Awkwardly balancing her new feline friend on her shoulder, Maven led her companions out of the warehouse where so much had happened. Her face was red as she walked and she refused to meet anyone’s eyes, not wanting to discuss how Jasmine had sent into a fit of fluff induced madness.

“Now…… Let’s figure where exactly we ended up. We need to wrap things up quickly, especially since we left your friends behind, Ela.” Maven said as she pushed open the door to the outside.

“Ohhhh!”

Upon opening the door, Maven came face to face with the sea. Beyond the cobblestone street and wood pier, an endless expanse of water and thick fog extended beyond the horizon. She had no idea why didn’t notice until now, but the smell of salty air filled the atmosphere and waves could be heard crashing onto the craggy rocks a short distance away.

“Looks like we’re in some kind of warehouse district, in what appears to be a port town. Does anybody recognize this town? I didn’t pay all that much attention during my geography lessons.” Maven said with a bashful smile, stroking Jasmine’s cute little head as basked in the sights and smells of the ocean for the first time in almost 20 years.

“Well… I’d be hard pressed to identify a town by some dirty warehouses, but, judging by the dense fog and sheer volume of boat traffic you can see in the distance, I think this is Mistport. It’s the biggest port city on the continent, around a thousand kilometers south of the Holy Capital… Having easy access to river and ocean routes, it’s a major commercial hub.” Fae said calmly, looking around for people.

As a former espionage agent for a shady organization, she had traveled to all sorts of different regions of the Holy Kingdom. Compared to some out of the loop goddesses, a capital-bound maid, or a sheltered elf princess, Fae was the one with the most real world experience.

Unfortunately, they appeared to be in a very remote part of the town that didn’t get much in the way of foot traffic. Perhaps the owners of the nearby warehouses had been driven out by the evil aura emanating from the evil cult’s warehouse and fled.

*Sigh*

“Guess we’d better hoof it to somewhere that actually has people. They can point us to a guard house and hopefully a nice inn, so we can sit down and have a nice talk about what to do next. Kannon, Henna, you two should try and stay out of sight for now.”

Walking away from the dirty warehouse district mired in a dark atmosphere, the group looked for signs of life.

Luckily, they didn’t have to walk all that far before the malevolent atmosphere faded away and people could be seen walking about the streets.

“Excuse me, mister, could you point us in the direction of a guard post and a decent inn?” Maven asked after pulling aside the first approachable guy she laid her eyes on.

“Sure,” he said with a smile, unable to win against the sparkling eyes of a beautiful girl. “Just continue following the road down to the intersection, hook a right, and you should see a guard post after a few minutes. You’ll know you’ve made it when you see the brick building with a blue banner. There’s a decent inn across the street.”

“Thanks mister!” Maven said with a smile, skipping back to her companions and looking forward to a good night’s rest at a high quality inn.

Maven pet the tiger on her shoulder as she admired the unique architecture and atmosphere of this bustling port town. It was full of clean stone structures, robust men of the sea, and full of vitality. Perhaps due to the mild climate and humid air, the residents tended to wear loose, colorful clothes that showed plenty of skin.

The only exceptions Maven could see in the crowd were a few well-organized men who all wore matching uniforms and armor emblazoned with the emblem of two crossed tridents. They milled about the crowd and occasionally filed in and out of a large brick building.

Faced with their destination, Shayna turned to Maven and said, “Perhaps I should be the only one to go in, Young Lady. We’ve got a few too many secrets and I don’t think you should risk approaching the regular guards. Why don’t you just leave Henna with me and head on over to the inn? Looks like there’s one not too far down the road. I’ll handle the clean up.”

“That’s…… probably for the best.” Maven said with a strained smile, recognizing that she wasn’t properly equipped to handle the guards without raising suspicion for herself. “I’ll let you decide how much to tell them, but I would somehow like to let the lord here know that there’s an evil cult operating in his city. You can even let him know who I am, but try to keep the goddesses out of it. I don’t want to get held up here for long.”

From here, the group separated into two. Shayna, invisibly accompanied by Henna, entered the guard post while Maven, Ela, and Fae moved to check into the inn.