Isaac frowned. He opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but Goddess Sylvie spoke before he could get the words out.
"I can’t tell you why yet. It’s something at a level you shouldn’t get involved with right now."
Isaac closed his mouth and nodded. Goddess Sylvie had treated him fairly since the beginning, and she had never spoken to him with the arrogance he had come to expect from powerful beings. In fact, she spoke to him as though he were someone who stood on relatively equal footing with her.
Isaac would have honestly expected a God to look down on him. Even the neighbouring Lords who visited his City had treated him that way, believing that their greater strength gave them the right to act superior. Isaac had proved that he was not someone they could underestimate, but the truth remained that they had once been arrogant because they believed that they could defeat him if things ever turned hostile.
The woman sitting before him was a genuine God, yet she spoke to him without any sense of superiority. Isaac would still remain cautious around her because there was always a possibility that she disliked him for being the son of the War God. However, until she gave him a reason to distrust her, he decided there was no reason to treat her with unnecessary hostility.
That was why Isaac did not ask any more questions. If Goddess Sylvie said there was something he was not supposed to know yet, then forcing her to explain would not accomplish anything.
"So, about Selene’s skill?" Isaac asked as he turned toward Goddess Ruth.
"I can agree this time. However, from next time, whenever you want me to bless a new shop, you will have to complete a Quest that I give you. Otherwise, I won’t be able to bless the shop with as much power, and the protection will be weaker. Only after you accept and complete the Quest will the System allow me to provide powerful protection," Goddess Ruth explained.
"Thank you," Isaac and Selene said together.
They both understood that they were getting a good deal even when compared to the tribute they had prepared. Completing a Quest in exchange for a powerful blessing was not an unreasonable condition, especially considering how much protection the blessing could provide.
"Don’t worry about it. The War God has helped me in the past, and even if he hadn’t, this woman would—"
"Ahem."
Goddess Sylvie coughed before Goddess Ruth could finish her sentence. Goddess Ruth looked at her for a moment before chuckling, apparently deciding that whatever she had been about to say was not worth continuing.
"That will be all. You can leave now," Goddess Ruth said
Isaac and Selene nodded. A strange force immediately surrounded them, and their surroundings began to change before they could do anything about it.
When Isaac looked around again, he was back in the Moon Dimension inside the Moon Pendant. A golden light appeared from empty space and slowly covered the wooden shop Isaac had created, seeping into the structure before disappearing completely.
"Did the meeting go well?" Sage Sea asked.
"It did. I didn’t even have to explain anything about my God Domain," Isaac replied with a chuckle.
Sage Sea made a sound that seemed like laughter. Now that Isaac and Selene had received Goddess Ruth’s permission, things would become much simpler from this point onward.
Whenever they wanted another shop blessed, they would only need to prepare the required tribute and complete the Quest Goddess Ruth assigned. There would be no need to arrange another meeting or have a lengthy conversation with the Goddess unless something unusual happened.
’Now that I think about it, we actually entered the Divine Realm,’ Isaac muttered.
Isaac had not really thought about it before because there had been too many other things demanding his attention. Still, when he stopped to consider what had happened, the experience felt rather surreal.
People believed that even travelling between Sectors was impossible, yet he had already travelled between major dimensions. He had also met Gods directly, something that most people would probably consider an impossible experience.
There was still much about the Divine Realm that Isaac did not understand. However, he was certain that this trip had given him a much clearer idea of how vast the world truly was.
Isaac eventually left the Moon Dimension with Selene. Instead of immediately returning to his work, he spent some time with her because he could tell that she was dealing with complicated emotions after learning that he was the son of the War God.
"If you want some time alone, I can give you some," Isaac said.
Selene shook her head. "No, I don’t want to be alone. I’d rather spend some time with you."
Isaac nodded and did not ask anything more. He understood that she probably needed time to process everything she had learned, and there was no reason for him to force her to talk about it before she was ready.
While Isaac spent time with Selene, his clone continued examining the information he had gathered about the neighbouring Lords. After going through the available information and comparing the various Cities, he found two Lords whose territories seemed possible targets for conquest.
The first was Pitrup City. The second was Reitsiya City.
Pitrup City was surrounded by a miasma lake on three sides, and the lake constantly released toxic gases into the surrounding area. The City itself remained safe because of its Sky Dome, but the Awakeners living there could not remain outside for extended periods because of the extremely poisonous environment.
That disadvantage had severely restricted the City’s development over the years. Pitrup City had remained extremely poor compared to the surrounding territories, and its difficult environment had prevented its Lord from developing the City properly.
The area around Pitrup City was also filled with powerful monsters. Under different circumstances, having so many monsters nearby could have been considered an advantage because they could provide resources and opportunities for training. For Pitrup City, however, the monsters were mostly another problem that its inhabitants had to deal with.
Reitsiya City was completely different. Its people were warlords who attacked Cities without Lords, conquered them, and turned their inhabitants into slaves.
The inherent species of Reitsiya City, the Yenkrins, also appeared to be capable of interspecies reproduction. They used captured slaves to increase their numbers, which had allowed their population and influence to continue growing.
Isaac frowned as he read through the information. Reitsiya City was considerably farther away than Pitrup City, which would make an attack more troublesome.
The Yenkrins were not overwhelmingly powerful, but they were strong enough to make any war against them costly. The other neighbouring Lords seemed to have reached the same conclusion, which was why they had chosen to leave Reitsiya City alone rather than start a war that could cause considerable losses on both sides.
Isaac noticed something. Reitsiya City was relatively close to the Mistborns’ City, although it was not actually nearby. Compared to the distance from Isaac’s City, however, the difference was significant enough to make it worth considering.
Isaac decided not to rush into a war. Instead, he dispatched one of his clones toward Pitrup City, intending to see whether he could bring the City under his control through his crops.
If the plan worked, Isaac hoped the System would recognize it as using his crops to conquer another City. It would be far more convenient than launching a full-scale attack, and if he could complete his Class Advancement Quest without unnecessary casualties, there was little reason to choose the harder method.
If it did not work, then Reitsiya City would become his next possible target. Isaac would not lie to himself about the reason behind it, either.
He disliked what the Yenkrins were doing. They were conquering other Cities and using their inhabitants as slaves to increase their own numbers, and Isaac found the practice difficult to tolerate. However, that alone was not enough for him to start a war against them, especially when he had no obligation to involve himself in every conflict taking place around the Sector.
His primary reason would still be his Class Advancement Quest. After that came his own peace of mind, because Isaac knew that leaving Reitsiya City alone would probably continue bothering him if he eventually became strong enough to deal with it.
"Conquering an entire City. The advanced Class better be worth all this trouble," Isaac muttered with a chuckle.
He pushed the matter aside for the moment and focused his attention on his main body. Selene was still beside him, and after seeing her earlier mood, Isaac wanted to make sure she was feeling better before returning to his other responsibilities.
"Are you feeling better now?" Isaac asked.
"Mhm." Selene nodded before looking away slightly. After a moment, she added, "Sorry about sulking like that. It wasn’t even your fault, yet you still had to put up with my antics."
"I don’t mind," Isaac said.
He was being honest. In fact, Isaac was quite happy whenever he had an opportunity to spoil his wives while they were acting cute, although he knew better than to say that directly to Selene. If he told her that, she would probably become embarrassed and then start pouting.
Since Selene had already calmed down, Isaac decided to change the subject. "Can you help me pick out some gifts for the dragon maids? I want to show them some appreciation since they’ve been taking good care of the Happy Bunnies."
"Hmm." Selene thought about it for a moment before answering, "Jewellery with rare gems would be good."
"But I haven’t seen any of them wearing jewellery before. Are you sure they’ll like it?" Isaac asked.
"Yes, I checked the records about different dragons during my trials, so I can say that they should like it. Dragons are generally very materialistic, so rare gems would be a good gift for them," Selene replied.
Isaac smiled wryly. Selene was simply giving him an honest answer, but hearing her casually explain that dragons were materialistic still sounded strange to him. He was accustomed to thinking from a human perspective, while for dragons, having an appreciation for valuable treasures was simply part of their nature.
"Alright, then. Let’s go to the Market and buy something for them," Isaac said. He paused for a moment before adding, "Actually, I’ll buy something for all of you as well. I need to prepare some wedding gifts."
Selene, who had been about to take his hand, suddenly froze.
She turned toward him with a look of complete shock. For several seconds, she simply stared at Isaac without saying anything, leaving him confused about what he had said that caused such a reaction.
Isaac frowned slightly before remembering something important. He had completely forgotten to tell Selene and the others that he had already discussed the wedding date with Chairman Lucius.
"Oh."
The realization finally came to him. Isaac looked at Selene, who was still staring at him, and understood that his casual mention of wedding gifts had probably just revealed something he should have told them much earlier.