Jil was a High Priestess of Light, an exalted figure even in Ardom, the Imperial Capital.

In the Temple of Light, the goddess graced only the Apostle of Light with the Master level in the Devout specialization, and only the nine Ministers of Light with the Champion level. However, they were seldom seen by the average populace and were quite hard to make an appointment with. That made the High Priestesses, at the Five Star level, the public face of the power of the temple.

There were about thirty High Priestesses at any given time, and they had a great saying in the Temple of Light for anything other than what the apostle or the ministers cared about.

For instance, the minister responsible for the finances allocated resources for the High Priestesses to manage. It was their privilege to oversee its investment in the two or three kingdoms under their care. There was a bare minimum all temples had to be given, but unforeseen circumstances happened, and special projects required more resources. Therefore, deacons — and kings — came to the High Priestesses to make their case as to why their temple — or the temple in their kingdoms — deserved an investment.

Another example was simply the service the High Priestesses could provide. They were the strongest Priests that were relatively easy to invite, and they were required to heal a set number of people every month. Though it was a free service, the Temples of Light where the High Priestesses stayed received sizeable sums of donations from the powerful regularly. The mighty hoped to build a good relationship with the local High Priestess in advance in case they needed her services in the future. Even some imperial clans did that.

So it wasn't strange that Jil had gotten used to her power and privilege. She barged into the Arcane Circle as if she owned the place and demanded to be teleported like it was her birthright. They brought her to a small room with white walls and a purple floor. There were patterns all around the place, and it cost the Circle quite a substantial amount of resources to activate it. Nonetheless, none dared to ask her for payment.

The circle was activated, and she disappeared in a flash. She materialized in another room like that one. Jil didn't even move. "Teleport me to the Ralethean Kingdom," she said to the empty place, knowing someone would be hearing. It was a bother that Illyria had no teleportation room for her to go there straight away.

However, instead of obeying at once, someone opened the door to the room. A man wearing an Arcane Circle's robe came in and bowed respectfully toward her, as was proper. "I apologize, ma'am, but the teleporter was reserved for the day. However—"

"Is that so?" she asked coldly, interrupting the fool. "Let the responsible know a High Priestess wants to use the teleporter. I want to see what they'll say."

"Ma'am, as I was saying, the responsible—"

"I gave you an order, minion. Dare you disobey me?"

The man actually rolled his eyes at her and turned back. At least he had obeyed. Five minutes later, she heard a voice come from the doorway.

"It's been a very, very long time since I saw a High Priestess abuse her power like this. I see now why our goddess deemed it necessary to appoint a new herald. You are thereby demoted and conscripted into the Third Crusade. Come outside and wait, we'll teleport straight into Illyria in a couple of hours."

Her back stiffened. She had heard that voice before, but that couldn't be. He couldn't be here.

A few moments later, the Guardian of the Light of the World walked into the teleportation room. His presence filled the place. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked.

"You... I..." She took a deep breath. "You have no authority over me," she said weakly, but she knew exactly what was coming. He wouldn't be demoting her like that without the proper papers.

Indeed, as she expected, he extended his arm, and a parchment materialized in his hand. It unrolled, showing text and a wax seal on the end. The seal was a flame that shone so bright it risked blinding her.

"The apostle did well in providing me with this marvelous piece of paper. I definitely needed her authority to sort through the shitstorm in this pathetic region of the empire. Did you know the local deacon was corrupt to the core? He also squeaked like a pig as he hanged." He stored the parchment away and turned back. "I was told the herald hates nonsense, so I may have just saved your life. Now, get the hell out of my teleportation room. My people must improve it so it can send us straight to Illyria."

He left. Jil was trembling as she followed. She had a deal with the herald, so she could prevent herself from being conscripted. However, now that she was a mere Priestess, could she let a chance to accumulate achievements in a crusade pass her by? That was the easiest way to catapult her back into position.

And she had to get back to her former position in three months, or the goddess would decrease her level and replace her with someone else.

Aaron had to admit kissing a girl with a caved-in jaw was one of the strangest physical experiences of his long life. It wasn't bad though. It required some getting used to do, but it had its good parts.

They parted, and Lana's face was red. She was also breathing hard, though it was because of her current facial difficulties; kissing denied her a way to breathe.

He touched her face and caressed it tenderly. She did the same to him. They looked at each other's eyes for a long while.

Lana was the one to break the silence "I like your eyes."

"Thank you. Yours are beautiful too. Like two emeralds in a pristine silk background, mesmerizing me into their mysteries."

She was surprised for a while, then laughed. "Patriarch—"

He touched her mouth with a finger. "No, not Patriarch. Call me Aaron."

Her laugh only got harder. "Oh goddess, did you read about emeralds and putting fingers on a woman's lips on a bad romance? No girl likes to be shut up! So weird!"

Aaron was legit surprised at her reaction. His last wife had been very glad for his poetic compliments. That said, he had never studied poetry, and he had come from another universe. Maybe this world's literary culture was different, or maybe he was simply too old-fashioned for the girl.

"Is it?" he asked, amused.

"Yes!" Lana smiled — or at least tried to — and gave him a quick kiss to the lips. "But I wasn't talking about how pretty your eyes are, Aaron." She emphasized his name, and it pleased him to hear it. "I mean the way you look at me. At this." She pulled back a little and motioned to her face. "I was annoyed at your lack of emotion at first, but now I'm glad for it. I... I realized how outrageous my request for a kiss sounded too late. But you did it. And you don't care at all."

"To be honest, I'll ask the High Priestess to also fix your bad breath when she arrives, but I have ingested worst poison."

She looked at him as if what he had said made no sense. He frowned. That was humor, wasn't it? Was this world that different?

At last, Lana laughed while crying tears of joy. "Oh, goddess. You're kissing this, but you only care about something as mundane as bad breath?" She looked at him with enamored eyes. "You're a special man, do you know that?"

He smiled. "I was told so before, yes. I appreciate the recognition regardless."

She slapped his shoulder lightly, and he smiled. They talked for a while, then he left to take care of business.

Aaron found the king at the ruins of his palace, which had been destroyed by the Mouth-Men. It looked like the aftermath of a powerful earthquake. The king had set up some open tents — a top cover with no walls — close to the main entrance. There were a lot of people there taking care of administrative tasks and the rebuilding efforts.

The king's tent was surrounded by thirty Two Star guards, and two Three Star ones stood guard inside the tent itself. The king was standing in front of a large wooden table that had a holographic representation of the palace debris. He looked at a few colored lines and circles while a man talked beside him.

"...here, and here," the man said and pointed at a couple of circles that demarked drilling places. "We are confident in reaching the hidden safe today, Your Majesty."

The middle-aged man was built strong and wore construction crew clothes, but the fabric was of a much higher quality than usual. He was too clean too, his black hair was combed, he wasn't sweating from hard work, and he wore shoes instead of boots. A bureaucrat, but at least one that dressed like his men. That was more than many were willing to do.

A guard made it as to bar Aaron's approach, but the one beside him whispered, "He's the Herald of Light," and they just parted ways for him.

"You guys can't even dig a hole before I rebuild my tower?" Aaron said. "I find it hard to believe my Builder is that much better than everyone else here."

The king's surprise turned into a frown as he looked at the man, who shook his head. "With all due respect, Your Majesty, your guest doesn't know what he's talking about. I have been giving Your Majesty hourly reports. Complications happened because of hidden structural weaknesses of the palace that made the destruction bigger and our job harder. If Your Majesty doubts me, I challenge the guest to find an error in anything I did or said."

That made the king look back to Aaron. "Herald, how likely would you say it is for me to be being played? You might not know, but we're talking about my hidden safe. I don't believe anyone can open it, but I see how some would try regardless."

"How far deep is it buried?"

"Three hundred feet."

"What kind of soil is around it?"

"Stone, mostly."

"And how powerful are your diggers?"

"I have five Two Star and twenty One Star Earth Elementalists."

"Any underground protections around the palace?" The king shook his head. "Then even if there were any difficulties in digging in the palace grounds itself, any half-competent Two Star Earth Elementalist could've dug diagonally from the sides and have reached your safe in a few hours. Well, maybe half a day if he has to stop to refill his dantian. Either your..." Aaron looked at the man beside the king. "Foreman? Either he is stupid, or he's robbing you from the safe itself so he can try to open it somewhere else, or he's exhausting everything he can attempt to break into the safe before he 'reaches' it for you."

The man had paled. He opened his mouth to speak, but the king raised his hand to tell him to shut up. "I know you, Liest. You are too stupid to play me. However, the herald raises good points." He turned to a Three Star guard. "Investigate and bring me the heads of whoever told Liest to dig like this. And organize efforts to find holes throughout the city. You're free to search any houses you want. I also want the heads of whoever is trying to steal from me."

"Yes, sir!" the guard said and left with five Two Star ones.

The king turned to Liest. "After he is done, have whoever survives dig diagonally. If I can't enter my safe by evening... You know the price of treason." The man impossibly paled even more, then left. The king sighed and turned to Aaron. "I knew it all along, but I trusted the security measures of the safe. It never occurred to me they might take the safe away. I also didn't want to lose even more people. My best died in the palace."

"My condolences," Aaron said.

"Now, how can I help you, herald?"

"Did a mechanic engineer find you yet?" Aaron asked, and the king shook his head. "Well, he might. Give him however much he wants within reason, and take the money from what you owe me. On another subject, do you have the map of the three city regions I asked of you?"

"As I said, I lost my best people. I have almost two of them mapped out. It should be done by tomorrow, and I'll be sure to deliver it to you personally."

Aaron nodded. He had seen firsthand how the king was having trouble even getting simple things done. "What about the area for the crusade's camp? Have you decided on it yet?"

"My new Minister of Defense is also still considering the best place for that."

"Tell him to be quick, I was told people might arrive by teleportation the day after tomorrow. And also make sure you have enough copies of my rules to distribute. Now, on the real reason for my visit, I want you to spread the word that the Herald of Light is recruiting. Not for the crusade. I need managers, accountants, marketers, salespeople, guards, taskmasters, herbalists, formation masters — actually, you call it patterners — alchemists, apothecaries, healers of all kinds, builders, cleaners, office helpers, runners, and workmen. The pay will be at least the average of the city.

"I'm also open to hiring anyone who wants to learn any of those crafts, no matter their background, as long as they pass my test. The test requires no prior experience, only aptitude, though I certainly won't hire an illiterate as an accountant. The pay will be a fourth of what I pay a full-fledged professional, and the training should take anything from three months to a year.

"I shall start the tests as soon as I return from the crusade."

The king was surprised by the request but replied quickly, "You can find many of those in your dukedom."

"Good point. Have them also apply. I'll use the opportunity to test them, and I'll replace the incompetent ones with whoever I hire."

Aaron would also use the crusade to find capable people. His plan for conquering the world had started. The first step was creating a commercial organization that could reach far, with all the money and warriors that came with it.