook?” Raksha said with a smirk.

“Err, you seem like a smart lad, I’m sure you’ll figure it out quickly.”

Raksha just shook his head and looked away. “Actually, one of the reasons I came here was for something like that.”

“Oooo! Do tell!”

Raksha looked like he regretted even mentioning it, but relented under Olady’s eager eyes. “I had found a request on a guild board from a girl here. A farmer girl had written up a request for a husband, saying she had land, was a hard worker, and promised food, love and family.”

Olady felt a smile creep over her face and she covered it with a hand suppressing a chuckle. “Seriously? That’s amazing!”

“I know, right?” Raksha replied with his own smile. “It seemed sweet and sincere, so I took it and checked it out yesterday.”

Olady felt her heart beating with excitement.

But Raksha disappointed her. “But it didn’t work out. The request was over a year old and things had changed. She seemed nice enough though, just what I had imagined she would be.”

“Oh, too bad.” Olady said with a sigh. “Did she already find a husband?”

“No actually,” Raksha continued. “Turns out she awakened into a mana spring and one of the houses here snatched her up already.”

Olady froze and cocked her head to the side. “Are you talking about Ellessea?”

“Yeah,” Raksha affirmed, sounding surprised. “You know her?”

Hesitating, Olady nodded and thought about it. “Yeah, I had to put a stop to the early union. Made them wait till the brat was at least sixteen. Uh, did anybody see you visit or anything? House Yilner is… very touchy about this right now. The whole situation is very delicate. They would not appreciate something like this…”

“Uh, maybe? I wasn’t really paying attention. I visited their house pretty late, spent the night there…”

Olady groaned, holding her hand to her forehead and leaning up against a tree.

With a scowl Raksha added, “nothing happened! I slept in the room with her brother. Ellessea was very nice and up front about the whole thing. I left in the morning, and that was that.”

“I get it, it's just….” she paused, thinking. “House Yilner is keeping a very close eye on her. Did you tell anybody where you were going, why you were going there or anything?”

“Of course not.” Raksha snorted. Then he paused and added. “Wait, actually, I turned in the request to the guild receptionist that morning, in order to get directions. You don’t think he ratted me out, do you?”

Olady leaned her head back and gazed up at the artificial uncaring heavens of the dungeon. “OF COURSE HE DID! GOD DAMN IT!”