I was given far more than I asked from Ambassador Vincent and his ever loving daughter, Vanessa. I was taken back to the library where I first spoke to Vanessa. Ambassador Vincent looked to me to see what I would do since it's obviously unusual for a goblin to take interest in books.
"What would you like to read first?" He asks me. He sounds a bit uneasy.
"... What to learn first..." I mutter to myself. "I guess I should start with the layout and rules of this world. With that, I should get some idea on the current structure of how the world is run. Well... Probably more about the human society for now."
"... I suppose you will want this one then." Vincent walks to the center of the library and pulls a dusty book from the top shelf. "A study of our world teachings. Since the economy and culture is based on religious belief, we follow the general rules of the 7 lord churches."
"... Then I should read there rulebooks too."
"Uh... Right. Just a moment."
He goes to another bookshelf and gets 7 small books each with a different cross on it and different colors.
I start reading them and, to simplify things, there are 7 gods, 7 churches, and 7 colors to each their own. Each god and their church is represented by color. They give blessings to the people of the world of Neutelos, the world of balance.The law of this world allows its residences to control elements, receive blessings at birth, and "collect" magic through the surrounding valley by "conjure" or "pleading to" the surrounding spirits.
The gods are known by the names Raida, Liluna, Bateyalo, Palitoh, Julah, Hayula, and Malcum, with their colors, in order from Raida to Malcum, red, blue, green, yellow, violet, white and black. Each god holds the power to a single blessing, which aren't commonly known for the people to have. These blessing allow one to use any chosen element that they are compatible with. Air, liquid, earth, light, metal, sound, and darkness. Most times there are inherited elements and blessings. So only those with that blood tie can receive a blessing and most of them are nobles and royals. Very few blessed are warriors and adventurers but you must be affiliated with a church, which becomes an automatic.
I read through all the rule books of the churches except one that was only a scroll with the discriptions. The black one.
"Where's the book of the black God? Is it a taboo or something?"
"Ah. No one knows exactly what happened with the black books. They were supposed to be part of the collection but all the ones that we had suddenly lost their pages. Every single one of them went blank like an empty journals." Vincent goes to the coffee table and pulls a black dusty book from the drawer. It was completely worn out and damaged.
"What happened to it?"
"It was like this ever since I was a child." Vincent tells me. "I asked what had happened to it to be like this when no one ever touches it. I was told a rumor that the god of this book had vanished some time after a war with the demon continent broke out. After its king fell, the god vanished and the book suddenly fell apart and faded to this. Whatever happened to the God of rule was a complete mystery. They say those that once held his blessing are no longer blessed with the divine power of the 'kings order'."
"The kings order?"
"That is what the blessing of rule is. The kings order. A blessing that allows one to have control of order and balance."
"Huh. Interesting. With that description, what about the others?"
"My family is blessed with the faith of people. For the violet god of wealth and glory, Julah. Those with it will have lasting glory and faith of the people. But for this we must have a great deal of responsibility of keeping hold of that trust. If not the one that breaks that trust will lose the trust of Julah.
The same applies to the other gods. Raida, the red god of death, is somewhat strange, because he blesses those after they've met a requirement. He doesn't follow the rule of Neutelos where you are blessed at birth but rather at the brink of death. Let's say a child was born a stillbirth and had yet to have a chance at life. If he sees potential in the child he will breath new life into them and they become his warrior in return. Or if one was an honoured veteran of war, he would give them the blessing of champions, allowing one to be unstoppable in their battle prowess henseforth.
In respect, Liluna is the god of the moon and sun. She provides good health and healing to all that she blesses. Most of her blessing go to the creatures whom she pities for having been looked down on for centuries by the human race, I am sad to say. When her church realized this they did all in their power to keep them from being hunted again. And now all creatures of fare intelligence live in peace together. Though..."
"Not without some prejudice, right?"
"... Yes. There is still a large sanction of people against mix race communities. Even the other races are against it."
"Yeah that makes sense."
"Moving on. Bateyalo is the green god of luck and charm. Allowing those like the succubus race in the demon continent to be as they are. Charming individuals."
"Like Sanguis?"
"Exactly. They are blessed with a gift. This can be anything from a talent in communication, athletics, whatever they wish to put their being into. Sanguis is a perfect example being a charm caster and an associate of the yellow church, he has charmed his way from the hatred of being a feral to being the charming gargoyle he is now. And he is also a good example of the yellow god as he has two blessings the gift and the sight. The sight from the yellow god, Palitoh, allows one to have a sixth sense to 'see' through even lies. Being an associate of the yellow church allows you access to every segment and continent because they are the eyes of every church. The lucky bastard.
Uh... Anyhow. The last two gods, Hayula and Malcum. It's said that these two gods were siblings. One born in light and the other in darkness. Together, they have kept the balance of the two in harmony between peace and chaos. If you are blessed with life you are of the white church which holds the link to all of the churches in the nation now. There was once a time when they shared that link with the black church until the disappearance of Malcum. After the marks of the black god vanished so did those who held the rare blessing of the white."
"... Wait the black mark disappeared and the people with the white mark left with it?"
"I don't think it makes sense either. But I believe it has something to do with the two being the center of balance, something had to compensate for the unbalance that occurred."
"And the white church suffered from that unbalance."
"Yes. I believe so. But no one knows for sure."
"I see. What a complicated system."
"Hahaha! That it is. But you'll get use to it over time."
"Fair enough."
"Well that should be everything summed up."
"Alright. I'll just read the fine detail later then."
After I'm done with my business here, maybe I can find something to help me teach Toba and Rolba How to talk human like they asked. I gotta pay them back sooner or later. Oh yeah!
"Are their any music books I can take back with me?"
"Oh, please. Take them all. They are such useless books." Vanessa suddenly says. That was unexpected.
"Useless? Why?"
"Ugh. They are such a pain to learn! You can't even read the notes. How do musicians read such things I haven't the slightest clue. Do ree fa. Ugh... What does that even mean."
Oh... Well better start here to practice teaching but can I even sing like this? I open my mouth to see if I can and try to hum the practice cord.
"Do re mi fa so la ti do ti la so fa mi re do." Huh. I can sing. Better than I thought actually.
"Wha... Wha... What was that about!?" Vanessa stutters.
"Hm? What? That's the practice cord. From lowest pitch to highest."
"No! Not that! Your voice!! What's with that beautiful sound coming from your mouth!?"
Ah. "I was only seeing if I could. It's not that strange, is it?"
"It is when you have a voice that can shake the heavens like that." Vincent comments. His ears were as red as His daughters face. "Where did you learn to do such a thing like that?"
"... Uh... I did say I wasn't from around here."
"Hmm..."
Vanessa had rushed to the back of a different self and came back to shove a thick book of hymns in my face. "Then read this one! see if you can sing to this!?" She turns to a page that had a chant sertra. Sertras on there own are difficult to read. Making a song out of it is just odd. It was called sacramentum and it required more than one person to sing it.
"... This is for a whole choir to sing. I can't sing that by myself."
"What does that mean?"
"Exactly as I said. It needs a choir. A group of people to sing this song. It's not meant for one person to sing."
"W-well try anyway! Just one part!"
"Easier said than done. Just because I sound good for it doesn't mean I can make the song sound good by myself I need more people so find a solo song."
"What's a solo!?"
"Have you never heard music?"
"No one has. Those books were here for who knows how long, but no one ever bothered to use them." Vincent explains. Are you fucking serious!? I take the book from Vanessa and flip though it till I find a solo called Sandglass. I read through the words and notice there were no rhymes, which made it harder to make sense of the tune, but I got it down somewhat. I guess I can try this one.
"I played lots of songs for you
As many as there are stars
I wish
I could do more
Although I'm the grains of sand
That slips through your hands
I swear by all the stars above
I have never forgotten you
Nothing can
Take the place of loving you
Nevertheless all I can do is
Wish you happiness
Promise me
You'll not come back to me
Don't be afraid
Of losing me
And don't delay without your life
You are right there with me
You must promise me
You'll not spend time in tears
Let me take away your sorrow
Just because,
I'm not here that doesn't me
I stopped, caring about you
And just because
You are not here anymore
I know it doesn't
mean you don't miss me
So promise me,
You are always there
with your song within
Me"
The room was filled with a heavy hush of silence. I look to Vanessa who was in complete shock with a gaped mouth. I look to Vincent and he was the same. Behind him I could see a few blushing green heads behind a baffled Christa. One of those heads being Sanguis with the same baffled look with lowered ears.
Apparently, singing was never a thing to people with how everyone is looking at me. "Hello~?" I say to kill the silence that was killing me.
Everyone jumps at the sound of my voice.
"... Right then." Vincent says as he clears his throat. "First is... This all you want? Ms. Tessa?"
"Hm? Yeah... Uh. Yes this will be good. Thank you."
"Alright then. I will give you this as well." He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls a tag necklace out to hand to me. It had a small dog shape on it. "This is our family crest. You can use it to gain access throughout the city anytime you wish up to the end of both walls. Along The inside of the second segment wall, Festus, is where you can do trades and business so long as you hold this on your person. You can also use it as communication within our family and court. Including the knights and guards of our crest. Use it wisely."
I take it and realize how much responsibility was just put in my hand. Before I could decline the offer, vincent snaps his fingers and a scroll appears in his hand. Ooh! He then continues. "I also propose that you take the family name as your own. Not as a call service like most of the others here, but as an adoptive member of the family. Since you have a knack for seeing past fancy phrasing, I won't beat around the bush. Having someone of your skill and talent would be very promising in getting my family officially recognized as a true interracial family. With you being part of a noble family as well as being a... I'm sorry, What type of goblin are you?"
"... As far as I've been told, I'm a dragonjaw."
"... Right. As well as your rarity, you will have better access to more higher rate shops and inns for a basic price. With our name alone you can go even to the elven segment, Vinctur. The third one."
"Okay! Back up for like ten chapters! I can't accept all of this! That's..."
"A lot of responsibility? I understand that. It's also a lot on me since your a goblin. And its rare for a goblin to have a noble family's name. But I'm not asking you if you want this. No. You ARE taking it. You will accept this as an opportunity. So let me be frank. I want you to hold the responsibility of my name as a Halliway. Because you have the potential to do so. I feel as though I can trust you as much as I do my own daughter."
"I can have a sister!?" Vanessa squeals happily. "Oh! We can get a room ready! Have clothes and school set for you. We can have girl time all the time!"
"Stop! Stop right there!" I shout. "No! None of that!" I wasn't adopted before this or put into some shelter and I'm not doing it now. I can survive on my own. I don't want the responsibility. However. "I'll accept the tag and name. Fine. That is fine. Its not like I will need it soon. But I will NOT be pinned to one place. I want to explore. I want to learn but I won't go through all that to do it. I have enough problems just existing with other goblins at my throat ready to kill me. I don't want anymore headhunters on my behind. Is that clear?"
Everyone's face is now twisted in a cringe at my reply but I spoke my mind and there's no going back on that.
"... I understand. Forgive us for our impulses..." Vincent says.
"So long as you get it."