"Now that we've lightened the mood a little, how about we move on to what might bring you esteemed Priestesses here today?"
"Our respective leaders have asked us to establish a cathedral in the new city and to help with the construction, the senior Green robed Priestess answers. If my knowledge serves right, that's the nature Goddess. So they'll be likely construction and botany specialists sent for the job.
"How long would the construction take? As you could see topside, there's a lot of work already underway and we don't have many Mages to spare. Altering building plans shouldn't be too much trouble though."
"Never fear, we come prepared" the senior Blue robed Priestess almost sings. Hers would be the God Of Knowledge, or maybe Wisdom would be a better translation?
"When I flew over this morning I noticed the university isn't started yet, and I've got a set of plans with me that will be perfect. Big enough for 20 thousand students to attend and live in dorms on site, with a cathedral, library and all the amenities"
"Excellent. But how long would such a thing take to build" I ask, looking at the admittedly otherworldly design of white marble and crystal.
"We can likely do it before the end of the weekend. After all, we brought 6 Dragons and many talented dragon kin." A quick head count shows one mismatched body. The small black robed figure hiding behind High Priestess Lelou.
"And who might this unaccompanied young acolyte be?" Karl asks.
"Greetings Highness, this Acolyte is called Hui'Jin. I was sent as penance for failure to complete an assigned mission, please do with me what you will."
"Paperwork or ammunition porter do you think?" Jake wagers.
"Karl isn't so cruel. She's like 10 years old. I say personal assistant" Mary retorts.
"You could give her to the Lycan and teach her to bathe in blood on the battlefield" High Priestess Lelou suggests laughing.
I discretely sniff the air. Nope, I don't still smell like blood. Thank the Goddess. Drake blood was awful to get rid of.
"Well Lady Katrina does collect cute things. She even claimed my Bunny" Karl jokes.
Poor Hui'Jin looks panicked, so I pat her head and whisper "don't worry, we'll get you sorted out and back in the Goddess's good graces in no time".
She instantly relaxes, but many knowing smiles flicker across the faces in the room. Maybe I do have a soft spot for cute things, I mean people.
Just then an alert flashes on my phone. My zone, the reservation we just finished clearing is under attack. Another portal full of goblins and Trolls has opened and the chief hopes I can return to help. According to the memo, I'm the only government official he trusts.
I show the alert to the group and quickly hop to my feet. "Juan, Manuel, Jurgen you're with me. Hui'Jin you're on penance, so you're coming too." The little dragon kin looks positively terrified at this point, but Jurgen picks her up and brings her along anyhow.
"Thanks for loaning us the Toyota Karl"
I can hear his angry mutters all the way to the elevator.
Hui'Jin is struggling in Jurgen's arms, so I grab her and put her down.
"Don't worry little one. We're bringing a truck, and the cab is armored. You just need to ride along, watch what we're doing and sit in the cab until I tell you otherwise"
"Oh, thank the Goddess. I might be black dragonkin, but I've always been squeamish around blood."
The boys all start laughing. "Don't worry, hanging around 'Lady Katrina' will fix that." The way they emphasize my name annoys me, but that's just how they are, if they're not willing to joke with you, they don't actually like you.
"By the way, what's a truck?"
"You don't know what a truck is? When did you get to this planet?"
"About an hour ago now your Highness."
With this thought in mind, our entire 2 hour drive is taken up filling her in on the joys of our technology. Including the joys of belt fed weaponry, as Jurgen has elected to station himself in the box and clear any wandering threats he might find.
The pickings are slim, as the areas were all cleared in the last few days. But he manages to find an Eagle headed Bear like monster hiding in some trees. Hui'Jin is stunned by the destructive power.
"Even a rank 2 fire mage would have trouble doing that, but this planet can give that power to soldiers without magic? Highness Kal'Elouet will love you forever if you teach her how to make such a weapon"
"I thought all the soldiers your planet trains could use magic?"
"Oh no. All the Drake riders can, they need it to even qualify for the position. But only one in a thousand soldiers is capable of using more than simple cantrips. It's almost as rare as the ability to cultivate physical prowess."
"Wait, that's rare?" Juan cuts in "We've only helped a few people on this planet to start, but it's worked for everyone so far"
"The odds of that are astronomical, most die within minutes if you try to open their pathways by force"
Both Ramirez brothers look pretty pale at this bit of news. Well, maybe we should be a bit more careful in the future.
"It's worse for demi humans. The mix of bloodlines can make them explode, even with assistance. A student at the orphanage exploded during the trials."
Maybe we should hide this unfortunate girl under the seat and cover her with a blanket for what's to come. Save her some trauma. But a pressure in my mind is telling me her penance is necessary to her personal development.
"Hui Jin, can you use any magic that might help here?"
"I can do fireballs, flame walls and cook dinner?" She answers uncertainly.
"You're hired" all 4 of us agree.
"You see, we needed a fire mage for properly cooking magical beast meat" Manuel explains.
"I'm good at that. We used to hunt category 1 beasts to supplement our rations"
"You say used to, but why did you join the clergy at such a young age? I thought The Red would raise kids until they're grown if they had nowhere to go?"
"The church decided they wanted me early" She answers evasively.
Fine, I'll get my answers later, we're nearly at the boundary line anyhow.