The usually boisterous Adventurer’s Guild went silent as Edwin Weston, silver-ranked warrior, slammed open the main doors. The small lanterns hanging from the ceiling creaked as they swung back and forth like pendulums from the impact. It was obvious from the grim expression on Edwin’s face that his most recent job hadn’t quite gone as well as he had expected it to. He stormed into the room, his metal boots leaving behind heavy thuds against the wooden floor planks.

Since all of the attention in the room was focused on him, few eyes caught the figure of a young woman entering after him. Her platinum hair flowed like a waterfall of silver over her soft pink blouse and white capris. A large, pitch-black raven hovered over her shoulder, its demonic red glare pressing down on those who noticed them. Her unique crimson and violet eyes swept through the room, taking in every detail.

Her gaze settled on three individuals waiting in line to file a report.

“Kelsey, Helen, Ven!” she called out.

The priestess, the archer, and the masked rogue followed the sound of her voice and their eyes widened. Ray nodded toward a corner table and her party members left the line to head over. They crossed paths with Edwin as he skipped the line and walked straight up to the desk.

When the four of them were comfortably seated, they stared at each other in awkward silence for several long seconds. It wasn’t hard for Ray to guess why they felt so awkward—they all had the same question, but none of them knew how to ask it.

Helen brushed a lock of brown hair out of her eyes and exchanged glances with Kelsey and Ven. Then she finally asked the question. “What happened?”

Ray took a moment to study each of her party members in turn before responding.

Kelsey, the only friend here who knew any of her secrets, seemed more curious than anything else. A slight smile danced at the edge of her lips, and she was relaxed as she leaned back in her chair to listen.

Helen’s eyes narrowed and she folded her arms, her finger tapping against her forearm impatiently. The worried wrinkles on her forehead and dark bags under her eyes declared her inner thoughts, while her irritated scowl demanded answers.

Of course, she couldn’t see Ven’s features beneath his silver mask, but his shoulders were stiff and his sharp gaze seemed to pierce into her soul.

Ray bit her lip, trying to make herself look regretful.

“I should have told you to just smile and wave…” muttered Legion, the resident god in her head.

“You wish you could act as well as me,” Ray shot back.

After one final check to make sure nobody else was within earshot, she opened her mouth and started to explain what happened. “It’s a complicated story, but I decided to tell you three about it. You have a right to know more about me than others.”

She leaned forward, resting her folded arms on the table.

“The first part that you need to know is the truth about what happened the day our party was wiped out by goblins. I left out a few details about how I escaped.”

“I figured as much,” Helen replied. “You should have been asleep like the rest of us. It didn’t really make sense for you to have escaped while the rest of us were killed in our sleep.”

Ray nodded. “Right. I woke up before I was attacked and spoke with the goblins. I was too late to stop you guys from getting killed, but I managed to open a dialogue with them.”

“Hold up!” Ven raised a hand to stop her. “You can speak Goblin?”

“Well, yes,” Ray replied with an awkward smile. “I don’t know why, though. My memories from before I came to Cairel are hazy at best. I don’t remember anything about my past, but I can speak both English and Orcish, as well as Dwarvish, Goblin, and Ancient.

Ven seemed to ponder for a moment, his whole body rigid. The three girls stared at him curiously for several seconds before he blurted out a phrase in Ray’s most familiar language.

“The final judges look down on the world.”

Ray tilted her head and scrunched her brow. That phrase sounded familiar to her, a hazy memory dancing at the edge of her mind. It felt like the answer was at the tip of her tongue, but it was an answer that was just outside of her reach. Almost as quickly as the sensation came, it disappeared, leaving behind only frustration.

“Is that supposed to mean something?” Ray asked in Ancient. “I feel like I’ve heard that phrase before, but I don’t know when or where.”

Ven shook his head and leaned back in his chair, ignoring their questioning gazes as he motioned for Ray to continue.

Ray gave him a curious glance before swapping back to English to continue her story. “After I spoke with the goblins, they took me back to their village. I spent a day with them and built some connections and, when I returned to Cairel, I left my friend Lexi behind.”

Helen, Kelsey, and Ven didn’t react too strongly at the mention of Lexi. She didn’t expect them to because they barely knew who she was.

“I was worried when I found out about the mission to attack those goblins, but I didn’t think anybody would understand if I tried to talk about it. I didn’t want anybody to try and stop me from interfering, so I kept it a secret.”

“So you jumped through the portal alone and tried to save the goblins and your friend,” Helen concluded.

Ray nodded toward her. “Something like that. As you might have guessed, things didn’t go very well for either side. Edwin and I are the only survivors. Every other adventurer and every goblin died, and my friend Lexi died as well.”

Helen and Kelsey’s eyes both widened.

“Three silver-rankers died?” Helen exclaimed.

A few heads turned in their direction and the archer flinched. She leaned forward and spoke quietly. “How did goblins nearly wipe out a party of silvers? If they were new, I could understand, but Edwin Weston is almost gold-ranked.”

Ray leaned in closer as well, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. She didn’t want any part of their conversation to be overheard, but this part and the last part absolutely could not spread beyond her group yet.

“To be honest…” she started.

“What’s this supposed to be, a confession session?” a voice interrupted.

Ray half-leapt from her seat, her shout of surprise dying in her throat when we found a tall woman standing right next to their table. Kelsey shrieked and her chair fell over backward. Ven and Helen remained calm but Ray noticed the archer’s eyes were shaking.

None of them knew this woman was there. How long had she been listening to them? Did she hear Ray confess that she had tried to help goblins?

“Astra Dunne,” she introduced as she pulled out a chair and sat herself down at the table. The lantern light reflected off of her rectangle-framed glasses, making it look like fire danced in front of her eyes.

“I’ve heard of you before,” Helen remarked. “You work for the Guild Master, right?”

Astra waved her question away. “I want to talk about something more interesting than my position. You were talking about some dangerous things.” Her piercing grey eyes settled on Ray. “Miss, a corner table in the Adventurer’s Guild is hardly the best place to confess your secrets. There are all sorts of magics, tools, and techniques that can be used to listen in.”

Ray bit her lip nervously. She hadn’t revealed anything too dangerous yet but she had almost made an incredibly stupid mistake.

“Why didn’t you warn me?” she complained.

“That people might be listening to you? I didn’t think I needed to. The fact that you came back together with Edwin Weston will discredit any rumors that form long enough for us to get our plan rolling. After that, people will have other things to worry about.”

Legion’s explanation helped calm her nerves. There was an uncomfortable amount of conjecture in there, but he seemed confident so she decided to trust him.

“Miss, did you hear what I said?” Astra asked, her eyes narrowing.

Ray flinched and quickly responded. “Yeah, I did.”

The older woman adjusted her glasses and then addressed the group as a whole. “The four of you are welcome to have this conversation in a more private room upstairs.”

Upstairs? Ray sometimes wondered about the upper levels of the Adventurer’s Guild, but she hadn’t expected to be invited up there so soon.

“That’s a great idea,” Ven spoke up.

Ray, Helen, and Kelsey all turned toward him.

“What are those looks for? I’m all for getting thrown in prison for conspiracy against the state, but I’d prefer not to get caught.”

“Who said anything about the state?” Helen asked, alarmed.

“I did,” Ven replied. “If you think about what Ray has already told us, it's not hard to guess where this is going.”

Astra tapped a finger on the table, recapturing their attention. “I’m rather concerned that you already need me to repeat this, but you really shouldn’t be saying things like that out here.”

Ven nodded and rose to his feet, his chair skidding across the floor behind him. He motioned for the others to follow him.

Ray, Kelsey, and Helen exchanged glances before standing. A few adventurers gave them curious looks as they headed toward the stairs leading to the upper levels.

Edwin looked up from the report he was filling out and Ray waved. He ignored her and returned to writing his report.

The four of them, accompanied by Astra Dunne, moved up the stairs to the second floor. They stepped out into the lobby and Ray looked around with wide-eyed interest.

There were a few cordoned cubicles taking up the left half of the building. In front of the cubicles, there was a secretary in a suit sitting behind an old-fashioned mahogany desk. She looked up as they entered and her eyes paused on Astra for a second before addressing the four trainees.

“How can I help you today? Are you perhaps looking to set up a life insurance policy?”

Life insurance? What was that?

“Why would humans need life insurance in this world?” Legion asked, seeming equally baffled. “They just come back when they die.”

“No, but they would like to use a consultation room. I have personally authorized it, so I’ll take care of the paperwork,” Astra responded.

“I see.”

She never took her eyes off of the four trainees as she reached down and took a key from a ring hanging on the inner edge of her desk. She twirled it around her finger. “I have an open room down the hall, but I’m afraid that I cannot bend the rules, even to someone in your esteemed position, Miss Dunne. Only the Guild Master himself can…”

She flinched and reached up toward her ear. Ray perked her ears and listened intently, barely managing to pick up a faint static sound from a device in the secretary's ear. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that Astra was wearing a similar device.

The secretary touched the device and then began speaking. “I understand. Yes, I will let them through.” Then she bowed to the group. “My apologies. I did not realize you had the Guild Master’s permission. He has informed me of my mistake and I will gladly allow you to use a consultation room, free of charge.”

“Ray…”

“I know.”

That exchange was highly suspicious. How did the Guild Master know about them when Astra Dunne had yet to leave their side? Even before that, why did Astra appear before them in the first place?

Astra accepted the key from the secretary and started to lead them toward the back side of the room.

As they were leaving, the secretary gave a last-ditch sales pitch.“Come see me if you ever want to take out a policy! We cover everything except an act of god!”

They moved down a hall around the backside of the cubicles to some doors that led into private rooms. Astra opened a door with a key and motioned for them to enter inside.

After all four of them had entered, she tossed the key inside, the metal object letting out small thuds as it bounced across the floor. Without another word, she promptly slammed the door closed, and the faint clicking of high heels announced that she walked away.

The four of them stood quietly for almost a minute, their eyes roaming the consultation room. There was a table with three chairs in the center of the room and the walls were completely smooth and empty. There were no windows. The room was lit by only a single small magic lantern which hung from a cord attached to the ceiling above the table. The insufficient light failed to reach the dark corners and gave the room an eerie vibe.

Finally, Kelsey broke the silence. “So, uh… anybody have any idea what’s going on?”

***

As Ray and her party settled in and started making themselves comfortable in the consultation room, a soft ding resounded in my ears and echoed throughout my entire being like a vibrating wave. I searched for the source and found a little red notification bubble on the chat log.

I touched the button on my display and a message window opened in front of my eyes.

[#TrueBeauty224] has entered the chat room.

[Legion] has entered the chat room.

---

[#TrueBeauty224] Legion! Congratulations on a fantastic debut! This is just a notice that our next world conference is tomorrow on Meridian. We would like you to inform us about your Tether and the direction you plan to take in the near future. Please come prepared.

[#TrueBeauty224] Oh, I almost forgot that you don’t know how to get to Meridian. I’ll send a link.

User [#TrueBeauty224] has sent an attachment.

Would you like to open a link to:

https://maps.app.norbo/WpDrLageSAkN6yRf6?

[#TrueBeauty224] I’ll see you there! (>‿◠)✌

---

[#TrueBeauty224] has left the chat room.

She sent several messages and then left before I had a chance to type a response. I had a hunch as to who it was, but I touched Jocelyn’s name on the list just to be sure.

What would you like to do?

Message [#TrueBeauty224] View Message History with [#TrueBeauty224] Report a Bug

Yeah, it was kind of obvious that it was Jocelyn. I reread her messages a few times to make sure I didn’t miss any details. She wanted me to inform them about Ray and the direction I intended to take. This would be a turning point. I couldn’t tell lies in front of Dallin, so I would have to either mislead them or reveal everything.

Depending on how they reacted, this could become the start of our inevitable conflict.

What was with this timing, though? The next few days would be one of the most crucial moments for my fledgling religion and I was being summoned away to a meeting?

Well, this meeting would likely be beneficial for us as well, depending on the outcome. When Ray and I spoke in detail about our plan, we did account for the possibility of other Overseers getting involved. If they decided to intervene and stop us, there wasn’t anything we could do to win, but if we could sit at a negotiating table, there was room to have hope.

I wasn’t a good negotiator, by any means, but it probably wouldn’t be too hard to secure some short-term advantages to get my church up and running.

After rereading the message one last time, I returned my attention to the conversation between Ray, Kelsey, Helen, and Ven. This conversation was critical for Ray’s personal development, and I needed Ray to be confident for our plan to work.

My plan had to work. I never thought for a moment that the humans would let my goblins and Lexi go peacefully. Every action we took going forward would operate under the assumption that the humans did not want us to win.

They could hinder us all they want, but they were humans.

What could humans possibly do to stop a god?