"Come on, Lisle! You know how good my cooking is. Accept already. You know you want to!" Crow-feet said, smiling at the nimble-looking waitress who stood beside our table. She shook her head, her partially purple-dyed pony-tail flailing around aggressively.

"No! Last time was horrible," the waitress said in a disgusted voice. "Besides. You know what I said," she glanced at Laurel and me before bending over to whisper something in Crow-feet's ear.

Crow-feet sighed and shook his head.

"See? No deal then!" she hissed before turning and sashaying away, catching the eyes of multiple other mercenaries.

"Didn't even get me my drink," he said before glaring at the table.

I exchanged a surprised glance with Laurel, who just grinned at me as if she knew exactly what was going on, which I doubted.

Five minutes went by when the muted buzz around the barrier suddenly quieted. I saw everyone looking at the back of the large room, at a plain wooden door. A massive woman with bull horns and metal-studded armor stood behind it, gazing around the room. Her face was slightly off, her nose and mouth too prominent, and her eyes too large. After a moment, she seemed pleased with what she saw, and she stepped to the side.

Grey-hair and the most nondescript woman I had ever seen came from the room behind the door. With short-cropped brown hair, an average build, and a face that wasn't pretty or ugly, I didn't think there was anything about the woman that stood out.

"Greetings to the Alliance Leader!" A thundering roar audible even through the barrier greeted her, and the woman nodded as she walked through the room.

As she moved, I realized that although her looks might be average, there was something about her that certainly wasn't. Her eyes skirted across the room and seemed to be taking in everything at once. Halfway to our table, she moved to a small table with only two mercenaries and talked with them for a while. I couldn't hear anything they said, but the chatter in the rest of the room had resumed as everybody continued with what they were doing.

"You guys better behave now," Crow-feet said, and I saw he had stopped sulking. Now he sat upright, his back straight and his hands calmly on the table. He looked more like a soldier than a mercenary to me, one that was about to meet his commanding officer.

The woman made her way through the room until she came to our bubble. There she turned to grey-hair, said something, and waved him away before stepping into our bubble, followed by the massive minotaur woman. Inside, she didn't spare us even a glance, turning her full attention on Crow-feet.

"Go to the mission board. There is trouble in the Harrowing Hills, and you will command the second squadron in finding out what is going on."

Crow-feet stood up, and I almost thought he was going to bow. Instead, he inclined his head and moved away.

Before he stepped from the bubble, the woman scraped her throat, and he turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

'I've told the two of you before that you need to stop patrolling the city. Leave that to the rookies!"

Crow-feet showed her a half-smile and shook his head in mock weariness. "But Alliance Leader, where's the fun in that?" Before she could reply, he stepped through the bubble and rushed off.

"With their age, you would think they'd have grown out of their delinquent ways," the Alliance Leader murmured before turning to Laurel and me. Inspecting us, she moved to the seat Crow-feet had vacated and sat down. The minotaur stepped up behind her, staring at Laurel before turning to me. She looked at me for only a moment before her eyes widened, and a worried look came to her bovine face. Her hands moved aside as she stepped torward me.

"Stand down, Liochi!"

The alliance leader's commands held so much authority I almost froze myself. The longer I saw her, the more I felt she was far more than met the eye.

"But Iz! He is-"

"I know! Now stand down, and stop calling me Iz in public. You know it sets a bad example," the alliance leader shot back before turning to us. She glanced over me for a moment before turning her attention to Laurel.

"So. According to the records I've been sent, you joined the Barlin Mercenary outfit and are here to register. Now. Would you mind telling me where the rest of your outfit is?"

Laurel nodded, a sad look surfacing for a moment. "Dead, Alliance Leader. Our ship was caught in the battle between the Gargantuan Demons and took damage. It was destroyed at some point after it escaped."

Alliance Leader Iz's expression didn't change at all; she just stared at Laurel for a moment before sighing.

"Alright. Tell me everything from the moment you boarded the ship in Melsio until you just walked in here," she said.

"Yes, Alliance Leader," Laurel said before launching into the tale. Her explanation was to the point and without a lot of embellishments. Iz didn't interrupt her a single time, although her eyes widened when Laurel told her how I created Lark. She didn't, however, turn her attention to me.

As Laurel continued speaking, she began getting fired up and started cursing. The longer she continued, the more the towering minotaur's gaze sharpened until she finally bellowed loudly.

"Mind your words," she said, staring at Laurel with her piercing gaze.

Laurel had turned pale, and I was surprised to see her shiver before nodding. As she continued the last part of the story, I gazed at the minotaur, curious what made Laurel so afraid. She was big, yes, but didn't seem all that scary. Not compared to some of the people I had met, like Richal.

When Laurel finished with us meeting grey-hair and crow-feet, Iz nodded.

"That will be enough," she said before looking at both of us for a moment.

"I'll take care of the issues you caused by circumventing proper docking procedure."

Laurel smiled. "Thank-"

"But," the Alliance Leader interrupted her and turned to me. "as you aren't an affiliate or member of the Alliance, you will need to do something for me in return."

I suddenly felt like a mouse being stared at by a cat, then shook my head and took a deep breath while pushing the anxiety away. There was no need for that. I'd been through worse things than some bureaucracy or whatever this was supposed to be. Staring deep into Iz's eyes, I raised an eyebrow. As I prepared to answer, I focused on one of my least used skills, Well Spoken. Any edge now would be worth it.

"And what, pray-tell, would that be?"

Ugh, that didn't come out all that great, I thought.

The minotaur was glaring at me now, but she refrained from saying anything.

Commander Iz just gawked at me before a twinkle appeared in her eyes. I expected some pompous reply, but she continued in her previous tone.

"I've had a message from one of my contacts in Gramanite. It seems that a new deity has appeared once again, which isn't anything new. What is new is that she seems to have survived the initial confrontation with Preyatar and the others!" Iz waited for a moment, looking at me as if wondering if I would respond.

She could wait for a while then, as I was too stunned to reply. New deities popping up was a regular thing? Nobody told me about that! Somehow I managed to keep my face impassive and just looked back.

"Now, am I right in understanding that you are Est, initial Prime of Rathica… did I pronounce that correct?"

It took me less time to get over the suprise that she knew who I was, and then I chastised myself. I'd been in this world for months now, had been involved with the sacking of a major city, and ended some primes. Rathica had made some kind of deal with all of the Grablon empire of Gramanite, and I was present. I should have known I would be drawing attention.

"Rathica," I corrected her.

"I see. It's an honor to meet you, and although I'd love to talk with you about the rumors of your origins-"

I groaned. Seriously? Did she get that from her contact too? If this continued, everyone and their cat would know I was from another world.

"I've got a little request now that you're here," Iz continued, ignoring my groan.

Now what... I thought, taking a quick, inquisitive look at Laurel, who just shrugged.

"What request would that be?" I asked, deciding just to see where this was going.

A small smile blossomed on Iz's face before disappearing again. "You have seen the temples in the area leading up to this building?"

I nodded.

"I want you to make a temple dedicated to Rathica in one of the empty temples further down the road. A proper one, with a statue and a connection to Rathica, so people who worship her there get to be heard."

"What? Why?" I muttered in surprise, unsure what was going on.

"That's a conversation for another time. But one thing. You have to make the temple yourself."

I stared at Alliance Commander Iz, wondering if she was yanking my chain or something. Did she mean I had to make the interior? I didn't know how to do that, and what did it matter who made it? Wait… what was in a temple anyway?

"What exactly do I need to make if there's an empty building?" I finally asked.

Iz frowned as she looked at me. "You know what a temple looks like, don't you?"

I shook my head. The only temples I'd been in were the ancient ones on earth and the even more ancient one of Rathica's previous incarnation.

Iz's smile turned ugly, and she looked at me with her emotionless eyes.

"Then I suggest you enter a few of the other temples and find out. Fast. I've been told that you are in a bit of a hurry? If you don't do this, I'll have to hand you over to the city guards for proper punishment. You're not a member of the Alliance after all."

I gazed at her in disbelief. How did she know I was in a hurry? I hadn't told that to anyone except for Laurel, and she hadn't left my side. Besides that, was that a threat?

Something must have shown on my face because Iz got up and looked at me intently. "You might think I am spiting you right now, and I can't blame you. You will have to trust me when I tell you I am not. My request is probably as important as your own mission. As a Prime, I am sure that you will find out in time the truth of that." She continued to look at me as if she was trying to convey some hidden meaning. When I didn't show the response she was hoping for, she sighed and shook her head.

She turned around and looked at Liochi, the massive minotaur.

"If Est here decides to attempt to leave the upper city, have him detained and brought to the guards. Tell me immediately."

Liochi nodded, looking at me with her soft brown cow eyes while her left hand made a few swift gestures. A cold feeling spread, and it felt like a presence hover behind me. I turned my head around, but there wasn't anything there. A soft ping came from my status window, and I frowned. After a second, the feeling retreated until it was just a lingering presence in the back of my head.

Iz turned to me and inclined her head an inch. "I wish you luck with your mission. After you finish the temple, you might want to come back here and get some information about the current situation in the Harrowing Hills."

"And you," Iz said as she looked at Laurel, "will need to find a new mercenary outfit. I would suggest going to the recruitment board and having a look around. But the choice is up to you. Remember your obligations!"

Without another word, Iz moved out of the bubble, followed by the massive Liochi.

It was quiet in the bubble, and then Laurel cursed.

"By Lischen's saggy tits, that was uncomfortable. Now what?"

I sighed and looked around. "Now we need to go and look at a temple and see what I have to build to get out of here. But first, I need to see what just happened."

Looking at the table, I summoned my status window, something I hadn't looked at since Lark. A new message sat at the bottom, below the copy of myself and the stat blocks.

> You've been tagged by Hamhar's tracking spell

Great… so now they have magical tracking drones?

I looked dumbly at the line before turning to the image above that showed my current body. My muscles had grown a little again, and I was slowly starting to look like a gymnast. Eliandra would be pleased, I thought with a sad sigh before scanning the stats and noticing a few increases.

> 27/33: Muscle mass

> 03/120: Fat

> 28/40: Coordination

> 26/30: Stamina

> 06/10: Learning rate

> 390/444: Knowledge

> 04/30: Beauty

> 04/60: Grooming

> 07/60: Well spoken

Seeing that my knowledge was steadily creeping to the maximum again, I hoped I could get back to the library and learn some spells before it capped out. That would have to wait, though. First, I needed to get back on the road, and for that, I needed to build some temple.

I closed the status window and got up, looking at Laurel, who was silently staring at me. "So, what are you going to do now?" I asked.

"I'm not sure yet. Probably find another outfit, like Iz said," Laurel said, sounding unsure.

As I thought about what I had to do, the prospect of traveling alone to the harrowing hills didn't entice me in the slightest, and I looked at her.

"You could come with me on my mission. I'm sure Ulderion would reward you if you helped," I added, not sure about that part, but I decided I could ask Rathica for something if I had to.

Laurel grinned and got up as if she had been waiting for the offer. "I don't know who Ulderion is supposed to be, but that sounds like more fun than going through another set of examinations!"

Examinations? I thought but ignored it for now and returned her grin.

"Then let's go and find out what I am supposed to build!" I said, motioning to the exit.