Chapter 9: Imitation

I was now traversing through a clustered maze to get back to my room. Imposing shadows bathed most of the place in darkness, making bastions of light rarer as time went on and a pleasant breeze blew which fluttered my hair.

Over the course of however long I spent in the dungeon, the recollection of the paths I took to get there had been jumbled into an incomprehensible mess. No matter which way I went, nothing resembled the street I took to get here.

If only there was a giant sign pointing to where I had to go, just like this massive tower. But life just isn't fair like that.

"Excuse me," I approached a market stall, "Could I buy that mask over please?"

The shopkeeper rubbed his hands muscular together, fingers itching to fiddle with some coins, and gave a sly smile.

"Sure thing, sir."

He removed the white mask from the rack and folded the black cloak.

"2500 Valis please."

The coins jingled inside my pouch as I tested how heavy it was. An urge to smash my head into a wall sprouted from within me.

In the end, the man who got conned was not the armourer from the tower but me. According to some level ones I spoke to, you could get a set of equivalent value for just ten thousand valis. On top of that, if I was a registered adventurer, the guild could've given me a loan to buy stuff.

My lack of knowledge combined with asshole antics had backfired severely.

"Thank you for the purchase. Have a-"

"One more thing."

"Hmm?"

"Do you perhaps know the way to get to the 'Hostess of Fertility'? I heard it's a great tavern and want to check it out."

All I needed was to get to that tavern since I remembered the rest of the way back.

"Ahh, I pass by that place frequently. It's quite a popular venue for adventures like yourself and citizens alike. Though, it's not a place I'd like to go. Not unless I want to incur the wrath of my wife. That woman is mad is telling you."

He shuddered as if a ghost had just given him a hug.

"So, about those directions..."

The man ended up guiding me there himself since he had to close his shop and his was house was in the same direction.

"So what familia are you from?"

"I'm not a member of any, unfortunately."

"Oh, so you're a supporter?"

"I guess you can say that."

We continued the rest of the journey speaking about various topics, and once the two of us reached our destination, it was time to part ways.

"The name's Alfred, it was nice to meeting you."

"My-"

"Don't tell me, let me guess it!" He covered my mouth, "Hm let's see... You look like an Arthur."'

"You must have a talent for this. What gave it away?"

"Trade secret young lad."

After we parted, the rest of the journey was just retracing my steps.

"Home sweet ho-"

The sign from my luxury residence broke free from the grasp of the building and dropped to the ground. A dust cloud flared up from the impact and patrons came dashing out in a frenzy with expressions of terror, joy, and even laughter.

"I'm telling you, this time the whole place is coming down! I'll bet two of my beers on it."

"Then I guess I'll be two beers richer by the end of this, dumbass. This thing has been around for a hundred years, it's had plenty of times to die, but now it's too late - the damn thing has become immortal!"

"Wow, that's amazing."

"We should call this the immortal... immortal uhh... the immortal tavern!"

I ignored their drunken ramblings and went inside.

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It didn't long for me to dump the ruined armour into the furthest corner away from my bed and to change out of the filthy clothing which clung to my skin. A foul stench entered my nostrils as I took a whiff of my exposed body.

"I need a bath."

I prayed that this place had at least a bucket to use as a bathing facility. My assumptions were way too high.

This led me on a wild goose chase to locate a public bath, and it actually wasn't too difficult.

One man pointed to a bathhouse that was considered relatively good in the eyes of the locals. After I finished using it, all my muscles were refreshed anew and a nice herbal scent wafted off my body. It almost seemed like someone had lifted a weight off my shoulders from how easily they moved.

Now it was time to make use of the cloak and mask from beforehand. Alfred designed the mask with an enormous grin and it slipped on my face with no issues. Then I used the cloak to further obscure my identity. All that was needed now was the divine aura of the first flame to complete the look of a mysterious god who had just found their first familia member and needed to register.

I summoned the flame, and it quivered inside of me ever so slightly but didn't erupt. Swathed in the ambience of a god, I headed to the adventurer's guild.

"Greetings young lady, I was wondering if you could assist me with something."

The receptionist's animal ears perked up, and she snapped out of her daze.

"Sorry about that." She eyed me with indifference, but then must've realised as her eyes widened. "My name is Rose and you must be a new God who only descended from the Tenkai recently. It is a pleasure meeting you."

"Pleasure meeting you as well. And yes, I've only been in this realm for a week."

"I see, so how may I assist you?"

"I came to inform you that I have procured my first member of my familia and would like to register under the exploration category."

"I see. Let me grab the paperwork real quick."

The lady zoomed to another room and came back with a mountain of paper in a flash. I was already on the verge of tears as she rested it atop the desk, for my gut was positive this would take longer than the life of an actual god to fill out.

"So first you need to fill this out."

What followed was the largest test of willpower I had ever faced.