"It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters, it doesn't matter what we call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over." ― Paulo Coelho, The Zahir

Mostly, the bureaucratic hoops had to do with her verifying with the central archives that the contract we'd worked out was acceptable – to the administration and to the goddess herself. She explained the process a bit, when I expressed interest.

"If we'd been able to use one of the standard contracts, or even a slightly adjusted version of the standard contract, I could complete the process under my own authority. Your situation isn't remotely standard, though, and the fact that you already have over a dozen new books for us to add highlights that effectively. Factoring in your Outworlder status and your potential authorship for centuries, getting approval from above is pretty much an absolute requirement. I can use my own dedicated reader to transmit the contract to my higher ups, though, so the whole process shouldn't take more than a couple of hours. I might get some pushback from my immediate superior – as while he's good at his job, he's also a supercilious jerk. Probably not, though, if he actually takes a moment to read through the precis rather than just looking at the bottom line. And if he does, I can appeal upwards with pretty fair confidence they'll back me up. I can only imagine the Goddess is already paying attention to you; Outworlders often shake things up, whether they mean to or not. And it's not like you're gouging us unreasonably, either.

In that regard, if you don't mind, I'd like to also set up a small travel altar to the goddess and offer my devotions to her directly. If I'm lucky, she'll even confirm for me that she approves – of the contract, and of your work generally. I'll do that after I send in the contract, though – standard procedure."

**Far be it for me to stand between a librarian and her goddess. Do you need anything for your altar? Should I offer something as a token of appreciation or goodwill? I have a gift for you, but I didn't think to prepare anything for the goddess personally.**

"No, no. There's nothing you need to do, though if you're interested in having an altar to the goddess, I'm happy to let you duplicate mine. There's nothing particularly magical about it, after all. That way, if you decide you want to reach out to her more personally, it will be a bit easier for you. That's really all the altars do – provide an established contact point that makes connecting with the deity in question a little easier. And sacrifices, or offerings, whatever you prefer to call them, are simply a way of intensifying that connection through devotion."

**I hadn't thought about it that way, but it makes sense. Sure, I would be honored to have an altar to the Goddess of Knowledge. I'll keep it in my personal library.**

"Oh! So you DO have a personal library? Is there a reason why we aren't meeting there? I'd love to see what an outworlder's conception of a library is like?"

**Well... It's a bit embarrassing, but my library doubles as my core room. For basic security reasons, I'm not really planning to share that space with much of anyone. I am hoping to build a separate, dedicated library at some point, though, and you'd be absolutely welcome to visit it.**

There was a bit of an awkward pause, and I wasn't sure if it was because she felt like she'd asked an inappropriate question by accident, or because it simply highlighted that, despite our growing rapport, we simply didn't have that level of trust.

Her ears flattened a bit, and her silvery tail drooped a bit before rallying. "Of course. No, that makes absolute sense. I expect they'll find a reason to send me back at some point, so maybe next time you'll have a library available for me to visit."

I felt a bit bad about the whole thing, frankly, but not enough to actually take her to my core. **Will do. Give me a few months, and I'll get it done!**

"Right. Well, let me send this off to the central archives, and I'll eat my lunch with you while we wait, if that's okay?"

**Sure, sounds good. Did you pack your own, or would you like me to provide the catering?**

She lit up, ears rising and tailing resuming its slow wag. "I mean... I did bring my own food, but it's travel rations and not particularly tasty. If you don't MIND providing a lunch, I'd appreciate it?"

Ah, a classic academic response – free food is not to be denied... I checked – she did, in fact, count for my scholar's quest, though I'd need more connections to advance it. **No problem. Menu's a bit limited yet, but I'll see what I can shake out – any dietary restrictions?**

"No, I eat pretty much anything, though I do favor red meat." She flashed her elongated canines at me, while setting up her own transmission device – smaller than the one she'd described to me, but adequate to the task.

I went back through my mental list of appropriate blueprints and set a basic menu of spiced pork sausages with mushroom bread and goat butter alongside some preserved cabbage and pickled shrooms. I wasn't sure whether she'd like all that, as the spices gave it a rather strong aroma, but I wouldn't be offended if she skipped parts of it. I accompanied it with a mug of dark lager, figuring that a single beer shouldn't be an issue for her.

By the time she'd transmitted the contract and received confirmation of its arrival, her food was ready. She looked up and smiled, briefly. "Oh, dwarven cuisine – makes sense. Certainly better than the jerky and waybread I brought."

I got the impression that it wasn't her first choice, but it also wasn't an issue for her. **I'm afraid I'm still picking up blueprints for food on a sporadic basis. I'll probably end up with the full range of the Redcrests' food culture, but they haven't been here all that long. Otherwise, it's mostly the kinds of trail rations people bring on journeys like this one. A few things I picked up from the Dungeon priests, but that's about it for now. Are cookbooks a thing here?**

She paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. "Hmm? Entire books focused on cookery? Well, I expect there are a few, but they're mostly geared at recipes used in large institutions. Books are just too expensive for most regular people who cook, and sharing recipes between professionals tends to be done on a stricter level of individual exchanges. Does your former world do it differently?"

**Well, yes and no. As I understand it, there were a few books that included recipes going back almost to the earliest days of writing, but it took centuries for them to become more common, and it was only in the last 200 or so years that cookbooks were found in almost every household. I do think that corresponded with books getting cheaper for the average person and the rise of broader literacy.**

Stolen novel; please report.

She cocked her head, though she kept eating. "That's interesting. I wonder if we'd find books along those lines from some of the earlier civilizations when books seemed more widespread?"

**It wouldn't surprise me if they existed, but how common are books from earlier civilizations? Wouldn't they tend to be lost in whatever catastrophe set those civilizations back?**

"Hmm. A fair point, and I'd guess that the older the civilization is, the less likely it would be for that knowledge to be preserved. That's, frankly, a major unstated function of the archives – to try to preserve and collate knowledge from the past for the future. The original works mostly don't survive the millennia, so we rely on copies made by intervening people – and they tend to focus on topics that are either more practical or are seen as more culturally important."

**Well, I'll have to offer you up a few of the cookbooks from my own collection to see how they're received. I'd have to ponder which ones would be most useful, since the standards of measurement are pretty specific. The system might convert them for you, but I might be able to find ones that have pictures to help provide some context.**

"How similar is the food of Relnis to what you remember from your past world?"

I pondered that for a moment. **It's really too soon to say one way or the other. Nothing I've encountered here so far lacks an analogue entirely, though the flavor profiles seem to be a bit different. It's hard to tell, really, since I don't really "taste" things. But if there's anything truly and completely different from my old world, I have yet to encounter it. Likewise, it's possible that some of the foods or techniques we used are missing here, but it's just as likely they just haven't turned up yet in my limited sample. I suppose that honestly there are only just so many basic ways to process your standard food items into finished meals – not that flavor profiles and forms aren't likely to vary. Of course, maybe I just have my own cultural preconceptions about what is possible, and I'll be surprised by some wholly new way of magical cooking. I think I'd honestly be sad if that happens though, since it would be purely academic for me.**

In the middle of our extended discussion of food cultures around both worlds, she polished off her meal. In the end, she'd eaten all of it, though it seemed like she'd hesitated over the preserved cabbage – which fell somewhere between sauerkraut and kimchi in terms of the spicing. As I absorbed the remnants of her meal and she nursed her beer, a response came through on her personal reader. While I could see pretty much everything that happened within my domain, I forebore looking over her shoulder at the message.

After a moment, she looked up with a restrained smirk. "Good news, Vay! The higher ups approved our deal with no changes requested or required. My immediate contact was a bit salty about the conversion factor we settled on, but someone clearly overruled him. Probably the head archivist herself, now I think about it. I probably owe you some thanks; I'm pretty sure you just improved the odds of my getting a promotion."

**Well, good news all around then! What say we formalize the contract before your superior can figure out some way to take credit for your success? From what you've NOT been saying, that sounds like something they might do...**

Senior Librarian Janelle Graysdottir looked momentarily concerned and appalled but set those aside to sign with a flourish. "Yeah, he totally would, but I don't see how he can steal much credit from this far away when the superiors clearly know who made the trip." Her smile grew a bit smug, but slid seamlessly back to a professional look, partially ruined by a wagging tail.

I was amused, myself, at her mild antics but didn't hesitate to use my logbook skill to apply my own name and sigil to the contract.

"Now, I just need to pass you the transmitter and the student reader you'll, unfortunately, need to use for the interim. As discussed, we'll send along the institutional reader with the next person or party we know will be coming. At worst, that should be the dungeon inspector from the Orclands in a month or two."

And with that note, she slid the two enchanted objects from her satchel and placed them on the table happily.

"Oh, and I need to offer my devotions to the Goddess as well. I AM feeling in the mood to give thanks, after all. I just need to try to focus on the benefit to the world and the archive, rather than my satisfaction at one-upping Semyaza. Not like I'm fooling her, but she'll appreciate the effort, I would think."

And with that, she unfolded a simple raised table engraved with what I assumed to be the sigil of the Goddess of knowledge – an open book with crossed keys before an unlocked gate. With my mana sight, I could observe as she closed her pale blue eyes, connected her mana to the sigil, and the altar as a whole – offering up nothing tangible, but still clearly supplying something devotional beyond just the mana.

The response was immediate and stronger than I'd expected. The divine focus on my dungeon was not quite uncomfortable – perhaps unsettling was more accurate. I could feel that the goddess was not just speaking with Janelle, though she was, but also examining me in ways I only vaguely recalled from my first experience with a goddess.

Fortunately, I got the impression that she approved and was tolerably amused by my reaction, dialing her presence back a few notches and speaking with me directly.

**Hello, Sylvanus. That should be a bit more comfortable for you. I have been hoping there would be an opportunity to speak with you. Janelle is one of my more devoted librarians, but she's not always the best at picking up subtle cues. You may have noticed?**

**As you say, Lady. Uh. Is there an appropriate form of address I should be using?**

**I have many names and little time to care about protocol. Lady is fine. You have your own patron, and it's very bad form to meddle with another's adherent.**

Vay began to object to that characterization but received the impression of some divine hand waving. **Yes, yes. I know you don't consider yourself an adherent. You don't remember, but you did agree to work for her, so it's as good a term as any. And no, I can't tell you about her; it's a strain, as the goddess of knowledge, to withhold information but know that there are reasons for the obscurity.**

I heaved a mental sigh – still no real answers. **Is there any guidance you CAN offer me? Things you want to recommend I do? Have a reading list for me?**

The amused feeling came back, stronger. **We appreciate your patience; some of us goddesses do enjoy our little mysteries. If it helps any, you're already ahead of the curve on your divine quest line, so just keep on with what you're doing. Though... Since you asked, I would recommend that you request a rather inconspicuous work with some of the copious credits I expect you to earn. It's called Observations from the Pass of Storms, printed about 20 years ago. I'm cheating a bit, but it's not something you wouldn't have figured out yourself, eventually. And when you get a chance, think of me kindly and send along a few of your personal favorites; I'm always looking for a good read...**

And with that, the divine presence lifted from both Janelle and myself. She shook herself visibly; I did so more metaphorically.

She sighed. "Maybe I should have done that last. I have a few gifts for you, but now they're going to feel kind of anticlimactic."

**I know what you mean, still, thank you for making that connection. The goddess gave me some homework that will hopefully help me figure some things out. I don't think she can intervene directly, but duplicating your altar may give me some options down the line, if you still don't mind?**

"Of course, Vay. Be my guest. While you're doing that, I do have some gifts to break out of my satchel. Books, of course." She grinned wolfishly. "Sometimes you need to lean into those stereotypes..."

Blueprint Acquired: Travel Altar to the Goddess of Knowledge, Almeidra

**Ah, well, I have a book for you too. I wasn't sure what kind of books you enjoy, so I just picked one of my favorites that focuses on murder in a library – well-researched historical fiction – one of my favorite genres.**

I materialized it on the table before her, and she picked it up and looked it over. "Glad I took the time to study up on English when all those books started popping up – The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Thanks. That'll give me something to read on the long flight back to the Academy. I'm afraid the ones I chose for you are a bit more functional and based mostly on what I could extrapolate about you from the dungeon inspectors."

Blueprint Acquired: Tenets of Almeidra, Goddess of Knowledge

Blueprint Acquired: An Adventurer's Guide to 100 Top-Ranked Dungeons

Blueprint Acquired: Sapient and Divinely Touched: A Historical Survey of Rare Dungeons

After that, we chatted a bit reservedly about our encounters with the Goddess, as she packed up her bag and began heading back to the skyship. I assured her that it was still there, though the crew was keeping a constant lookout for her return and had everything packed up and ready to go.

We made our polite goodbyes, though I hoped to speak with her again at some point. For now, all that was left was to install the devices she'd left behind for me. I commandeered one of the cavalry skeletons to move the transmitter, reader, altar, and copy of the contract discreetly to my core room, where I set them up on the main table above my core.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.