The Adventures of Rose Hood Chapter 60: The City of gods

Using my dragon form I flew for a while. I shifted into a catkin in a forest and then went to an unfamiliar city. There was a line.

I heard someone here was a high priest of one of my children. I was waiting in line when a guard came up.

“Name and business.”

“Grace, and I want to visit the temple.”

“I see. A pilgrim, huh? Too bad beastkin arent allowed in the temple.”

“What? Why?”

A human woman behind me answered the question.

“Because your kind is filthy and would defile the temple of the god king.”

It seems Celios’s replacement is the one worshiped here.

“Oh well. I guess I could look at it from outside then.”

They were silent for a moment. I guess that they usually saw more arguments. Then I heard some people.

“Did you hear about a dragon that claimed to be the true ruler of gods?”

“No way, and people believed it?”

“Yeah, the rumor even says that she beat Celios in combat.”

The woman behind me had something to say.

“It’s probably just a joke. I heard it as well, but it’s more likely that it was a kid playing make believe and someone heard it and brought it out of proportion.”

“Actually...”

Everyone looked at me.

“I met the dragon and felt her power. Frankly I’m inclined to believe her.”

Someone snorted.

“Of course, a beastkin would believe a dragon.”

“I mean, I also saw Celios. He was basically at her beck and call. It was almost uncanny.”

More people started laughing.

“Oh, and let me guess, she rules Selethon?”

“No, but the king is an ally of he’s and he supported it.”

“Ah, so it’s propaganda, you do realize that it is more likely that he got a dragon and a powerful mage and merely claimed that’s who they were?”

“You do realize that no self-respecting god would let mockery like a fake last?”

“They’ll probably get smited.”

“Maybe, but they were way too powerful to be normal, either way.”

Then a human spoke up.

“Actually, I was just in Selethon not too long ago, the dragon was already recognized as the host of a god beforehand, and when I passed through, I saw the one they called Celios, and frankly, I’d believe that it was Celios.”

“Did you actually see the dragon?”

“No, she was in a coma from a major battle, so access to see her was restricted to close friends.”

“I see, a god can’t enter a coma.”

I spoke.

“That’s a foolish statement.”

The woman glared at me.

“Oh?”

“Gods can take damage, so it makes sense that if she used enough power, or even clashed with another god, then she may have taken enough damage to be in a coma.”

A guy in front of me nodded.

“That makes sense to me. I still doubt she’s actually a god, but I’d have to meet her.”

“Yeah, I met her, so I am confident that she is a god. Her aura alone was causing nature to prosper.”

“I see.”

They mostly stopped their jeering as more people began to agree it was possible.

_

I entered the city. It was cold, made sense. I went on my way to the church and saw a powerful temple. It was dripping with the aura of one of my children, so I knew he visited often.

“Silith’s temple. No wonder he doesn’t let in beastkin; he and Ausar are rivals.”

“A beastkin knowing religion. That’s rare.”

I turned to see a man.

“I took to reading books when I was young. You are the high priest, correct?”

“And you have an eye for the attribute. Interesting. If you weren’t surprised to see that it was Lord Silith’s temple, I would assume you were an agent of Ausar.”

“I actually was looking to meet him.”

“Ah, he is coming tomorrow, but you would only be able to watch him enter as-”

“Beastkin aren’t allowed to enter.”

“I see you understand. That is wonderful.”

“Thank you for the help. Now I know when I can see him.”

“Pardon me, but what’s your name?”

“It’s Grace.”

“Wonderful, I am Jerico.”

I wandered and went into a high-profile inn.

“Hey, Cat. Go scramble back to the slums.”

What a warm welcome from the innkeep.

“Actually, I wanted to rent a room.”

He snorted.

“As though a cat like you could afford one of these rooms.”

“How much?”

“10000 gold.”

He was lying.

“Wow, then you must be the biggest scam artist in the nation.”

I called his bluff and his smirk turned to a frown.

“Fine, 100.”

“That poster says 10.”

“That was a sale.”

“Why are you lying? I’ll give you 10 gold for one night. It’s not like I’ll cause trouble.”

“Listen cat. We don’t like your kind here.”

“Ah, so you won’t let me pay for a room? If you turn away your customers, then there’s no way you could afford to stay above.”

“I’ll call the guards.”

“For what? Asking for a room that I’d pay for?”

He realized he was in a checkmate and reluctantly allowed me to rent a room. I also bought a bottle of wine, and they realized that I could potentially afford even the outrageous price that the innkeep first suggested.

I sealed the door and fell asleep, only to wake up in the middle of the night to someone trying to break down the door.

“How is this door so strong?”

“Even the spare key doesn’t work.”

“She must have warded it.”

“Try the knob again.”

“Alri-”

They paused, turned slowly, and blanched at the sight of me smiling.

“Robbers, huh?”

_

“I have a delivery of two robbers.”

I dragged in the two men who were bound to the guard station.

“Robbers?”

The same guard who I met at the gate was surprised to see me again.

“Yes, they were attempting to break down the door to my inn room, so I bound them and brought them here.”

“Huh, why were you two doing that?”

“She had a lot of money, there’s no way she could have that much gold, so we thought to take it as evidence and bring it in.”

“*Sigh* Listen, just because beastkin are disliked by our god doesn’t mean each one of them is a thief or killer.”

The guard was really rational.

“I’m going to have to hold you two for a few hours.”

“Hours?”

I thought it would be a whole day.

“Yeah, whenever Lord Silith shows up, all prisoners are released, and they get blessed to not do crime again.”

“Huh.”

“Well, you can go back to your room now.”

“Thank you.”

I went back and slept instantly.