I had never seen Goddess Helia before, but somehow, I could picture a curvy lady with blond hair and blue eyes looking back at me.

The image was so clear in my mind that it almost felt like I had personally seen the goddess before. I could only attribute the image I had in my mind to coincidence and forced my focus back on what was happening.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Goddess Helia. My name is… you can call me the shopkeeper."

I told the goddess, pausing as soon as I came to the part where I was to tell her my name. My instincts told me that I should never give my name out to anyone I did not trust.

So instead, I chose the title I was called by everyone else—the shopkeeper.

"Hmm, for that 'old man's' successor, you sure sound rather young. Should I call you 'young man' instead? Hmm, it doesn't have the same feel somehow."

The female goddess asked in an almost teasing voice. She also sounded rather excited, almost as if she did not get enough company to talk to.

'Could gods even feel lonely? Don't they have work to do… or such?'

I truly knew nothing about the gods, and frankly, I was not interested either. My priority was to look after my own interests first.

So I chose to interrupt her muttering to ask her a question.

"Excuse me, Goddess Helia, but I needed to ask you something. As you might be aware already, I am not someone from around here. Do you know how I can return to where I came from?"

I asked her, wanting an answer.

The goddess paused, and her silence felt deafening over the phone. I even had to pull my phone away from my ear to make sure the call was still going through to her side.

"Return? There is no 'returning' for you anymore. You were chosen as the old man's successor. So if anyone can answer your questions, it can only be him."

Goddess Helia told me, and it almost felt like she was shifting her responsibilities away from herself because she did not want to tell me anything.

Whether it was because she did not know or was not permitted to, I was not privy to that information.

'There is also a possibility that she simply does not care enough to tell you.'

Nothing in this world was ever free. That applied to the answers I needed from the goddess as well.

"I see. Then, can you tell me where the 'old man' is now? Or at least give me a hint about what I should do next? You are the Goddess of Prophecies, right? Can't you look into my future for me?"

I asked, and there was a sharp intake over the phone.

Silence fell around us once more before the goddess decided what she wanted to do.

"Hmm, I can certainly try. But I won't make any promises to you. Before that, though, I want to ask you for another help. If you agree to help me, then I will look into your fate for you as well."

And here it was—the trade that I expected her to make.

The goddess did not even pause for dramatic effect when she proposed this to me. And since I expected this, I was not taken by surprise either.

"Alright, what do you want me to do?"

I asked the goddess, and she instantly replied, almost as if she had been waiting for me to ask this question.

"What I want you to do is simple—help those kids out. You already met them, right? I looked into their destiny again, and all three of them are marked for destruction soon. I need you to interfere and alter their fate for me. As that old man's successor, you are the only one who can currently do it."

The female told me, and I paused to consider her words.

"So… what do I need to do to help them out here?"

I asked, waiting for the female to give me an idea of what I needed to do. I wanted help, but I ended up being disappointed instead.

"What you should do… hmm, I don't know? Maybe run away with those kids and the guardian I sent for them? I am not good at the planning part, so you take care of it for me."

The goddess told me, and I felt my eye twitch at her easygoing nature. She was not even trying to hide the fact that she could not be bothered.

I had a feeling that the only reason she asked me for help was because she sensed me when I came close to these chambers.

"You want me to kidnap children?"

I asked.

"Sure, why not? If it gets the work done, then it gets the work done. There is no need for us to discuss these things anymore."

The goddess told me, and I sighed.

She was going to get me killed at this rate with her easygoing nature. But luckily, I had other ways to resolve this conflict.

"How about we approach it in a different way? The Cardinal told us that he will contact you soon to ask what the fate of those kids will be. Why don't you use that opportunity and officially hand them over into my care?"

I asked, and the goddess paused to consider what I said.

"Hmm, that is a possibility. Then, let's do that. And the next time we meet, I will look into your future for you."

She promised, and my system beeped.

[Contract of help has been formed. Complete your side of the contract to get the benefits.]

The system told me, and it suddenly dawned on me that I had agreed to do a laborious task that could cause me to lose a lot.

But I also felt like this was the right thing to do. Those kids were being exploited in the Dome, and even their goddess wanted me to take them out.

'At least that is one problem taken care of. Now, I should head back to my room. My consciousness feels much clearer.'

"I will take my leave now."

I told the goddess as I picked up Fenrir and started to walk out.

"Alright, take care. And thanks for purchasing one of my inventions. But you might want to get it maintained soon because it's being overused and might run out of power soon. Not that it uses much of my power anyway."

Goddess Helia's words caused me to almost trip.

Before I could ask her any questions, the call was cut off, and I could no longer contact her.

My feet took me out of the room and back to my living quarters, and it took me some time to get rid of the daze I was in.

"Should I seek answers?"

I looked at the message that the goddess had sent me and typed a simple hello. But before I sent it, I took a look at the cost of the message, and my heart instantly sank as I saw 100 faith points.

That caused me to immediately delete my message.

"Fuck this capitalism."

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