CHAPTER 79: NOW WHAT?

A Goddess unfamiliar with emotions beyond anger and possessiveness and a Runebearer who was too practical, or rather, too emotionally restricted to have thoughts that wandered beyond the expected, made for quite a comedic duo.

Though it sure as Tartaros didn’t feel like comedy for the two of them.

Anyhow, with her safety confirmed, Xenos entered the Hieron station.

Once he passed the reception, a clerk behind the counter froze the instant she saw him.

It was the same woman as before, the one who’d witnessed him slap a Hierophant for seemingly no reason at all.

Her hands trembled as she tried to look professional.

"Y-You..."

"Hey there."

Xenos approached cheerfully.

"Sorry about last time. I wasn’t planning to traumatize you, and oh, did you go to that Hierophant’s funeral? The poor man was mauled to death by some dogs before my eyes."

He looked down solemnly.

"Ah... he defended us till his last breath. How brave he was."

She blinked rapidly, trying her best to ignore every word that he said.

"What... what do you want this time?"

He leaned casually on the counter.

"I’m here to establish a House."

Her brow furrowed.

"You can’t just—you need documentation, authorization, and verification from the—"

Before she could finish, Xenos slammed the sealed slip onto the counter, the wax cracking audibly.

"A guarantee for the land and manor from my father. Go ahead."

She froze for a few moments before slowly unsealing it to read its contents.

After a bit of time had passed, she looked back up, all confused.

"Um... it checks out. But—I thought your father abandoned you?"

Xenos chuckled, finding it funny just how unprofessional she was being right now, and, rather, where did her fear go? Was the power of gossip that strong?

"He did. But he’s not very emotional."

She blinked.

"That’s... not very familial."

His father didn’t care whether or not he was his son; he only cared for results, and since Xenos brought that, he was more than willing to indulge him.

"I didn’t ask for familial."

The woman hesitated before nodding.

"Alright then... Which God?"

His grin widened.

"House Eris."

As did her eyes.

"...of Calamity? Are you insane? No, you are insane!"

Eris giggled in his head.

’See? That’s the normal reaction.’

Xenos laughed at both the clerk’s and Eris’s reactions.

"Thanks for the compliment. Now go do your job."

She gulped and nodded while quickly collecting her tools.

Just as she turned, he stopped her again.

"Oh, actually before you go, I’d like to officially become a Priest."

This time, she didn’t seem all that surprised, perhaps because she heard about his abilities in the Colosseum Game or maybe even witnessed it herself.

"From Disciple to Priest."

Either way, she would "do her job."

"Alright."

Retrieving the same Divine Relic as last time, which was a stamp shaped like a clock face with no hands and a single green root winding from its center toward the first hour mark, she took his outstretched hand and pushed it down beneath the lamp.

Hovering the Divine Relic above it, that single root split into three, extending toward the second and third hour marks before she quickly pressed it into the back of his hand.

A faint pulse of golden light flared and sank into his skin, leaving three glowing roots that dimmed in seconds before completely sinking in and disappearing.

Xenos flexed his hand.

Now, he was officially a Priest.

And soon, he’d be the head of a House.

Legally, he would no longer be of House Kharon.

"You are now a Priest of Calamity."

The clerk revealed four fingers while reading from a massive book on her desk.

"Only four are under Goddess Eris, making you quite a small House, yet I don’t recommend you search for them. The first of those four is a low-class crook hiding from Hades."

Indeed, and he was dead.

"The second is off the grid as well, likely working in underground channels."

Hm... perhaps he was the one who sent those assassins.

"The third is completely unknown, and the fourth works directly under House Hades. He is the only one I can recommend you visit; his reputation seems ideal."

Xenos didn’t know about the third either, but he sure did know about the fourth.

He knew him to be extremely dangerous from her words alone.

If someone did the insane things he did and was known to have an "ideal" reputation, then damnation, Xenos was never to let his guard down.

’Be careful of those two; we can’t kill them yet.’

And Eris seemed to agree.

Xenos liked how She always said ’we’ in situations like this, ensuring that he never felt alone.

’I will, and thanks.’

Though She didn’t know what he was thanking Her for, She didn’t continue the conversation, allowing Xenos to get this over with.

Ting!

That was the sound of him flinging over a bronze coin.

"I appreciate the info; this’s for your trouble."

Deadpan, the clerk stared at the bronze coin.

’Hehehe~ahaha!’

Eris would’ve palmed Her forehead if She wasn’t so busy laughing.

Clerks in Hieron were paid very well, so this was the equivalent of giving a millionaire ten dollars and thinking they’d be grateful.

Ignoring it, the clerk cleared her throat and donned her professional demeanor once more.

"Well then, Priest Xenos, son of Veynar of House Eris, we will proceed with the paperwork now. Once we receive word of your land and manor, we shall send over an officer with a sealed slip announcing the process completion."

With that, she turned and left.

"Hey, you forgot your tip!"

Xenos called out to her, but she only quickened her pace.

’Hm, maybe tipping is considered dishonorable here?’

He glanced at the bronze drachma.

’Well, if she isn’t going to take it...’

Quickly swiping it off the counter, he put it back in his inventory and walked away.

’Ahahahahahaha!’

Meanwhile, Eris was having the time of Her life, cackling while turning back and forth on the couch.

Xenos, of course, knew that the bronze drachma was nothing to that clerk, but seeing Eris enjoy his comedy act so much made him want to prolong it a little; he enjoyed seeing Her so happy.

Anyhow, he stepped back into the street.

The sky above was darkening, painted orange and violet.

He looked up at it for a while, his hands behind his back.

’Alright... done with that, but...’

A beat passed.

’Now what?’