Chapter 23: A plea for help.

As I stood there looking at the cat woman, Arwen walked over and looked at my wrist. "You have another blessing?" She asked in shock, and I nodded.

"I just got it a few hours ago. Do you know who Lustia is?" I asked her, making her blush and nod. "She is the minor goddess of Lust. She falls under the domain of the Goddess of Love, Lucia. As Lustia is the daughter of Lucia." She said.

Making me look at my wrist and nod before I spoke to the cat woman. "Please stand. I will hear you out once I get to our inn. But for now, I need to turn in my quest. You can walk with me while I go do it." I said, making the tan-skinned beauty look up and nod as she stood.

"I am Natasha." She said, placing a hand on her chest and bowing slightly.

"John Colt, you can call me Colt," I said, returning her bow, making her smile lightly. She didn't have a negative opinion of this human so far. As he has been respectful to her and her group, he has shown that he doesn't mind protecting people in need. She had a fondness for him so far; she worshiped the Goddesses of Lust, so his sexual acts didn't affect her.

As we entered the city, I noticed her group joining up with us. They all had tan skin and different hair colors and lengths; they had a Middle Eastern vibe, making me kind of turned on by them. I shook my head, getting those thoughts out of my head as I made my way to the Adventurer Guild, which was near the gate.

Walking into the Guild, people glared at me as I held up my hand showing the crest. They looked away as I walked towards the front desk and placed the paper on it. A girl with short pink hair down to her jawline turned around, looking at me before quickly stepping back as I sighed, flashing the crest, making her sigh as she walked over.

"What can I do for you, Sir?" She asked.

"Yes, I had completed this quest over 16 times. Can you please log it? And I killed five Hobgoblins and one, War Chief," I said, pulling out 160 skulls along with the 5 Hobgoblins and the War Chief. Lying them on the table as she nodded.

I needed to do ten quests to get my next rank, and with this, I will be able to move up to Iron. She began going through the skulls and stopped at the War Chief's. It was severely damaged, but she could still tell it was a War Chief's skull as she started on the paperwork, then opened a safe and grabbed a bag of coins, counting them out.

She walked over and laid the coins and an Iron badge on the table. Pushing the plate over it had ten silver coins and sixty copper coins. One hundred copper coins equal one silver coin, then one hundred silver coins equal one gold coin, and then it follows platinum. But platinum coins are more commonly used at the national level.

"Your reward is ten silver and sixty copper. Is there anything else you desire?" She said, bowing slightly as I sighed and spoke. "I have run into some dead Elves. I was wondering who to bring their bodies to so they may get the burial they deserve." She looked down sadly as they had been losing many elves lately, and every death made her heart weep.

"You can bring them to the Temple, the pristess will handle their burial needs. I will write a letter, how many?" She said.

"Eight," I said as a tear fell down her cheek, and she nodded, walking to a desk and starting to write on some paper before grabbing a wax stamp and sealing it, before grabbing some more money. "Here is five silver for returning the dead to us." She said, making me tilt my head and take the money.

"Can I get a map to the temple?" I asked as she reached beneath the desk, pulled out a paper, and slid it to me. It showed a mark where we are and a line to the Temple. I nodded to the front desk lady as I turned around and headed out of the Guild, as the cat woman walked behind me, and Natasha spoke.

"Why are you worried about the dead elves? Don't you humans not care about elves?" She asked me with confusion. I chuckled a little as I spoke.

"Don't put me on the level of other humans, I am one of a kind, far above other humans, and that is just a fact," I said, pulling out a smoke and lighting it as I took a hit and walked towards the Temple.

We made it to the Temple, and as I walked through the gate, it looked like a Greek or Roman temple. They were the best temples back on Earth. No other nation knew how to build temples like the Romans or Greeks. As I walked towards the giant stairs and stepped onto them, I could hear two women giggling. But there was no one else around except me and the four cat women.

Odd, I thought as I walked up the stairs and entered the Temple. As soon as I entered, a group of elven nuns screamed, and I quickly held up my arm. "I am not here to hurt you," I said as they looked at the two blessings and sighed in relief. "What does a human blessed by Alune desire in my temple?" An elderly woman said to me as we walked.

I handed her the letter as she opened it and read it. "Thank you for bringing the little ones here so we can lay them to rest." She said before signalling me to follow her. We arrived in a courtyard where a few nuns were waiting.

"Please, lay them out." She said as I started to put them down. She sighed, looking at their bellies.

"Did they ask for you to kill them?" She said, and I nodded. "You are a kind soul. We will take care of them." She said, bowing as I turned and walked away. As a gentle whisper brushed past my ear.

"Thank you." It said as I turned and looked, making the cat women look confused. "What's wrong?" Natasha asked.

"You girls didn't hear that voice?" I said, making them shake their heads no, as the old woman chuckled. "It was probably Goddess Alune or Goddess Lustia, as you have their blessings, so they would be watching you. The Goddesses pick people from time to time to watch as they spend their time governing the world." The old priestess said.

I see, so I was right. They like watching me, I nodded to the old woman and took my leave as I spoke. "Let's make it to the inn, then I will hear you out. But I will warn you, I won't be living in the capital for at least seven days as I have plans and I have other things I need to take care of." Speaking as we walked out of the Temple and down the stairs.

I took a few minutes to find where the inn was as I entered, and Arwen walked over, handing me my key as I looked at the number and nodded as the ladies followed me—entering the bedroom, walking to the window, opening it, and taking a seat on the ledge, lighting a smoke. "Please, explain why you want me to save your princess," I said before taking a drag.

"Our Princess has come under a curse of a demon, called the eternal sleep. As the high priestess of the Temple of Lustia prayed, she was told that a human male who would bring change to this world would first appear in this Empire, so several groups were sent out to find the human. Goddess Lustia told our high priestess that the human would have her blessing." She said, pointing at my wrist.

I see, as I blew out the smoke and spoke.

"What nation do you come from, and how far is it away from the Land of the Dead? As I need to go there for the Coffin of Rebirth." I said, making them look at each other, confused, as Natasha spoke up.

"We are from the Queendom of Nya, the last habitable nation before entering the wastelands and then into the Land of the Dead. In fact, the thing we seek is in the Land of the Dead. It is called the Oasis of Spiritual Awakening; it holds the water needed to awaken the Princess from her slumber." Natasha said.

As I kept smoking, looking out the window, I thought for a few minutes before speaking again. "I will talk to your Queen and the High Priestess, then we can work out a deal. But it will have to wait, for I need to do some prepwork in the capital here." I said, making the women break out in joy as Natasha smiled and nodded.

"We will talk again when we make it to the capital, Sir Colt." She said as she got up and left. Since it was on the way, I don't see a problem with doing it. After all, I can gain more crystals as payment, and if it's on the way, think of it as a side quest.