Chara was quite serious about creating her own place, and as long as she behaved herself I couldn't deny her request, “If you work hard and we survive this siege, then sure, why not? Let's finish with the shelters and then I want you to train the fireball spell again.”

Eagerly she continued with cutting the stones and I resumed with my work also.

I was working on my second roof when I felt the gaze of someone I had almost already forgotten about from my first encounter with the elves. It was that guy named Andarin. He watched me, or should I say, he watched the stones I was moving, as I was sure that he wasn't able to see me directly.

.

Due to the fact that every other mature male elf was occupied at the moment, I was bewildered that he stood on the wall instead of being down at the river having some fun. This mystery had to be solved at once, so I divided my attention leaving one of my subminds to continue with building as I floated to the lonely elf.

“Hello Andarin. (I don’t mean to intrude, but) I'm at somewhat of a loss why you are here and not down at the river rolling around with a lovely maiden right now. Could you enlighten me?”

I used a bit of mana to highlight myself to give his eyes a point to focus on. His expression was almost depressed with a hint of anger underneath.

“No girl would want to bed the idiot of the city, even if I am the best with a sword around here.”

There was so much suppressed acid in his voice that I winced inwardly. His eyes were dark and filled with a deep regret.

I could tell this conversation was quickly becoming more than I expected. If he blamed me for what happened when I first arrived, then I might have an enemy among my own people; never mind about the goblins swiftly approaching my walls.

“I have invested all my stats into strength and vitality to be a shield for my people, (but with the new methods you have shown,) all the girls only look at the guys with strong mana and quick fingers. I stood strong when the goblins hit us with everything they had! I put down more of them than any mage. I let them hit me instead of my fellow elves and still I'm the one that gets shunned! And why? Only because I might not be the brightest candle in the lot? Bah.” His shoulders and head sank, “I also almost killed you, thereby destroying the only piece of luck we had since the escape, which didn't help me at all with my people. They regard me as a brute and dimwit who can only hit things with his sword.”

Poor guy. I wasn't his biggest fan either, since he had attacked me at first sight, but I could understand his motivation. From what I could tell, all previous dungeons had been dangerous and power-hungry; he was only trying to protect his people when he attacked me, and now he got the cold shoulder for it. At least it seemed like he was accepting his mistake instead of blaming others. I had watched the elves for some time now, and as a result of it realized that they didn't value close combat highly, making Andarin somewhat of an oddity. On the bright side, I had an idea that would make him an oddity that I had use for.

“Look Andarin, I admit that I wasn't thrilled about you attacking me, but regarding the story with your people I understand your reaction. You really were just trying to do what was best for your kinsmen. You know, the mages won’t be able to repel this attack all on their own though. As it stands I have use for someone like you as there will be a high demand for close combat fighters in the siege. Bows and spells will only take us so far until the enemy reaches the wall and then we will have to fight them with sword and knife. Even with my barkskin city buff we will have heavy losses if the defenders can't use their weapons. What do you think about training the other villagers? This way you can regain some of that respect and also serve in making our village safer from attacks.” I could see his eyes start to brighten up at the thought of this. I went on before he could say anything, “But first I want you to increase your level and invest your stats into intelligence and wisdom. Perhaps we can persuade your goddess to make a paladin out of you if we make you a little bit smarter and wiser.”

He seemed puzzle now and asked, “A paladin? What is that? And why do you want to help me even though I tried to kill you?”

“Hey no hard feelings from me. You only did your best and tried to protect your people, which is exactly what paladins do. They protect their people and do the bidding of their gods. Infused with the strength and magic of their gods paladins heal and encourage their allies. They also have the power to smite enemies with holy magic. Is there nothing like that on this world?”

He shook his head and looked at me with hope. “No, I have never heard of something like that before, but it sounds exactly like a dream come true to me.” Then the light in his eyes diminished again, “But how can I increase my level around here? There are no enemies to be found and even with my skill with the sword I couldn't take on a whole group of goblins alone.”

He had a good point there, but I had a solution for it, “I need some reconnaissance done anyway on the strength and composition of our foe's army, so I would like you and a few other fighters of your choice to seek out and destroy any small groups you can find. Just remember that you shouldn't be discovered by the main army, so you want to choose people who are able to move stealthily. Detect the goblin scouting parties, kill them, level yourself in the process, and then return. In the meantime I will gather information about how someone becomes a paladin on this world. Maybe I can have a small talk with Tiria and Alvera, otherwise I will just improvise something. Your companions should learn some sword skills from you during that time and it would be awesome if you could maybe learn a few things from them as well. Does that sound okay?”

Andarin's face brightened up and he fell down to one knee, “My lord, I will do as you say and smite your enemies where I find them. Please help me find the strength and the good will of Alvera to destroy her enemies and spread her word to everyone who hears my voice!”

'You know that it isn't as easy as you think, right? No temple, no paladin! You need a holy place to channel the necessary divine power for creating a holy warrior and as far as I can see, there is no temple in your small settlement, little one' Tiria's voice told me in my mind.

'Oh, I don't know. A hearth tree seems like a good start, don't you think? If I could increase her shrine a little bit more then with a ceremony we could sanctify the ground enough to classify for the ritual, don't you think?'

I felt surprise and then a bit of anger from Tiria, 'Are you nuts? This will give her a place of her own right beside your core and a shrine bigger than anything I have! I won't stand for this!'

The goddess jealous? I would have laughed right then if I didn’t know that she would have punished me at once, so I just tried to soothe her, 'My dear goddess, you should know that I will reclaim the place again later and then build a big and splendid temple with a wonderful and awe inspiring statue of you, bigger than anyone else's. They can whine as much as they want, but in my city your shrine will always be the biggest and prettiest around. So please just give Alvera this one time boon. I need someone like Andarin to be her paladin. If you regard it another way, I'm somewhat of a paladin myself. After all, I represent you here and try to give the whole world a better view of who you are. What do you say?'

She seemed reluctant at first, but with every new sentence I spoke she swayed more to my side. I could tell that she still held some reservation though as she said, 'You're right, but don't forget what you said. I will hold you true to your word and want a central place in the temple where everyone can see me. I will talk to Alvera now and see what we can arrange for your new idea, strange as it seems.'

I turned my attention back to Andarin and saw him still kneeling before me. “Stand up, you will be a paladin and the only person you have to bow your head to will be your goddess, just don't forget that this is my city and my rules still apply here.”

He stood up and an unburdened grin split his face, making him look much younger and more handsome than before. His former self reminded me of someone who had bitten into a lemon, but now he was like a kid at Christmas.

“You still have to level up and come back, preferably with the whole team alive and kicking, you hear? As soon as the rest are back and rested we will gather your team and then you can get to work.”

He seemed unshaken by my words, “I will do as you say, but I will never forget who saved me from desperation. Even if none of the ladies want me, I will still serve my goddess and have you as a friend.”

The idiot didn't realize that I would be using him in the frontline to save my bacon. Oh well!