Sofia, pay me back!

"Remarkable," Lance murmured, his gaze fixed on the Valkyrie statue before him. "She does bear a striking resemblance!"

"Indeed," agreed the young dragon beside him, craning its neck for a better look. "No wonder I thought she looked familiar. It's uncanny how much she resembles the mage who owes me."

However, similarities in appearance didn't imply identity. "But remember, the mage who owes you is known for her mastery of forbidden spells, casting magic that transcends ordinary bounds. This Valkyrie, though? She's a warrior of renown, fearless in battle, ready to challenge even a dragon with her spear."

Lance nodded thoughtfully. "If she truly were the mage, defeating you would be mere child's play. And a mere toss of her spear would quell the wildest of beast tides."

"Yes, the resemblance is slight," the young dragon conceded.

"And she looks like the one indebted to you?"

"This is a sacred place," Lance chided with a half-smile, glancing around at the gathering clergy who were beginning to cast disapproving looks their way. "We should speak with reverence, lest the temple's guardians decide to teach us a more... physical form of respect."

From the shadows, Joanna watched, her heart racing. How could Lance even suggest that the venerable Valkyrie could owe anyone, least of all a debt? The audacity of his suggestion shook her to her core. Earlier that day, at the city lord's mansion, Lance had already seemed borderline irreverent, but his behavior now ventured dangerously close to blasphemy.

He claimed to have come to the temple to pray, yet he neither knelt nor offered salutations, throwing around accusations and connections that could easily be seen as sacrilegious. Could this really be the same man who mentored the genteel Butler Brandon?

As the tension in the temple thickened, the young dragon beside Lance rubbed his eyes wearily with his claws, almost as if he feared the irreverence of the conversation might blind him.

Meanwhile, the temple knights observed the scene, ready to intervene should Lance's provocations escalate. They knew well the strength of someone capable of rearing a dragon, acknowledging silently that ejecting him by force would likely require activating the temple's powerful protective formations.

Lance clasped his hands together, his thoughts entwined with the enigma of the Valkyrie's resemblance to Sophia. He watched as the eldest lady of the City Lord's Mansion continued her devoted prayers on the futon. Despite his curiosity, he respected the sanctity of the moment, his mind racing with possibilities.

"Could they merely look alike, or am I seeing connections where none exist?" he pondered quietly. The idea of a deity leaving their celestial realm to mingle in the mundane world seemed far-fetched. "A god, bored enough to descend and masquerade as a mortal? Unlikely, right?"

His thoughts spiraled further. If Sophia truly was this divine Valkyrie, her innate ability would surely be rooted in martial prowess, not the arcane arts. Yet, there lingered a whimsical notion, what if a god chose to descend? Was it for love, the thrill of evading debts, or perhaps to taste the sting of mortality?

"The Valkyrie could have been cast down by a higher power, forced to endure trials among humans," Lance speculated, a theory forming as he considered the divine and the earthly.

"And if I, a black dragon, can stroll the earth in human guise, why couldn't a goddess choose to explore humanity, even through the lens of a mage?"

His gaze shifted to the statue of the Valkyrie. "Might it be worth a shout? 'Pay back the money!' What's there to lose?" he mused. The small city's temple likely lacked a divine essence in its statues, only in grand temples did the statues carry the breath of divinity, where fervent prayers might stir the gods.

"If there's any truth to Sophia and the Valkyrie being one, a call to the statue might just provoke a response," Lance reasoned. "Sophia, pay back the money!" If the statue remained inert, it might confirm the Valkyrie as nothing more than a celestial defaulter.

"Shall I try? If she is wronged, perhaps the least I could do is offer her my faith as a believer." Lance's plan was set with a mix of mischief and genuine curiosity, ready to challenge the heavens from the quiet of the temple.

The faith of a dragon should surely hold some allure for a Valkyrie, Lance thought as he stared defiantly at the statue. "Don't just stand there, Sophia, pay back the money!"

He repeated the chant, his voice echoing through the sacred hall, "Sophia, pay back the money! Sophia, pay back the money!"

After the third shout, the atmosphere in the temple had shifted palpably. Just as Lance drew breath for a fourth proclamation, several temple clergy converged on him, their expressions stern with disapproval.

The young dragon and Joanna, who had been observing the unfolding drama from a respectful distance, rushed over as the clergy struggled to escort Lance out. The dragon grasped Lance's left foot while Joanna quickly took hold of the right.

Together, they maneuvered him through the temple's grand arches, much to the relief of the clergy who murmured among themselves about the audacity of such a guest.

Lance offered no resistance; a battle here would serve no one. The clergy were visibly relieved to escort this disruptive dragon knight out without further commotion.

As the doors closed behind him, whispers of adding Lance to the Valkyrie Temple's blacklist circulated among the clergy. They agreed that should the eldest lady of the City Lord's Mansion dare bring this brash visitor again, they would simply keep the doors shut.

This was a first for the seasoned clergy, never had anyone dared to demand debt repayment from a statue of their revered Valkyrie. The very idea was ludicrous; the Valkyrie's real name wasn't even Sophia.

Deciding that the temple needed to recover from this breach of sanctity, the clergy opted to close early, hoping to seek the Valkyrie's forgiveness for their inability to prevent the sacrilege.

"Bishop, do the eyes of the Valkyrie gaze into the distance, or do they look down upon the world with pity?" one curious clergyman asked.

"They look into the distance, without doubt," the bishop affirmed sternly.

"Really? I could have sworn they turned toward the temple entrance as we escorted the man out," the clergyman mused, more to himself than anyone else.

"Nonsense," the bishop snapped, his patience thinning. The young clergyman scratched his head sheepishly, admitting to himself that perhaps fatigue was blurring his vision.

Despite the bishop's irritation, he remained approachable, sparing the young clergy from further rebuke. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light, a tired mind seeing what it wished to see.

The audacity of Lance, a dragon knight, to blaspheme so boldly was unsettling yet strangely fitting for his brazen nature. Blaspheming the gods was a risky venture, did he not fear the curse of bad luck?

Outrageous indeed.