***The Crystal City***

***Sharid***

Seria led me quickly into the nearby registration office. Her eager footsteps gave me the impression that we were beating a hasty retreat, apparently eager to get out of dodge of something I had yet to learn about.

Inside the office was some sort of immigration counter with a bored-looking deity dusting a perfectly clean desk. In front of the deity was another female demon who was noting something in a folder. I couldn’t help but notice that this one also had wings, which was a stark contrast compared to Seria and her sisters.

Just as we enter, the demoness looks and raises an eyebrow.

“Hahaha…” Seria waves a hand, seeming insecure. “Big Sis, how are you doing?”

“Just checking the state of this agency. It wouldn’t do to misrepresent ourselves to new arrivals, especially since the alliance loaded the responsibility of handling new gods on our shoulders.” She looks at me. “Who is that?”

“This is Sharid.” Seria pushes me forward, between herself and her sister. “She is new.”

Am I a shield or something?

I nonetheless offer the other deity a hand, my instincts telling me that whoever this demoness is, offending her would be bad. “Greetings, I am Sharid.”

The sister blinks but doesn’t take my hand. Instead, she steps aside and gestures for me to proceed to the counter. “I am Nix. Why don’t you get yourself registered while I have a talk with Seria.”

“Okay…” I withdraw my hand, hoping that Nix is simply a cold personality and that I didn’t make a mistake by being too informal with her.

I step towards the male bunny-kin behind the counter who suddenly lost his bored expression.

“Finally! Someone who gives me a reason for sitting here day and night.” He takes a stash of already prepared papers and offers them to me. “Please fill these out truthfully.”

I look down at the papers and the offered pencil, trying my best to listen in on the conversation between Seria and Nix while paying attention to the forms. “You sound like there isn’t much for you to do.”

“Certainly not,” the god replies. “There are about twenty or thirty new arrivals per year, which means that I have to twiddle my thumbs almost 99.9% of the time. But the job pays as well as a lower deity like myself can get.”

“What are you thinking,” Nix whispers to Seria.

“Nothing,” my new friend replies.

“You know that you are playing with fire?”

“Haaah...” Seria sighs. “Believe me, it will work out!”

There is a rustling of paper. “I should tell them what you are up to.”

“Please don’t be a snitch!” Seria squeaks. “I never did anything to you.”

“You were so much cuter when you only reached my hips,” Nix replies with a tired voice. “Just make sure to keep me out of whatever fallout comes from this, or you will be a part of my next art project.”

I finish answering the questions on the form which wasn’t too bad and hand them to the bunny-kin. Just a few general questions like name, gender, stuff like that.

“So, that's done then. Welcome as a new god, Sharid.” The bunny-kin takes a crystal from a spot next to him and offers it to me. “Here is your identification crystal with all your data and 1000 GP as starting capital. Please don’t lose it, there is no reimbursement.”

“1000GP!” I shout out in surprise, remembering the explanation of the local currency which the street vendor gave me.

“It's nothing.” The bunny-kin’s ears twitch in amusement. “You will need it. Even very powerful and lucky newbies need two or three years in order to find employment in a guild. Make sure not to waste it.”

Oh! Should I have taken Miruliru's offer to join her society? It sounds like finding a job in this society of gods is harsh!

But… couldn’t I always go back home and live there? There is no reason to stay in the Crystal City and waste valuable GPs on daily necessities or menial services from other gods.

Then I remember that I should also learn about my divinity here.

“So. What about that test for my divinity?” I ask curiously. This can’t be everything, right?

“That would be five hundred GP to be tested at the next big examination. Nine hundred if you want to take it immediately!” the bunny-kin states.

“That's stealing! You Chimerans are money-grubbers!” I clutch the crystal to my chest, unwilling to lose all my funding so quickly! “Why would you give me money, just to take it back right away!?”

The bunny-kin shrugs. “Welcome to the real world. I am afraid that’s how governments work. Don’t complain to me, I am just a lowly official. Essentially, I am in the same boat as you.”

“Hahaha, don’t worry! I will pay for you, Sharid. Buy yourself something nice with the money. It should be enough for some decent equipment if you search for the cheap stores.” Seria reaches past my shoulder and waves a crystal at the examiner.

“Y- You can't do that!” I try to refuse, certain that I don’t know Seria well enough to take such a large amount of money from her. “How will I pay you back!? It’s just too much!”

“No problem! No problem! Actually, I am filthy rich! Those are peanuts to me! I am aiming for a position in the government.” Seria waves at me while the bunny-kin pushes a big stash of papers into my hands.

I notice that he is avoiding Seria’s eyes, and suddenly realize that she must be someone important. After all, how would just anyone get to play some strange tower-jumping game with her sisters? I remind myself that the city’s central tower isn’t just any building, but houses the Crystal City’s government. Would a normal citizen even be allowed to enter the upper levels?

Apparently, my refusal is ignored by both the bunny-kin and my new patron.

“Answer those questions truthfully and as accurately as possible! Be aware that the more the examiner knows, the better he can ascertain your divinity. It won’t be our fault if you lie and fudge the results. No refunds!” The bunny-kin taps the stash with a warning finger.

I nod and retreat with Seria to a nearby desk.

Even with her help, it takes over two hours to fill out all the forms.

Afterwards, I give the papers to the bunny-kin and return to Seria. “Puh! That felt more like a psychological test than anything else.”

“It is a standardized psychological test,” Seria confirms. “It will take a specialist about an hour to go through all of your answers and to compare them to the results of other known deities. Based on that, they can guess at your divinity.”

“All of that and I won’t get a definitive answer?” I complain, feeling a little cheated. We had to pay a horrendous sum and invest two hours of our time.

Seria shrugs. “A person’s divinity is a manifestation of their mind, their soul's inherent power. Given how screwed up some people are in their heads it’s a miracle that the test has an accuracy rate of over ninety percent...”

We keep chatting until an elderly man with a stash of papers enters the room, heading directly towards us. “Ah, there you are. We are done! Welcome among the ranks of gods! Sharid, Goddess of Lust, Masochism, and Sadism!”

For a long moment, I only stare at him. “Excuse me!?”

“Oooh! Three divinities! Just like my brother! You are a very gifted one, Sharid. Having three divinities is rare!” Seria pats my shoulder.

“Wait! I am none of those things! Something went wrong when they looked at my test!” I gesture wildly with my hands in order to stop them from coming to a wrong conclusion about me.

“Another case of denial,” the elderly examiner mumbles. “Miss, I am very good at my job. I don't make mistakes and if there was any doubt about your divinities, I would tell you so.”

“Then how?” There has to be a mistake. “I am not like that at all!”

Then I remember the many times when I delighted in punishing evil men, using my ability to play with them. “Well… maybe I am a sadist, but certainly not a masochist!”

The examiner coughs. “What divinities you get is strongly influenced by your mental state at the moment right before your ascension. If I could take a look at your memories, I could explain it to you.”

“Uum! That's a little…” Can I do that? “…my memories are…”

“I won't look at anything else. Just the moment of ascension,” the examiner clarifies. “Everything else is confidential, my oath as a mind mage.”

I am uncertain, but I want this obviously false result to be corrected, so I nod and the examiner places his thumbs on my temples, holding the rest of my head lightly.

He closes his eyes and a few moments later, he lets go.

“Hmm. Very interesting, but now I am one hundred percent certain. Do you remember when you crushed that ork's brain? You felt lust and satisfaction by hurting those orks. It turned you on in a sexual way.” He clears his throat.

“Wah!? I don't want to believe it! Then why masochism!” I get up and grab his robe at his chest.

He carefully plucks my hands away from his clothes. “Because you decided to stop the rest of the orks at the cost of your own life-power. You continued to hurt yourself while doing the thing you love the most and that's singing. You felt the pleasure of singing and the pain of losing your life at the same time. Other people would have just run away, but you…”

I drop to my knees and Seria pats my back, trying her best to soothe me, “It will work out. You actually have the best matching set of divinities I have ever seen. Hahahahaha! Don’t worry, there is nothing bad about your abilities.”

The examiner nods. “Just be aware that the more you get used to being a god, the more your divinities might influence your behaviour. It’s an issue many of the stronger gods have a hard time struggling with.”

I gape at him. “Do you mean that I will turn into some kind of masochistic dominatrix?”

“Ahem,” he clears his throat. “Not if you stay vigilant and are aware of your attunement to your divinities...” He continues giving me some advice on how to nurture my divinities safely, but by the time we left the registration office, I was completely destroyed. How could something like that happen to me?

My fate is just too cruel!

I never realized that I had those kinds of feelings. “No matter how you look at it, this is my social end! How can I face other people with a straight face while having those kinds of divinities!?”

“Don't be so hard on yourself, Sharid. Look at me! I am a Goddess of Life and Death!” Seria pats her bosom. “Guess how I felt when I found out that I get stronger by committing mass murder, or by granting life through hooking up couples!”

She makes a dismissive gesture and smiles at me, smirking dirtily. “And your boyfriend will be on cloud nine when he finds out!”

“Yeah... I guess. If I ever find a decent one after this revelation.” It's not fair! Up until now, I imagined myself finding someone to have a real romantic romance with, eventually marrying and living happily ever after. “I only ever dreamed of romance. Instead, I avoided men like the plague, thinking that having a relationship would hinder my goal of becoming a god.”

“Heeh… so you don't have one… unexpected,” Seria mumbles to herself.

We leave the building and I become aware of a commotion on the plaza.

“Seria! Where are you!”

A really pretty, high-grade demoness is standing in the centre of the plaza, the people around her giving the woman a wide berth. She looks kind of similar to Seria, just a little older. Two limp bodies are hanging in each of her arms! A third one is held at the ankle by her tail, dangling there without moving.

“Come out! I know that you are nearby!” she shrieks like crazy with a really angry expression on her face.

The people on the plaza don't react to her. It is as if they are deliberately trying to pretend that they have neither seen nor heard anything.

“I will disown you!” The woman starts emitting a really dangerous aura.

I feel the weight of aeons pressing down on me, making my knees feel wobbly. I have problems staying upright under this pressure and something inside me makes me want to throw myself to my knees and to grovel to this Goddess.

Which is in fact what some of the lesser deities on the plaza do.

A steadying hand touches my back, helping me to stay upright just before I would have thrown myself to my knees. That is when I realize that Seria is hiding behind me. “Who is that?”

“That's my Mom. She caught my sisters,” Seria whispers.

I take a closer look at the bodies which the woman is holding and realize that they are indeed the three little girls who Seria introduced as her little sisters.

“May Dad have mercy on their souls! She hates it when we play tower jumping.” Seria quickly pulls me into a side-alley and peeks around the corner.

“That woman is your mother!? But she can't be much older than you! She is twenty-five at most!” I arch my eyebrow.

“Sharid, we are gods. Do you think that our physical appearance has to reflect our age?” Seria snickers at me.

I purse my lips, realizing how stupid my comment was. Miruliru looks like a little girl while she is actually an old granny and a powerful goddess to boot. “So? I guess you will have to hide.”

“What are you saying!? We still have to take a look around the town!” Seria grabs my hand and pulls me away from the plaza. “Mom has very keen senses, but as long as we stay within the Crystal City even she will have a hard time finding me. All the deities in this place cause too much interference and I have an agreement with those who could find me.”

We hurry away from the central plaza and Seria proceeds to give me a guided tour through the city.

After two more hours, I feel like I know every shop and clothing store.

Thankfully, Seria realizes that I am getting tired, so we decide to have a small rest in a coffee shop.

At least I got a new wardrobe befitting a new goddess out of the ordeal, made from spun Mana Crystal, the only known material able to withstand the power of a god. It was nice of Seria to tell me about this little issue of godhood before I blew off all my clothes through some accident, getting public nudity onto my list of mishaps.

But I also noticed that Seria seems to be a very well known person? She said that she is filthy rich, but I noticed during our shopping trip that the reverence people are giving her is beyond what a mere politician should get. Almost everyone on the street made room for us. Some people even bowed to her or stepped off the walkway to make room.

“Seria? Are you some kind of superstar?”

“Bwhahaha! Nah! Nothing like that. I am just the first Princess of Chimera!” Seria proclaims something insane which makes my mind blank out.

She is the princess? But if Angrod is the king then… “That means the frightening woman from the plaza was the Queen!?”

“Yup! That was Mom.” The strange princess confirms my thoughts with an unbothered look on her face. “Don’t worry about my comments from earlier. It’s an inside-family joke to treat her like the devil, but she would never kill any of us. She doesn’t have the easiest of times with the three little brats, and my brother and I aren’t exactly helping her with them. Celes just hates it when we throw ourselves off the tower and bother the civilians.”

What should I do? Wouldn't it be a good opportunity to get revenge on Angrod by using her? But Seria is such a nice person! And she helped me! I can't use her like that for some petty reason like revenge.

Even though my grudge runs very deep, involving others in my problems with Angrod is bad.

And if my new knowledge about history and my past self is true… I… somehow… deserved…

No! I shouldn't finish that thought! I didn't deserve it, especially since I can’t truly remember any of it!

But Seria and I became friends! Somehow? I think we are friends now. I can't do something like that to a friend.

This is a big problem! What if Angrod suddenly shows up and recognizes me!?

Bad! Bad! Bad! ~Super Final DEAD-END Situation!~

“You don't have to be so shocked about it!” Seria leans over the table and slaps my shoulder to get me back to reality. “I am not like those princesses from the bad movies. Just relax! And Mom isn't as dangerous as she appears either.”

“Then why does your face look like you just told me the biggest lie ever!” She wasn't serious at all!

“Okay, Mom can be a little frightening, but she has a righteous heart, Goddess of Order and all that. Jumping onto people is an absolute ~no go~ for her. Even though it's fun!” Seria takes a sip from her coffee.

“I don't get how it could be fun. But as long as nobody gets seriously injured…” It's hard for me to justify something like that as funny. If they were jumping on bad people… but those were random pedestrians.

On the other hand, I am a villain in disguise so…

“Why do you have such a lecherous grin on your face? Did you see a good guy? Tell me!” Seria turns around, searching the coffee shop.

I immediately get my expression back under control. “Sorry. I just thought about something really stupid. Nothing to share with others.”

“Mu... you are no fun! So tell me at least what you plan to do next, now that you are a properly-acknowledged goddess?” Seria tilts her head and looks at me.

“Next?” I blink my eyes.

“From now on you are registered as a neutral god. Will you join one of the big societies? Or will you work for a guild? Or try to play goddess for the mortals. You could create a really hilarious religion.” Seria's expression becomes really creepy as she imagines the Dominating Goddess of Lusty Submission.

“No! I won't. I will never, ever create a religion! I would die of shame!” That's the least of my intentions! “I thought about wandering the multiverse, to see a few different places. Maybe find somewhere to settle down. Looking in on my mortal family from time to time. Things like that. It’s not like I have a concrete plan.”

Aside from getting out of dodge. It is sad, but the longer I stay with Seria, the greater is the risk of getting found out.

“Oh, so you still have those kinds of bonds. I am sorry. It will be hard to watch them grow old while you continue to live on.” Seria’s expression turns sad.

I know that it will be hard, mentally, but on the emotional side, I guess that I don't yet fully realize the consequences of my situation.

“Don't think too much over it. If you want to enjoy yourself, I have a really cool recommendation for you!” Seria grabs my shoulders and starts bouncing in her chair with a bright face.

“And that would be?” Don't taunt me like that and give me the full story!

“Okay! There is a world named Amor. It has a fantasy setting with a demon lord and a hero! The god who is in charge of the world made a guild request to assist the hero from the shadows to create a lasting peace!” Seria nods after thinking for a second.

“It's the perfect playground for a new god! You could go there and have some fun, test out your powers! From what I heard that place has some really awesome landscapes! I will go and snatch the required documents! Wait here!” Suddenly Seria winks out of existence.

Huh? I didn't even give my confirmation! How irrational can someone be?

Then Seria reappears before me and presses a stash of papers into my hands. “That's the complete contract! You just have to sign. There is no hidden trick to it.”

“F- Fast!” I take the papers to have a look over them. This is suspicious.

“Hahaha. I have some connections! Originally, I intended to sign the contract myself to have some fun. So I had them ready for signing.”

“If it's like that... isn't it bad for me to take this request? It feels like I am stealing your vacation!” If the situation is like that I can't sign this, so I push the papers back towards her.

“No problem! And if you work there for a while, I know where to find you. I will come from time to time and play! There is no need to have a contract with the god of that world. If he has something against me, I will send my Dad to have a word with him!” Seria pushes the papers back.

She might be more dangerous than I thought. How much influence does she have on her father!? “I guess?”

I take the offered pen to sign the papers, but a second before I write my name a really bad feeling crawls down my spine! Something about this is fishy! It’s like I am signing my life away without knowing what’s going on. There is also this strange conversation between Nix and Seria which I shouldn’t forget.

Suddenly Seria's hand encases mine with the pen! Her fingers are like a steel vice! I can't even budge!

“~There's really no trick behind it! Just sign!~”

“I would rather not!”

I try to resist, but Seria's hand guides me slowly and deliberately while creating a perfect copy of my signature! From where does she even know it!? Ah, the registration process from earlier! I had to sign at least a dozen confidentiality agreements while she was watching!

“No matter how you look at it! This is just wrong!”

“~It's going to be all right.~”