My heart was beating a little quickly, and I hoped Randle couldn't hear it.

"Randle is it…? I'll be honest I was really shocked to see the Church of Song's letter on my desk the other day," Haggo, an older pot-bellied man, said with a chuckle as he sat down in front of us.

Randle and I had already shaken the man's hand and had introduced ourselves. We had only waited a few minutes for this so-called Seneschal. I had not known the word, or title, and Randle had told me before we had arrived at his house that he was basically a steward. An official appointed by the nobles and wealthy merchants to oversee the town in and for their interests… though if he himself was a noble or not I couldn't tell.

Though he did look like one. And not just because of his fine clothes, and this really nice home. The man was… well…

Fat. The kind of fat that told me he's likely not had to work very hard for a long time.

"I apologize if it felt too sudden and forced," Randle said simply, sounding as calm as a lazy goat.

"Nonsense…! My associates were actually very excited to hear of your interest, and even more gracious for your offer!" Haggo said as he leaned forward and onto his desk. I noted the way his flabby arms rolled a bit with pressure on them. Didn't that hurt?

"I'm honored. I… hope you don't take offense, but would you mind telling me about the property my brother purchased?" Randle asked, still sounding calm. He of course didn't mean his actual brother, but instead his apprentice. A fellow man of the cloth.

I glanced at the priest, and wondered why I was surprised to hear him act so… well… like he was. Randle wasn't just old; he's been in a high position of power within the church for a very long time. Maybe even as long as I've been alive. I shouldn't be as shocked as I was to see him act as natural here and now as he was; it was likely second nature to him.

"Oh, of course! I actually have the property maps here…" Haggo quickly stood and stepped to the side of his desk, to a small dresser looking shelf nearby. He pulled out a large roll of paper from it and went to laying it flat onto his desk before us. The sight of them was a shock to me, since I had never seen a map like this outside of the Society before.

I stood, as to study it, but Randle stayed seated. He only leaned forward a bit as to look upon it. I wasn't tall enough to do that, so I didn't feel too bad for standing up to do so. It wasn't as nice as the ones Hands made, but it was obviously meant for a different purpose. It was the city, but only the city, it didn't show the finer details.

"Here," Haggo pointed at a part of the map over in the lower corner. A place where thin lines were drawn in squares and other odd shapes. "To be honest, right now it's a tad far from the town proper… but in time it will not be. Though I suppose that is how you church folk operate, isn't it?" Haggo said as he traced the property we, the Society, had purchased.

The map was of the whole town… even the distant mine that was actually several miles away to the north. Though it was not detailed that far out, for the inner-city it was. It looked like the whole city was built around the river that passed around it, with a port built as its center, somewhat like Ruvindale was. There was a market, shops, and then a lot of homes. The city looked to be more homes right now than anything else, and surprisingly there were as many large homes as there were small ones. It seemed it being a town full of wealthy nobles was true, based off the size of some of the properties.

And ours was just as big as those… Though our little parcel simply said Church of Songs, not attributed as a house or a manor, nor did it have a family name upon it like many of the spaces around ours did.

I was relieved to not see any name I recognized, such as Primdoll.

It was… "Seems big," I said softly, aloud, on accident.

"One of the larger parcels, yes! But so are all the other properties nearby. Half have been sectioned into businesses, the other half are expected to be manors or estates…" Haggo went to sit back down as he spoke, and as he did he suddenly sounded a tad tired. As if standing for just those few moments had been difficult for him.

Maybe something was wrong with him? Maybe his weight was not a matter of laziness, but a consequence of an ailment?

"I see it rounds the river," Randle mentioned.

It did. The southern part of the parcel was on the river. The plot of land was actually a really elongated square, and if it was drawn to scale then…

Studying some of the inner-city buildings, ones Randle and I had just walked past to get here, I concluded our land was actually far bigger than I had first assumed. We had passed restaurants, smiths, and more… and they all would have fit with room to spare on our parcel, as long as the map was accurate.

"Right now the only building on the property is an abandoned shack. It uh… will likely need to be outright demolished, to be honest…" Haggo then said, sounding a tad worried as he did.

"That is fine. We will be building our own in short order," Randle said swiftly.

Haggo visibly relaxed at that, which told me he had been worrying over it.

Honestly, maybe we should be too?

We had no home. No where to stay… right? What were we going to do? Stay at inns? But…

What of Lilly…? Though I guess maybe she'll return home now…

We'd arrived yesterday, but it had been too late to visit this man. So we had simply camped outside of town a bit, on the main road. To avoid any unnecessary issues. Lilly hadn't outright said what she planned to do, but I expected her and Lellip to leave any moment and head home.

I was going to miss them, and also miss out on seeing Lellip meet Branches… I had been hoping he would have been here, in this town where he had been working, but it seemed he wasn't. Lilly had gone into town last night to see if he was here, and he hadn't been, which meant he was still at the Owl's Nest.

"I apologize, Father Randle, but my conversation with your fellow had been… rather short. May I ask if you will need to hire craftsmen? Builders?" Haggo asked as I went to sit back down. I'd memorized the map well enough I didn't need to see it anymore.

"We might in the future, yes. I hope there are some reputable guilds here…?" Randle asked, sounding interested.

He had told me before we had entered town that he'd say such things. He had said we would likely not use those outside the Society, but we had to keep our options open… in case we did need to.

Haggo leaned forward again, leaning onto the map that was still laid before him without much caution. "We do…! I regret to say we're still working on getting our ironworks up and running, the only ones capable of producing anything of quality at the moment are focused entirely on the mines and aren't available for hire, but that will change soon. But for woodwork, general labor and whatnot we have several options amongst the reputable houses," Haggo said happily.

Houses…? Not guilds? Or maybe those were the same things here. Or maybe he was just saying the guilds were owned by houses and families of note-worth, or trust, such as those he represented.

"Would you be so kind as to write up a formal letter of introduction for me, to those you'd recommend? It might be months before I need to visit them, but it will undoubtedly come," Randle asked.

"Of course! I'll do so today and have it to you before supper tomorrow!" Haggo happily agreed, smiling as he did. Well, at least he had good teeth.

"Thank you. I'm sure we'll be a bother for you often, I hope you'll forgive us all the same," Randle said.

Was he ending the conversation already…? I had expected this to last a long time! Weren't we doing something really serious? Very important? We were buying a huge parcel of land to build a church! The only church in town!

"Pay it no heed, Father Randle. In truth, me and my associates are ecstatic that you have arrived. We had actually planned to reach out ourselves soon, in fact," Haggo said with a small wave, as if Randle's apologies were not worth speaking.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"You were?" I asked, a tad surprised to hear so.

Haggo glanced at me with comfortable ease. If he was shocked I'd spoken, or would speak at all in general, he didn't show it. "Yes. You see many of the mercenary bands who have settled here, those my associates employ, are mostly devout themselves. Many of them even have their own chaplains and priests that travel with them, and the largest of the bunch has even put in a request for a place of worship. None of the households, none of the investors of this town, have any knowledge of such a venture. Opening a mine? A tavern? A shipping port…? We can do so any day of the week, but a church…" Haggo huffed as he shook his head. "Far beyond our purview," he said.

Huh… he used words like Vim did.

"I suppose it'd be prudent for me to ask for an invitation to those representatives as well, then," Randle said smoothly.

Haggo chuckled as he nodded. "Done and done! Honestly you showing up is a relief… mercenaries are an odd lot. Many think coin is all it takes to control them, but it's not true in the slightest. They deal in pride and desire as much as cold metal and blood… but well, needed they are, for the moment at least."

I blinked as I realized I had likely just heard something I probably shouldn't have.

"All children are needed until they need a thump on the head. Such is our purpose," Randle said.

Haggo laughed, making his body jiggle a little as he did. "Such truth!"

I didn't find it as funny, but it was likely because I didn't understand. Were they saying the mercenaries needed discipline…? Or were they just making light talk, as to be kind?

Haggo then ended his laughter, and he frowned as he realized something. "Ah, my apologies Father. Let me get the deed right away," he said as he stood.

Randle nodded gently as the large man rounded his desk and headed to the other side of the room. I leaned back a bit, as to see around the head of the chair I sat upon, and watched the man pull out a book from another shelf.

This was what we were here for. Not just to introduce ourselves to the town's leadership, but this item. This… deed.

"Signed and stamped by the three lord of the town, and will be signed by myself as well once you do so yourself," Haggo said as he returned to us. He placed the book down opened to a certain page onto the desk, onto the map, and then went to rummaging in a drawer behind the desk. He procured an inkpot and a pen, placing them beside the open book.

Randle stood, finally, and stepped up to the desk. I stayed seated, but leaned a bit as to watch the moment. I'd not just heard of deeds before, from Vim and others, but I'd seen one too. The one for the house that Merit had purchased for Lilly to stay in at Lumen… but that one had just been a sheet of paper. A fancy one, true, but just a piece of paper nonetheless. I hadn't realized they could also just be pages in a book!

"Renn," Randle said my name, and I frowned as I wondered if I wasn't supposed to watch or something… then I realized he was telling me to join him.

Warily standing up, I stepped over to his side and glanced at him and wondered what he wanted. Was I supposed to watch or something? Say something…?

Then Randle handed me the pen, which he'd already dipped into the ink.

"Huh…?" I carefully took it, and made sure to hold it in a way that didn't allow any ink to spill. Not only was it expensive, the book and the map was right beneath me.

"Sign here, sister," Haggo gently pointed at the bottom of the right page, where a decorated line waited. One beneath a bunch of words and other signatures.

Glancing at Randle, I felt my tail squirm under my pants as I realized he was serious. He wasn't even looking at me, he now looked bored again.

Great. I wasn't sure what Randle was planning, but it's not like I could go against it… plus it wasn't as if I would get in trouble for this, since the Society had already purchased it. Anything I owned was the Society's anyway.

With a small inward sigh I went ahead and signed the book. I did so with the same method that I'd done in Telmik long ago, the one I used to request funds and sign letters within the Society. Not my pass code, but my signature.

Once done I glanced at Randle, and he nodded and took the pen back from me. A part of me had expected, and hoped, he'd sign it too… but he didn't. He simply put the thing down next to the inkpot.

"And…" Haggo grabbed the book and turned it around. He too grabbed the pen, dipped it carefully into the inkpot and signed it as well in a different spot. Once done he put the book aside and then grabbed a small scroll. One rolled up, with a pretty ribbon on it. "Your deed, Sister," he said to me as he held it out to me.

I took it carefully, and was a tad disappointed. So we didn't get to keep the book…?

The scroll was small, and made of nice paper, but I could tell it was likely the same as the one I'd seen before. The one Merit had gotten in Lumen.

"Congratulations. Welcome to SilverCreek," Haggo said as he smiled and nodded at us.

SilverCreek…? Was that the name of this place?

How unoriginal.

"Thanks…" I said, unsure what else to say.

"Yes. Thank you, Haggo. I look forward to a lively relationship with you and this city," Randle said smoothly, holding out his only hand.

The large man took it kindly, shaking it with a heavy nod. "Indeed, Father. Feel free to visit anytime for any reason, for you and your cloth my door is always open," he said.

With a few more kind farewells, Randle and I left the large man's home. I packed away the scroll, the deed, safely into one of my monarch leather bags as we did so.

"That seemed… oddly easy," I said quietly once we were a bit away from the house, heading towards the south of the town. We would need to leave the town, to go to our camp outside of it to get everyone and take them to our parcel of land.

"Why wouldn't it be? We're representatives of one of the most powerful churches in the world, and not only are we in good standing we paid very well for the land. If anything it should have gone even smoother," Randle said as we stepped onto a stone path.

This town was actually rather busy, or at least it felt like it. Plus it was not as small as it had first seemed, too. It wasn't as big as Ruvindale… but it wasn't far off from it, from what I had seen so far.

"Just how much did it cost us, anyway?" I asked. I'd not heard or seen any hint of the amount during that meeting.

"Sixty four gold Penk," he said."

I nearly stumbled. "What!?"

Randle glanced at me, and chuckled at what was likely my shocked face. "A lot, huh? Well, there's a reason for it."

"Please tell!" That was a crazy sum! That would have bought all the paintings in the Sleepy Artist and then some!

Plus it was a tad odd to hear a familiar currency again. It'd been a long time since I'd heard of Penks. It kind of made me feel as if I was home or something, since it was the currency of the north.

"We did not really purchase the ground, we invested in the city. Basically we bribed the lords of this town, the ones who run and own the mine and the land, for the right to place our roots down and begin to proselytize their people," Randle said.

"That still seems like a huge sum to me… is land really that expensive…? We'd bought a nice home in Lumen for a little more than one," I said. I wasn't sure if it had actually been the equivalent of a single gold Penk, but it had been a single gold Lumen Mark.

"It probably wouldn't have even been a dozen Penk had we bought it normally… but if we had done that, the lords of this town would have been able to instigate their desires onto us. They'd have wanted bribes via taxes, or tithes. I do not want to deal with that. I basically paid such a huge sum to be left alone," Randle explained.

Oh… right… "Because of who we are," I said, understanding what he meant.

He nodded.

"Why'd you make me sign it, by the way?" I asked. Was it because he wasn't good at signing with his remaining hand maybe?

"I've not officially been denounced or excommunicated, but I basically have been. I can't be signing such important documents anymore. Not legally at least," Randle said simply.

"But I can…? I'm not actually a Sister, or whatever," I said.

"They don't know that," he said.

Well… "You sure…? I'm still dressed like a mercenary," I said.

"And as you saw he did not find it odd at all. This is a town of mercenaries, plus you were with me. He either thought you were dressed like that on purpose to hide yourself, since we had been traveling on the road, or just assumed you were one of the warrior-priestesses that the northmen have stories about. Or he simply didn't notice your attire, having lived amongst mercenaries for so long and it now normal in his eyes. He had not found you odd at all."

Well… "Warrior-priestesses…?" I asked, focusing on the most important thing he had said.

Randle chuckled at me. "Ask Vim about them. They do exist, though we don't admit it. And they're not as used anymore, but back during the wars they had been a legitimate division."

Huh…? He was basically saying there had been warrior sisters, right?

So… someone like… Lilly? But of the cloth…?

I smirked at that, since I liked the sound of it.

"I'll ask Vim," I said, agreeing.

"Please do. Also, I'm to assume you remember where our parcel is?" he asked.

"Hm? Yeah?" I nodded.

"Good. I don't. If they operate with any level of efficiency, which they seem to do, there should be markers on it for us to know but in the off chance there isn't I'll rely on you to find our land and its borders," he said.

"Sure…?" I worriedly nodded. Now I wish I had paid just a tad bit more attention to that map.

Randle sighed. "A lot to do. At least the town seems healthy," he said as we neared the market. It was noisy.

"Let's hurry, I can smell them all readying for lunch and my stomach hates it," I complained. I could smell the fireplaces and ovens being lit and readied. Which meant soon I'd smell all the delicious food… and I'd not be able to enjoy in any of it, since we'd soon be very busy. We needed to take all our wagons and people to our land, and then likely set up camp or something. A lot of work before I could eat anything warm and tasty.

Randle must have agreed for he picked up the pace.